19 jul 2007

I basically can't stand earnestness.

13 comentarios:

Anónimo dijo...

Which is odd because you come off as a pretty earnest guy.

Jonathan dijo...

If I were earnest, then claiming not to be would be ironic, hence a sign of lack of earnestness.

Earnestness is not the same as seriousness. Earnestness is a kind of tone-deafness about when to be serious and when not to be.

John dijo...

Didn't Oscar Wilde show how important it is to be earnest?

Anónimo dijo...

Well, I suppose everyone is entitled to their own definitions and has the right to elevate the particular connotations they prefer. Earnestness doesn't have to be an epithet.

Anónimo dijo...

For example, your post about Josh Corey's discussion of ethics and aesthetics is pretty earnest. No one wants to be earnest all the time. Maybe the problem is less earnestness than monotone/monotony.

Tom King dijo...

Maybe some explanation of why you don't like it is in order.

Anthony Robinson dijo...

Well Jonathan,

If you were 27 years old, I'd understand/believe this. But you're not and I don't.

Jonathan dijo...

I don't like it any more than 20 years ago when I was 27. Irony isn't the province of the young.

Anthony Robinson dijo...

Perhaps irony SHOULD be the province of the young. Or mostly, anyway.

Jonathan dijo...

What is this, "sober youth reproaching reckless middle age"?

JforJames dijo...

Is it possible to say with all due earnestness that one hates earnestness?
Sounds a bit like the Cretan liar paradox.

Joseph Duemer dijo...

One serious problem with earnestness is that people are so often earnestly wrong. Can it be a coincidence that the more earnest a statement is, the more likely it is to be wrong?

Annandale Dream Gazette dijo...

Jonathan --- My guess is that you interpret seriousness as earnestness in a person who is either not as smart as you, or who has a different sense of humor than you.