Thursday, August 4, 2011

That's Deep Irks Me

I've gotten immune to being called "deep." It seems like the phrase people throw around when they don't know how to respond to what you said, but they know it means something; instead of coming up with something equally "deep" to say, they just say "that was deep."

In my training class a few days ago we were asked, during downtime, if we could travel to any place and any time, where would we go. After the few preliminary Jaimaicas and Hawaiis I was asked the same question. It was a tough one, as I enjoy lots of different time periods and cultures (namely the 1920s and '60s), but I decided on Civil Rights Era America. I know, not much of a vacation.

But life now is like a vacation to most people, as opposed to what it was back then. I feel like I don't appreciate how much has happened to make not only my life, but life in general, as good as it most times is. Sure, I'm usually dissatisfied, but that's more of a me being dark and twisty thing than me actually complaining. As my philosophy class taught me, it's better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.

Seconds of silence passed before someone said the inevitable "that's deep." And then they went on to discuss Hawaii versus Jamaica.

I think my problem with the "That's deep/You're deep" conundrum is that so many people say it, and then forget about it thirty seconds later. I understand that for the minute or so I said it, it took some resonance but for the most part they were unchanged in their thinking and unwilling to elevate themselves to that frequency of thought. And that irks me.

5 comments:

Squeak Williams said...

that was deep Tes. Just playing, although sometimes during a convo u say its deep but the point is to try to take things even deeper. I haven't seen u on VSB lately tho.

Anonymous said...

I agree that "deep" is overused in a lot of conversations. I think people confuse "deep" with "thoughtful".

Wu

I Am Your People said...

Of course you're deep....since I look at everything on the internet in terms of "is this more intellectual than Tyrese or no?"

Tess said...

@ Squeak: I haven't been around much because of my new job. It keeps me up and out at odd times. I didn't know I'd be missed though :) so thanks for that.

@ Wu: Thoughtful and insightful are better terms, yes, but when used in the same "Wow that was something beyond anything I even want to do or think about" sort of way, it has the same meaninglessness to it.

@ IAYP: That is oddly all parts hilarious and depressing.

Athena Carson said...

Good observation on how people pronounce something "deep" and then forget about it in 30 seconds. Welcome to the human condition, where people in general are fickle and intellectually lazy. 'S why it can be very difficult to form legitimate connections with people. Not impossible; just very difficult.