{"id":2704454,"date":"2026-11-15T00:04:02","date_gmt":"2026-11-15T05:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-self-importance-of-being-earnest-2\/"},"modified":"2026-11-15T00:09:39","modified_gmt":"2026-11-15T05:09:39","slug":"the-self-importance-of-being-earnest-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-self-importance-of-being-earnest-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Self-Importance of Being Earnest"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-self-importance-of-being-earnest-2%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2704454&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>I <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >rarely follow teh news<\/a>, but I saw a genuine clip of Greta Thunberg laughing in Berlin at being treated as symbolic. It highlights the difference between earnestness-performative, exaggerated seriousness-adn true seriousness.Earnestness inflates language and feeling, promotes hyperbole, binary thinking, orthodoxy, and intolerance of dissent. It seeks attention, shifts from cause to cause when bored, and can damage public discourse by turning nuance into heresy.The author argues truth, not drama, should guide us, warning against replacing sober judgment with theatrical moral certainty.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-blog-post__content s-wysiwyg s-wysiwyg--blog\">\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:30px;\" id=\"elevenlabs-audionative-widget\" data-height=\"90\" data-width=\"100%\" data-frameborder=\"no\" data-scrolling=\"no\" data-publicuserid=\"cb0d9922301244fcc1aeafd0610a8e90a36a320754121ee126557a7416405662\" data-playerurl=\"https:\/\/elevenlabs.io\/player\/index.html\" >Loading the <a href=\"https:\/\/elevenlabs.io\/text-to-speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elevenlabs Text to Speech<\/a> AudioNative Player&#8230;<\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/elevenlabs.io\/player\/audioNativeHelper.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script>                            <\/p>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">When, in 1986, I spent six months crossing Africa by what might loosely have been called public transport, I discovered on my return that I hadn\u2019t missed much as far as the news was concerned\u2014or perhaps I should say, I didn\u2019t feel that I was greatly the worse informed for having been incommunicado for that length of time. What was going on in the world at the end of my journey seemed to me very much like what had been going on at the beginning of it.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ever since, I have not followed the news with the assiduity of some of my peers, who are constantly fretting over the latest developments in some far-off country of which, before those developments, they had previously hardly heard, and to which, once those developments are over, they will not give another moment\u2019s thought. If something terrible happens (or very good, for that matter), I will eventually get to hear of it; and since I have found that my ability to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dc-council-member-who-claimed-jews-control-weather-calls-into-legislative-meeting-while-driving\/\" title=\"DC Council Member Who Claimed Jews Control Weather Calls Into Legislative Meeting While Driving\">influence world events<\/a> has been limited, a delay of a few hours, days, weeks or months hardly matters. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Therefore, I rely on others sometimes to send me interesting items from the news, among whom is Mr. Charles Norman. Recently, he kindly sent me a video clip of Greta Thunberg in Berlin. I did not at first know when the original was taken and these days, with the ability of artificial intelligence to manufacture scenes out of whole cloth (or is it whole silicon?), one is always slightly anxious that believing is not seeing. Moreover, in short clips, context is all: As I know to my cost, though admittedly not a very great cost, words torn out of context can appear to mean the very opposite of what they were intended to mean. <\/p>\n<p>                         <!-- \/22404337467,3946880\/theamericanconservative-Leaderboard-Top -->                         <\/p>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1742316429780-0' style='min-width: 300px; min-height: 50px; max-width: 100%; '>                         <\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nevertheless, the video clip that appears to show Greta Thunberg being greeted in Berlin by a filmmaker, Hubertus Koch, somewhat older than she, is genuine. He says to her that it is \u201ckind of symbolic\u201d that she should arrive in Berlin on the day of the Fridays for Future demonstration, and Thunberg (and the young woman accompanying her) go off into peals of uncontrollable laughter. \u201cReally?\u201d says Thunberg. \u201cYou still do that?\u201d She can hardly contain her hilarity at those silly Germans who took her so seriously and have failed to move on since.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It seems an eon since she was hysterically telling the world that her elders had \u201cstolen her future\u201d by having caused climate change. It really <em>does<\/em> say something about the state of the world that it listened to her, coddled and applauded her, as if she were one of the babes out of whose mouth came wisdom. But then, of course, news of impending catastrophe (though not catastrophe itself) is always welcome: It staves off the boredom that is always stalking the human soul. