Earnest vs. Genius and other language anomalies/random late night thoughts…
In the few times I have encountered and pondered the word in my lifetime, ‘earnest’ has earned a much clearer, more elaborate definition. (as with most all words I know, whether associated with a connotation, etc.)
When someone says an idea you have is ‘earnest’, they may mean:
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
ear·nest1
[ur-nist] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1. serious in intention, purpose, or effort; sincerely zealous: an earnest worker.
2. showing depth and sincerity of feeling: earnest words; an earnest entreaty.
3. seriously important; demanding or receiving serious attention.
Of course, to me this seems to mostly imply some sort of sophomoric thinking. To have someone say “I think your feelings are earnest” would therefore roughly translate into “I once felt that way, and I would have agreed then, but things have changed/I’m more enlightened now.” As if being very serious about intention is great, but not really all that its cracked up to be. *
On the other hand, if you had introduced an idea not previously pondered by the reciever, they may possibly deem you a ‘genius’, at least in relationship to that specific idea.
There have been a few times I have been called ‘earnest’ and more recently, I feel increasingly belittled by the word. (* ^^ above is precisely why, as if not only the idea had been ‘earnest’ but the whole behavior itself) Afterall, is there no merit behind feeling/thinking exactly the way one once had?
Maybe not.
But they might have called you a genius if the idea had not already dawned upon them.
So I might start a facebook group called “Students against Graduate art TA’s calling undergrads ‘Earnest’ ”
But I’m not really all that offended, as I feel being earnest is someone important, especially when it becomes a possibility that you may actually have a mental understanding of something in a similar way to another person. Isn’t that sort of communication facinating?
This is what I do at night for some reason.
Sorry if you think I’m ‘earnest’ and just ‘wasted your time with an idea you kind of thought once.’
