My favorite part from Randy Pausch‘s book, The Last Lecture:
I’ll take an earnest person over a hip person every time, because hip is short-term. Earnest is long-term.
Earnestness is highly underestimated. It comes from the core, while hip is trying to impress you with the surface.
“Hip” people love parodies. But there’s no such thing as a timeless parody, is there? I have more respect for the earnest guy who does something that can last for generations, and that hip people feel the need to parody.
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I was struck by this the last time I visited NYC: I’d walk into these stores that I’d been excited to see, that I’d walked out of my way several miles to get to, and then the g-damned clerk at the front desk would just shrug.
I’ll take earnest geeks over hipsters any day of the week.
A similar idea came up in another book I just finished (that I still mean to write about), American Nerd: The Story of My People. There’s this genuine enthusiasm that persists despite being outside the mainstream: legos, scifi, elves, Japan, whatever. Nerds can be some of the nicest people you meet.
Randy Pausch was a self-indulgent individual with nothing to say. It’s pathetic that people look to him for “inspiration.”
Thanks for sharing, Oshinskie. I hope you find inspiration elsewhere.
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[...] nice appreciation of Susan Boyle reminded me of the hip vs earnest bit from Randy Pausch’s book: No matter how much we mock those we consider beneath us, it’s much more satisfying to be [...]
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