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At any rate, Thunberg illustrates rather well an important distinction, that between earnestness and seriousness. One might say that earnestness is inner emptiness trying to achieve seriousness. For the earnest, seriousness is a matter of clenching or jutting the jaw and staring straight ahead, trying to look penetrating, determined, and deeply thoughtful, expressing oneself in a dramatic or melodramatic manner. How could anybody who, like Thunberg, in a state of angry tearfulness, demanded to know how her elders had dared, yes dared, to ruin her future, have been other than deadly serious? <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is inflation other than in currency and monetary matters, but in language and emotional expression also. And, of course, where there is inflation there is the possibility of hyperinflation. Where verbal expression is inflated, there is a tendency to inflate it yet more in order to attract attention. Anyone who has attended civil courts knows that plaintiffs are apt to exaggerate the harm or harms they have suffered by the act or omission of which they complain, for the most obvious reasons; activists and intellectuals are apt to exaggerate to gain attention and to feel both virtuous and important. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is no gold standard except the truth, and as Bertrand Russell (I think it was) once said, there is no reason why the truth when found should be interesting. Where it is found to be uninteresting or insufficiently dramatic for the tastes of those brought up on films, videos, etc., of constant dramatic movement, exaggeration is very tempting, as it is for those patients who exaggerate their symptoms in order to obtain the attention of the doctor and a prescription for powerful medication.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where such exaggeration becomes widespread or general, it can exert harmful effects on the real world and be difficult to counter, for if you deny its assertions, or any part of its assertions, you become a <em>denier<\/em>, on the model of those who say that the Holocaust never took place or was a hoax. Exaggeration becomes orthodoxy and orthodoxy becomes dogma, such that (I hope I am not exaggerating) doubt or the slightest dissent becomes not disagreement but heresy. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course, witch-finding and heresy-hunting are fun, and since we have a natural tendency to binary thinking\u2014either you are for me or against me, there is no other possibility\u2014we too are tempted to exaggerate, especially about the wickedness or stupidity of our opponents. <\/p>\n<section class=\"c-subscribe-email\" >\n<div class=\"l-container\">\n<div class=\"c-subscribe-email__wrap\">\n<div class=\"c-subscribe-email__head\">\n<h4 class=\"c-subscribe-email__heading\">Subscribe Today<\/h4>\n<h5 class=\"c-subscribe-email__subheading\">Get daily emails in your inbox<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"c-subscribe-email__form-wrap\">      <!-- Begin Mailchimp Signup Form -->      <\/p>\n<div id=\"mc_embed_signup\">\n<form id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" class=\"validate\" action=\"https:\/\/theamericanconservative.us4.list-manage.com\/subscribe\/post?u=442e644c01f8e54e26e4ff3f8&#038;id=f7b67cac40\" method=\"post\" name=\"mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" novalidate target=\"_blank\">\n<div id=\"mc_embed_signup_scroll\">\n<div class=\"c-subscribe-email__fields\">              <label for=\"mce-EMAIL\" class=\"u-screenreader-text\">Email Address:<\/label>              <input id=\"mce-EMAIL\" class=\"c-subscribe-email__field\" name=\"EMAIL\" type=\"email\" value=\"\" placeholder=\"Your Email\" \/>              <input id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe\" class=\"c-subscribe-email__submit o-button o-button--red-500 o-button--solid\" name=\"subscribe\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Subscribe\" \/>            <\/div>\n<div id=\"mce-responses\" class=\"clear\">\n<div id=\"mce-error-response\" class=\"response\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"mce-success-response\" class=\"response\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>              <!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups-->            <\/p>\n<div class=\"u-screenreader-text\" aria-hidden=\"true\">              <input tabindex=\"-1\" name=\"b_442e644c01f8e54e26e4ff3f8_f7b67cac40\" type=\"text\" value=\"\" \/>            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>      <!--End mc_embed_signup-->          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the risk of exaggeration, I would say that earnestness is a deformation of our time. (I almost wrote plague of our time, but that would be a little too earnest.) Earnestness eliminates irony and does not admit tragedy, that is to say the existence of some dilemmas both horns of which lead to results that we want to avoid. In the world of the earnest, there are no trade-offs, no betterment or worsening <em>on the whole<\/em>, but <em><\/em>only perfect or catastrophic results. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since earnestness fulfils a psychological need, it is restless, because one cannot usually go on being earnest about the same subject forever, or even for long, because boredom supervenes. Earnestness is a little like the grin of the Cheshire Cat: It remains when its subject disappears and then attaches itself to a new subject. Therefore, someone like Thunberg may in effect laugh at those who take the subject of her past earnestness seriously but not laugh at her current earnestness. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The earnest are like the jealous, according to Emilia in <em>Othello<\/em>: The earnest are not ever earnest for the cause, but they are earnest that they are earnest.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1986 I spent six months traveling across Africa by what could barely be called reliable public transport, and when I got back I realized I hadn\u2019t really missed much in the way of news-or perhaps I simply didn\u2019t feel I\u2019d suffered for being out of touch. Since then I\u2019ve tended not to chase the news as avidly as some people who fret over distant events they hardly remember once they\u2019re past. If something truly terrible or wonderful happens, I\u2019ll eventually hear about it, and since I\u2019ve learned my influence on world affairs is limited, a delay of hours, days, or even weeks hardly matters. So I often rely on others to send me interesting items, especially Charles Norman. He recently shared a video clip of Greta Thunberg in Berlin. I didn\u2019t immediately know when it was filmed, and in an age when AI can manufacture convincing scenes, I worry about mistaking belief for reality. In short clips, context matters a great deal, because words taken out of context can be made to mean almost anything.<\/p>\n<p>The clip in question shows Thunberg meeting with an older filmmaker, Hubertus Koch, who notes that her arrival in Berlin on the day of the Fridays for Future protest is \u201csomewhat symbolic.\u201d Thunberg and the young woman with her burst into laughter, clearly finding the scene absurd. \u201cReally?\u201d she says, barely able to keep from laughing at the crowd of Germans who took her seriously and who, in her view, have not moved on since. It\u2019s striking that the world listened to her, treated her with care and applause as if she embodied timeless wisdom, yet news of looming catastrophe-though not catastrophe itself-has a way of soothing boredom. Thunberg, in this light, serves to illustrate a key distinction between earnestness and seriousness: earnestness often looks like inner emptiness trying to appear serious, with people clenching jaws and peering ahead to seem deep and determined, often dramatizing their speech.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a broader inflation-not just of money but of language and emotion. Where expression inflates, it invites still more inflation to grab attention. In courts, plaintiffs exaggerate the harm they allege; activists and intellectuals do so to feel virtuous and important. There is no ultimate standard like a gold standard except the truth itself, and as Bertrand Russell allegedly noted, the truth need not be dramatic to be true. Yet when the truth is found to be dull or unexciting for audiences habituated to constant drama, exaggeration becomes tempting. This tendency-exaggeration to attract attention-can have real-world consequences if it becomes widespread enough to be treated as orthodoxy or dogma, such that doubt or dissent is treated as heresy. Witch-hunts and accusations of heresy can be appealing, and because people tend to think in binaries-you\u2019re either with me or against me-we are especially prone to inflating the wickedness or stupidity of opponents.<\/p>\n<p>At the risk of overstatement, earnestness feels like a deformation of our era. It excludes irony and tragedy, presenting no trade-offs or gradual improvement, only perfect outcomes or complete disasters. Earnestness satisfies a psychological need, so it\u2019s restless: you can\u2019t stay earnest about the same topic forever, or even for long, because boredom inevitably follows. Earnestness is like the Cheshire Cat\u2019s grin-sticking around even after the subject has vanished, attaching itself to something new. Thus someone like Thunberg may laugh at those who took her earlier earnestness seriously, while not laughing at her current earnestness. The earnest are not always earnest for the cause; they\u2019re often earnest that they are earnest, which makes them resemble the jealous in Othello<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4464,"featured_media":2704455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/tac.imgix.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2233013100-scaled.jpg?auto=compress&#038;crop=faces%2Centropy&#038;fit=crop&#038;fm=jpg&#038;h=630&#038;ixlib=php-3.3.1&#038;q=80&#038;w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[20812,24289,20281,51382,32870],"class_list":["post-2704454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-earnest","tag-ego","tag-farce","tag-identity-2","tag-satire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/tac.imgix.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2233013100-scaled.jpg?auto=compress&#038;crop=faces%2Centropy&#038;fit=crop&#038;fm=jpg&#038;h=630&#038;ixlib=php-3.3.1&#038;q=80&#038;w=1200","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2704454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4464"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2704454"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2704454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2704458,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2704454\/revisions\/2704458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2704455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2704454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2704454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2704454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}