Seriousness (noun; adjective: ''serious'') is an attitude of

gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

solemnity In the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite, a solemnity is a feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, his mother Mary, his legal father Joseph, or another important ...

, persistence, and

earnest Earnest is a masculine given name and a surname which may refer to: Given name *Earnest Andersson (1878–1943), American polymath *Earnest Brown IV (born 1999), American football player *Earnest Byner (born 1962), American football player *Earne ...

ness toward something considered to be of importance. Some notable philosophers and commentators have criticised excessive seriousness, while others have praised it.''The Puritans: A Sourcebook of Their Writings'', Perry Miller, Thomas Herbert Johnson, p. 59

/ref>''"Spirit of Seriousness"'', The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy, NICHOLAS BUNNIN and JIYUAN YU, editors

/ref>''Being and Nothingness'', Jean-Paul Sartre''Joseph Adler on Seriousness'', Dictionary Quotes.com, ww.dictionary-quotes.com/we-are-growing-serious-and-let-me-tell-you- thats-the-next-step-to-being-dull-addison-joseph//ref>''"High Seriousness"'', ''Historicism Once More: Problems and Occasions for the American Scholar'', Novel: A Forum on Fiction, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Spring, 1971), pp. 283–286, Roy Harvey Pearce, George Levine

/ref> Seriousness is often contrasted with

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

, as in the

seriocomedy Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...

.''Joel Chaston – Baum, Bakhtin, SAMMY and Broadway: A Centennial Look at the Carnival of Oz'', The Lion and the Unicorn – Volume 25, Number 1, January 2001, pp. 128–149, Joel D. Chaston

/ref> In the theory of humor, one must have a

sense of humor Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in t ...

and a

sense of seriousness Seriousness (noun; adjective: ''serious'') is an attitude of gravitas, gravity, :wikt:solemnity, solemnity, persistence, and :wikt:earnest, earnestness toward something considered to be of importance. Some notable philosophers and commentators ha ...

to distinguish what is supposed to be taken

literally ''Literally'' is an English adverb meaning "in a literal sense or manner" or an intensifier which strengthens the associated statement. It has been used as an intensifier in English for several centuries, though recently this has been considered ...

or not, or of being important or not. Otherwise, it may also be contrasted with a sense of

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

. How children learn a

to form values and differentiate between the serious and that which is not is studied in

developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development ...

and

educational psychology Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive psychology, cognitive and behavioral psychology, behavioral perspectives, allows researc ...

.''Variation in Seriousness of Transgressions and Children's Moral and Conventional Concepts'', Developmental Psychology Volume 24, Issue 3, May 1988, Pages 352–357, Marie S. Tisak, Elliot Turiel There is a distinction between the degree of seriousness of various crimes in

sentencing In criminal law, a sentence is the punishment for a crime ordered by a trial court after conviction in a criminal procedure, normally at the conclusion of a trial. A sentence may consist of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions. Sentences f ...

under the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, and also in

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

.''Offense Seriousness Scaling: An Alternative to Scenario Methods'', Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Volume 9, Number 3, 309–322, James P. Lynch and Mona J. E. Danner

/ref> There is a positive correlation with the degree of seriousness of a crime and viewer ratings of news coverage.''News Media Use and Public Perceptions of Crime Seriousness'', Canadian Journal of Criminology 3 (1988), Robert J. Gebotys, Julia V. Roberts, Bikram DasGupta What is or is not considered serious varies widely with different

cultures Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

.''Cultural Relativism and Comparative Criminology'', Crime, Law and Social Change, Volume 7, Number 4, pp. 371–391, Piers Beirne Sometimes fields studying degrees of seriousness overlap, such as developmental psychology studies of development of the sense of degrees of seriousness as it relates to transgressions, which has overlap with criminology and the seriousness of crimes.

Philosophical attitudes toward seriousness

Praise for "high seriousness" in scholarship and poetry

Some use "seriousness" as a term of praise for scholarship or in literary review. 19th century

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

cultural critic A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole. Cultural criticism has significant overlap with social and cultural theory. While such criticism is simply part of the self-consciousness of the culture, the social positions o ...

, and

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold (academic), Tom Arnold, literary professor, and Willi ...

said that the most important criteria used to judge the value of a poem were "high truth" and "high seriousness".

Philosophical disdain for seriousness

Many have expressed an attitude of disdain toward taking things too seriously, as opposed to viewing things with an attitude of humor. Poet, playwright, and philosopher

Joseph Addison Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 May 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest son of Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard Steele, with w ...

said that being serious is dull, "we are growing serious, and let me tell you, that's the next step to being dull." Political satirist

P.J. O'Rourke Patrick Jake O'Rourke (November 14, 1947 – February 15, 2022) was an American author, journalist, and political satirist who wrote twenty-two books on subjects as diverse as politics, cars, etiquette, and economics. '' Parliament of Whores'' ...

said that "Seriousness is stupidity sent to college."

Epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...

ist, poet, and playwright Oscar Wilde said that "life is too important to be taken seriously." In a play on words, novelist Samuel Butler indicated that the ''central serious conviction in life'' is that nothing should be taken with too much seriousness, "the one serious conviction that a man should have is that nothing is to be taken too seriously." In some

ascetic Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their pra ...

puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

religious sects, an attitude of seriousness is always to be taken, and

sobriety Sobriety is the condition of not having any effects from alcohol (drug), alcohol and other psychoactive drug, drugs. Sobriety is also considered to be the natural state of a human being at Childbirth, birth. A person in a state of sobriety is ...

, and puritanism with its hostility to social pleasures and indulgences are the only acceptable attitudes.

