Love this! I live in south Louisiana, and when my favorite Italian restaurant changed ownership a few years ago, it switched from playing Italian opera to jazz. Great as Louis Armstrong is, he can’t nearly elevate a glass of Chianti like Puccini!
I don't know if this is common in Ireland, but I was once in Dublin in a pub that had -per tradition- no music, and it was by far my favorite one there. Just to be able to actually have a conversation going and also to realize we don't need it.
Maybe in much more quiet cafes we can bring back oldskool jukeboxes :)
In NYC it seems there's never an environment without music and I find it comforting sometimes when I hear an impromptu performance of "Bye Bye Bye" on the electric violin while my mind is distracted by other things. All the noise just makes me enjoy the silence more; I think in the US especially people aren't comfortable with silence and so times where there isn't just noise that clashes with the environment but no noise at all are pretty rare.
I'd take it one step further, even. You know how video games often have music written specially for them that can go on to outlive the games themselves? I'm thinking of the soundtrack to games like Pokémon, Legend of Zelda, Skyrim, Persona, Nier, Final Fantasy, Minecraft, etc. I often put on music from these games in the background of my room to study or fall asleep to. Why not have music specially written for our environments? I don't see why we can have such a wonderful soundtrack accompanying Jubilife City in Pokémon Daimond and Pearl, but not for our IRL cities!
I cannot agree more. Sound diarrhea goes with us everywhere. Unfortunately, most people don't notice or mind, because our eyes take the lions share of our attention.
We should mind, though. Thanks for writing about it Alex. Maybe our eyes, reading this, will turn out attention back to our ears and our soundscape, at least for today
The rapture of rumination on the revelations of the forthcoming fills my fervent focus. I envision a world where the esoteric embellishments of technological transcendence permeate the pedestrian populace. In this realm of radical reimagination, the ubiquitous auditory ambience no longer assaults our senses with standardized sonority. Nay, the melodies that entrance our ears are tailored to the exclusive enchantments of each esteemed individual.
No longer do we suffer the sonic soliloquies spewing from superfluous speakers, imposing their insipid incantations upon the unsuspecting. Instead, the euphonious ecstasies that enrapture our ears are expertly engineered to the exclusive elegance of our own exquisite enchantments. The ephemeral edifices of something akin to Elon's neural eminence have at last breached the barriers of the bourgeois, bestowing upon us the bountiful blessings of bespoke aural appreciation.
Ah, to luxuriate in the lush landscapes of personalized perception, where the world's wondrous weavings are woven to our own wistful whims! No longer must we languish in the limiting limitations of standardized sensations, for the future beckons with a panoply of possibilities tailored to our unique tastes and temperaments. Let us then embrace this era of extraordinary enlightenment, where the mundane melts away, and the magnificent mysteries of the mind reign supreme.
Hi Alex, I'd love for you to get David Deutsch back on to discuss the philosophy of knowledge. He has a lot to say on this subject and a large following based on it. He would also have good criticism on your Emotivism. He talks a lot about emotions just being implicit explanations. It would be a great conversation.
Yep I'm up for hearing him discuss anything and beauty is a rich subject bringing in design, craft, art, and of course nature as well as perception and culture. I think my problem with his comments here on music and previously on (modern) architecture is that he seems to be coming from the presumption that its intrusive and he doesn’t want to be subjected to it involuntarily. He doesn't say the same thing about other aspects of the culture he finds himself living in. I find that a pity, because on everything else I think he takes a much more investigative non-judgemental stance. And I think that's what he does best.
Alex I love to hear you talking philosophy. Recent episodes with Destiny and Folley were especially compelling. You even make religion interesting (Demiurge) and 15 out of 10 for getting at least some sense out of Peterson. I marvel at your ability to say stuff in the moment that I would have wished I had thought of weeks later. But - you knew there'd be a but. I am really saddened to hear you moan about the culture we live in. I cringed hearing you whingeing about architecture last winter. Now you moan about music in restaurants.
It's there because the proprietors have discovered that it gets them enough extra custom to pay for the sound system and the copyright licenses. That's the culture we live in. Also because human perception of sound volume is logarithmic it masks conversation and gives privacy to customers. You're in a tiny minority. Please don't become an old fogey. You're better than this!
I don’t quite understand your objection to Alex’s view. Is there a reason he shouldn’t express his aesthetic sensibilities and preferences? Also, I don’t think that being in the “minority” tends to bother him much :)
I value his work because he retains a fantastic ability to argue sensitively and intelligently, often drawing people out because he treads a fine line between challenge and reflection. Grumbling about what other people enjoy is what plebs like us do. Alex is usually much better than that.
I value those same qualities in his work, but I guess I would say that I don’t find his aesthetic meditations lacking in that regard. In fact, that’s precisely what I appreciate about them.
Would you be more receptive to this kind of thing if he explicitly discussed beauty in a philosophical context first? It’s a very rich field of study. Or do you object to the topic of beauty itself on the whole?
