A Commonplace Book

"Interesting" is a kind of linguistic connective tissue. When introducing an idea, it's easier to say "interesting" than to think of an introduction that's simultaneously descriptive but not a spoiler. I hear interesting all the time at conferences when someone is introducing a speaker. I hear interesting on the radio, when a host introduces an upcoming interview. These flighty little protocols happen so rapidly that they transit almost below the level of conscious discourse, serving only to prime me to pay attention.

In practice, interesting is a synonym for entertaining.

...What's the result of society's increasing emphasis on entertainment over substance? Novelty and innovation are valued above rigour; boring truth loses out to flamboyant falsehoods. I see it in today's click-bait headlines, and even in the practice of science.