Earnest is Better Than Hip

"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.

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.

When I think of someone who is earnest, I think of a Boy Scout who works hard and becomes an Eagle Scout. When I was interviewing people to work for me, and I came upon a candidate who had been an Eagle Scout, I’d almost always try to hire him.  I knew there had to be an earnestness about him that outweighed any superficial urges toward hipness.

Becoming an Eagle Scout is just about the only thing you can put on your resume at age fifty that you did at age fourteen – and it still impresses.

Taken from Randy Pausch’s book, “The Last Lecture”, chapter 29. 

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who was dying of pancreatic cancer, gave his now famous last lecture at the university, Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.  To view the lecture, visit www.thelastlecture.com

Pausch, a professor of computer science, human computer interaction and design,  co-founded Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center and was the creator of the Alice interactive computing program, which is being used by students worldwide.