Perry Miller Perry Gilbert Eddy Miller (February 25, 1905 – December 9, 1963) was an American intellectual historian and a co-founder of the field of American Studies. Miller specialized in the history of early America and took an active role in a revis ...

, "the master of American intellectual history", wrote of excessive seriousness of the

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

s, "simple humanity cries at last for some relief from the interminable high seriousness of the Puritan code." And yet Bernard Dukore, quoting Joy Goodwin, observes the mutually reinforcing facets of seriousness with humor, " e fact that

n author N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

'can write witty repartee and slapstick scenarios with the best of them doesn’t mean that his play doesn’t have deep roots.' yckbourndraws iscomedy

n Intimate Exchanges N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

'from some of the most distressing corners of the human heart.'" In a similar vein, the philosopher

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...

wrote “A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.”

The "spirit of seriousness" in existential philosophy

Existentialist Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and value ...

philosopher

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

called the "spirit of seriousness" the belief that there is an objective and independent goodness in things for people to discover, and that this belief leads to

bad faith Bad faith (Latin: ''mala fides'') is a sustained form of deception which consists of entertaining or pretending to entertain one set of feelings while acting as if influenced by another."of two hearts ... a sustained form of deception which c ...

. He argued that people forget that values are not absolute, but are contingent and subjectively determined. In Sartre’s words, "the spirit of seriousness has two characteristics: it considers values as transcendent '' givens'', independent of human subjectivity, and it transfers the quality of ‘desirable’ from the

ontological Ontology is the philosophical study of being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of reality and every ...

structure of things to their simple material constitution."

Seriousness and comedy

Seriousness is sometimes contrasted with the comical in

humor Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...

. In the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, the

is a

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

which blends seriousness with the comical,

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

with

Measurement and detection

Detecting presence and absence of seriousness in humor

In the

theory of humor Although humor is a phenomenon experienced by most humans, its exact cause is a topic of heavy debate. There are many theories of humor which attempt to explain what it is, what social functions it serves, and what would be considered humorous. Al ...

, one must have a

and a sense of seriousness to distinguish what is supposed to be taken literally or not. An even more keen sense is needed when humor is used to make a serious point. Psychologists have studied how humor is intended to be taken as having seriousness, as when court jesters used humor to convey serious information.''Negotiating the Serious Import of Humor'', Sociometry, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Jun. 1969), pp. 169–181, Joan P. Emerson Conversely, when humor is not intended to be taken seriously,

bad taste ''Bad Taste'' is a 1987 New Zealand science-fiction action comedy horror film directed, produced and filmed by Peter Jackson, who also starred in it and co-wrote the screenplay, along with Tony Hiles and Ken Hammon. Independently produced on ...

in humor may cross a line after which it is taken seriously, though not intended.

Detecting degree of seriousness in developmental psychology

Developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development ...

and

, seriousness is studied as it relates to how children develop an ability to distinguish levels of seriousness as it relates to transgressions and expenditure of time; for example, a child must learn to distinguish between levels of seriousness in admonitions such as between "don't fidget" and "don't forget to look both ways when crossing the street", which have the same linguistic and normative structure, but different levels of seriousness.''"regarding the seriousness... their ability to understand the reality-fantasy distinction"'', ''Preschoolers' Moral Judgments: Distinctions Between Realistic and Cartoon-Fantasy Transgressions'', Proceedings of the 2004 conference on Interaction design and children: building a community, 2004, Kristen M. Peters, Fran C. Blumberg

Measuring degree of seriousness in crime

The degree of seriousness of crimes is an important factor relating to crime. One standard for measurement is the degree to which a crime affects others or society. A

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

is generally considered to be a crime of "high seriousness", while a

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...

is not. In

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

the degree of seriousness is considered when meting out punishment to fit the crime, and in considering to what extent overcrowded prison facilities will be used. Seriousness of a crime is a major factor in considerations of the allocation of scarce

funds. The meaning and measurement of seriousness is a major concern in

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

considerations. A quantitative scoring system called the "seriousness score" has been developed for use in allocating law enforcement resources and sentencing. As to England and Wales, see section 143 of the

Criminal Justice Act 2003 The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a wide-ranging measure introduced to modernise many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland a ...

Medical triage

Degrees of seriousness are used in medicine to make decisions about care. Seriousness is related to the effects of delaying or not having medical care. In an emergency hospital, the

triage In medicine, triage (, ; ) is a process by which care providers such as Health professional, medical professionals and those with first aid knowledge determine the order of priority for providing treatment to injured individuals and/or inform th ...

nurse must evaluate levels of seriousness of medical emergencies and rank them to determine order of care. Seriousness of illness is used to make decisions as to whether to perform invasive procedures such as surgery.

Measuring crime seriousness in the media

There is a

positive correlation In statistics, correlation or dependence is any statistical relationship, whether causal or not, between two random variables or bivariate data. Although in the broadest sense, "correlation" may indicate any type of association, in statisti ...

between the degree of seriousness of a crime and viewer ratings of news coverage.

Cultural variation in measurement and detection

What is considered serious varies widely across cultures and is studied in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

cultural anthropology Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The term ...

, and

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

; being of the wrong religious faith may be considered a serious crime in some cultures; smoking marijuana may be a serious crime in some cultures and not others; homosexuality a serious crime in some cultures; and prostitution is a serious crime in some cultures. Perception of seriousness is measured in assessing varying cultural perceptions on health risks.''Explaining Risk Perception: An Evaluation of the Psychometric Paradigm in Risk Perception Research'', Lennart Sjöberg, Bjørg-Elin Moen, Torbjørn Rundmo

/ref>

References

{{reflist Criminal law legal terminology Emotions Humour Philosophy of life