This is what we get for over indulging on irony starting in the 90s.
Nothing has meaning anymore.
But maybe correlation isn’t causation…
I’ve become more and more aware of “Irony poisoning” in every facet of our culture, from movies to memes to every other human interaction.
Maybe because of social media influence, we’re so scared that holding any kind of sincerity will reveal a vulnerability that will be ruthlessly attacked…
We must be ready to say “No I don’t mean that seriously” and change our projection within a moment’s notice when the culture winds change again.
It’s so bad anymore that people now need to add “un-ironically” to explain that they genuinely feel anything at all…
… and sometimes that’s said ironically.
we’re so scared that holding any kind of sincerity will reveal a vulnerability that will be ruthlessly attacked…
Ian Bogost defines this sort of thing as ironoia in his book Play Anything. Holding the world at a distance through ironic engagement.
What you are pointing out is slightly different, but very much along the same lines.
I found the book helpful to illuminate how ironic culture was a bad force when growing up and going through vulnerable stages.
Yeah I’m trying to learn to be sincere and it’s hard. When all your culture has emphasized for your entire life is irony and exaggeration it’s hard to judge scale and to be sincere. But it’s important, how can we dealienate without being able to sincerely express ourselves
