Why Be Serious?

I was glancing through the headlines of articles in the online versions of two ostensibly serious and thoughtful news/political/cultural related magazines, on different sides of the spectrum, The New Republic and The National Review, and found myself wondering whether they or similar journals are read anymore, and if so by whom?

It may be a mere suspicion, but I think fewer and fewer people read them.  One of the reasons for this, I believe, is that some effort is required to read them.  We're lazy intellectually, and when simple, agreeable or disagreeable, opinions are available without effort on our part, why seek out any other?  Particularly when we may respond to them instantaneously if we wish in a similarly simple fashion, why look for an opinion we might have to think about while reading it or responding to it?  Why, indeed, read at all? There are people who talk incessantly about everything available to be heard and seen 24 hours a day.

Another reason we may avoid reading them is that we're sick of pundits, a reason I can understand.  Yet another is that we think ourselves quite capable of coming to our own conclusions and forming our own opinions, and don't need anyone to express them for us; not anymore.  We can, and do, express them in the vast universe of the Internet whenever we have access to a keyboard, or can establish a podcast.

It's difficult to be serious--to give anything serious consideration.  It's particularly difficult to give opposing opinions serious consideration.  It's even more difficult to think.  Seriousness is a burden, and one we can do without; one we may always have wanted to do without.  Now we can because we need not listen to anyone else for any reason to have confirmation of what we think we already know or is desirable or right, or evil or wrong.  We need not seek answers or information.  We know that we're correct because there are so many like us and we may find them and revel in our sameness and ignorance shared by so many throughout the world.

Certainly there's no need to be taught anything.  The Internet is the great leveler.  It's not necessary to be intelligent, or rich, or powerful, or influential, or widely-read or educated to be "published" or become immortal, to be available if not looked-for, as anyone can achieve these things, to cause concern or disturb or enlighten others.  There's nothing special about them anymore.  More and more, there's nothing special about anyone or anything.

Simply put, there's no reason to take thought, or speech, or opinion, seriously, and many reasons not to do so.  Other things may be serious; for example, money or the lack of it, or death, or good food, good health, comfort and ease.  Material things, in other words, as they're commonly called.  They're not readily available, and not even our ability to project ourselves into the immateriality of the Internet will satisfy our need for them.