It’s hard to judge an age from the present. Did the renaissance artists in the 14th Century call themselves renaissance artists? No, that came later. Our present age, if it is indeed the age of Irony, will only become so when those people in the future look back and give it a name to separate it historically from the other specific ages. There is plenty to take seriously in this age. It just depends where you look. The problem is that the explosion of instant communication and technological advances in this time period makes things seem more ‘busy’ and even ‘light-hearted’ than previous ages. If we as humans would have had computers 300 years earlier thanks, Dark Ages, for nothing things would be very interesting indeed. Good Question.