Serious Nature

    It seems to be a trend of some kind for people to refute every attempt made at a deep and serious conversation. Whenever someone is trying to have one, it seems that everyone is trying to "lighten the mood" as they call it, but what is really an attempt to distract the conversation back into lighthearted banter. That kind of thing isn't something I disapprove of, but it's not something I want all the time. Sometimes, I would like the opportunity to invest my deepest philosophies into a conversation that might make people understand me better, and, more importantly, make people understand, and possibly even agree with, my motivations.

    I assume the trend started because people are afraid of weighty circumstances. I'm not sure where this developed, but it seems to me that people avoid such things whenever possible. I am certain that, most of the time, they intend no offense, but their evasive behavior on subjects of gravity is insulting to me and my very nature. I am a serious person, I take 95% of everything seriously. No, I don't take nearly everything literally, as that is not the same thing. I simply do not have nearly as great a need for humor or light moods that other people seem to have. I prefer grounded, down-to-earth interactions much more, but finding those is rare.

    Let me be a little rude here; I feel like I'm surrounded by air-heads most of the time. Contemplative subjects put them to sleep, being analytical seems to offend most, and talking about grand aspirations of how you want to create things that mean something makes people call you pretentious. Excuse me, but if my desire to delve into the heavier subjects of my world make me pretentious, than your desire to avoid them makes you a putz.

    A few people even have the nerve to think that I'm like this out of bitterness. You know what has given me a bitter side? The lack of people willing to be serious, the lack of people who weigh into things with their heart, the lack of people who are sincere in their dealings with others. If anything has contributed to me being bitter, it's the very people who think I'm bitter and "need to lighten up a little" because apparently, being a flighty putz solves all problems. Really, why do I need to lighten up? Because being honest and speaking freely of serious subjects makes you uncomfortable and ruins some endless party coaster you're trying to ride out for as long as you can? Because you're too jaded and cynical to believe even for a second that someone might mean the things they say and speak freely of their heart and soul? Because your definition of what "serious" actually is has been warped by our society's horrible opinion of serious?

    And why is it that our society has such a low opinion of being serious? I'm not calling people putzes specifically to be mean, so let me elaborate on a theory I have; I think being serious scares people. I think they associate it too often with tragedy or bad points in their lives. I think to acknowledge someone like me, with my serious nature, is to face problems they avoid by always trying to maintain a light atmosphere. In other words, people are cowards.

    That isn't my only theory. Another theory that I have is that people think being serious means they have to exercise some level of intellect. Now, while my opinion of the human race as a whole consists of an entire encyclopedia of demeaning phrases I could use to describe it, genuine stupidity isn't one of them. People do stupid things, but people are not stupid, and I will not allow anyone to attempt to declare themselves stupid just so they can be excused from showing intelligence. Someone like me makes people uncomfortable because not only are people lazy by nature (Don't deny it, even I'm lazy, we all are when we're allowed to be) but they are not typically known for their self confidence. Being around someone like me seems to give people test-anxiety of a sort, and that appalls me. Why should people feel that being serious means having encyclopedic knowledge of the subject at hand? Their attempts at making light of the subject indicates to me a lack of anything serious to say about it, but "serious" doesn't mean "intelligent," it doesn't even mean factual, it means you're approaching the subject in a sober manner or giving it a considerate amount of weight.

    My final theory is that people are obsessed with having fun. This seems the most plausible, as people are always trying to goof off when they don't feel they are inhibited by restrictions, which sounds like something children would do, but then I have to wonder what defines a child and what differs in an adult, but questions of the abstract concept we call maturity are for a different entry. My observation on this subject is that someone like me saps the fun out of everything for people, making it dull and gay just because I wanted to analyze it. I am not sure why involved thoughts on a subject, especially a piece of fictional media, ruin it for some people. That gives me the impression that they do not like to think at all, that they'd just like one thing they don't have to think about, probably because they feel they have to think too much already, which I honestly can't imagine as a valid argument against my want to analyze everything because I never get tired of thinking. Maybe it is possible that some people have less cranial energy to spare on every subject, or maybe people feel that thinking about it ruins the whimsy in the same way that learning a skill disenchants its products. (Looking at a piece of art when you understand how to draw is significantly less magical when you have a technical knowledge of its composition, for example.) But I do not see why this would so ruin something for someone. If anything, considering the workings of a fictional universe makes it more enchanting for me, it makes it seem wider, it doesn't even have to be canon for me to enjoy my own theories about it.

    A good example of me taking my entertainment seriously would be a time when a fellow Zelda fanatic and I tried to piece together the chronology. I am sure that some groans were audible at the last sentence and, yes, we did argue, we even nerd-raged once, but is that all people really look at when they see two nerds being serious about video games? Do they think it's all anger and hate? Because it isn't. Just because we argued doesn't mean we didn't enjoy it, even the arguments are fond memories of mine.

    I bring this up for a reason. Do people view seriousness as the harbinger of conflict? Are people terrified of conflict, even the kind that can be fun? Is it because people are sensitive? Maybe so, it seems to add up.

    In any case, I am extremely distraught with how my attempts at being serious are often met. It's in my nature to be this way, it's enjoyable for me to be this way, I do not see why it has to be treated as the affront that everyone makes it out to be, it's really quite disheartening. I wish I could talk more to people who did not simply throw up their hands and wish to make light of everything.