Love this! I live in south Louisiana, and when my favorite Italian restaurant changed ownership a few years ago, it switched from playing Italian opera to jazz. Great as Louis Armstrong is, he can’t nearly elevate a glass of Chianti like Puccini!
I don't know if this is common in Ireland, but I was once in Dublin in a pub that had -per tradition- no music, and it was by far my favorite one there. Just to be able to actually have a conversation going and also to realize we don't need it.
Maybe in much more quiet cafes we can bring back oldskool jukeboxes :)
In NYC it seems there's never an environment without music and I find it comforting sometimes when I hear an impromptu performance of "Bye Bye Bye" on the electric violin while my mind is distracted by other things. All the noise just makes me enjoy the silence more; I think in the US especially people aren't comfortable with silence and so times where there isn't just noise that clashes with the environment but no noise at all are pretty rare.
I'd take it one step further, even. You know how video games often have music written specially for them that can go on to outlive the games themselves? I'm thinking of the soundtrack to games like Pokémon, Legend of Zelda, Skyrim, Persona, Nier, Final Fantasy, Minecraft, etc. I often put on music from these games in the background of my room to study or fall asleep to. Why not have music specially written for our environments? I don't see why we can have such a wonderful soundtrack accompanying Jubilife City in Pokémon Daimond and Pearl, but not for our IRL cities!
I cannot agree more. Sound diarrhea goes with us everywhere. Unfortunately, most people don't notice or mind, because our eyes take the lions share of our attention.
We should mind, though. Thanks for writing about it Alex. Maybe our eyes, reading this, will turn out attention back to our ears and our soundscape, at least for today
The rapture of rumination on the revelations of the forthcoming fills my fervent focus. I envision a world where the esoteric embellishments of technological transcendence permeate the pedestrian populace. In this realm of radical reimagination, the ubiquitous auditory ambience no longer assaults our senses with standardized sonority. Nay, the melodies that entrance our ears are tailored to the exclusive enchantments of each esteemed individual.
No longer do we suffer the sonic soliloquies spewing from superfluous speakers, imposing their insipid incantations upon the unsuspecting. Instead, the euphonious ecstasies that enrapture our ears are expertly engineered to the exclusive elegance of our own exquisite enchantments. The ephemeral edifices of something akin to Elon's neural eminence have at last breached the barriers of the bourgeois, bestowing upon us the bountiful blessings of bespoke aural appreciation.
Ah, to luxuriate in the lush landscapes of personalized perception, where the world's wondrous weavings are woven to our own wistful whims! No longer must we languish in the limiting limitations of standardized sensations, for the future beckons with a panoply of possibilities tailored to our unique tastes and temperaments. Let us then embrace this era of extraordinary enlightenment, where the mundane melts away, and the magnificent mysteries of the mind reign supreme.
Hi Alex, I'd love for you to get David Deutsch back on to discuss the philosophy of knowledge. He has a lot to say on this subject and a large following based on it. He would also have good criticism on your Emotivism. He talks a lot about emotions just being implicit explanations. It would be a great conversation.
Yep I'm up for hearing him discuss anything and beauty is a rich subject bringing in design, craft, art, and of course nature as well as perception and culture. I think my problem with his comments here on music and previously on (modern) architecture is that he seems to be coming from the presumption that its intrusive and he doesn’t want to be subjected to it involuntarily. He doesn't say the same thing about other aspects of the culture he finds himself living in. I find that a pity, because on everything else I think he takes a much more investigative non-judgemental stance. And I think that's what he does best.
Alex I love to hear you talking philosophy. Recent episodes with Destiny and Folley were especially compelling. You even make religion interesting (Demiurge) and 15 out of 10 for getting at least some sense out of Peterson. I marvel at your ability to say stuff in the moment that I would have wished I had thought of weeks later. But - you knew there'd be a but. I am really saddened to hear you moan about the culture we live in. I cringed hearing you whingeing about architecture last winter. Now you moan about music in restaurants.
It's there because the proprietors have discovered that it gets them enough extra custom to pay for the sound system and the copyright licenses. That's the culture we live in. Also because human perception of sound volume is logarithmic it masks conversation and gives privacy to customers. You're in a tiny minority. Please don't become an old fogey. You're better than this!
I don’t quite understand your objection to Alex’s view. Is there a reason he shouldn’t express his aesthetic sensibilities and preferences? Also, I don’t think that being in the “minority” tends to bother him much :)
I value his work because he retains a fantastic ability to argue sensitively and intelligently, often drawing people out because he treads a fine line between challenge and reflection. Grumbling about what other people enjoy is what plebs like us do. Alex is usually much better than that.
I value those same qualities in his work, but I guess I would say that I don’t find his aesthetic meditations lacking in that regard. In fact, that’s precisely what I appreciate about them.
Would you be more receptive to this kind of thing if he explicitly discussed beauty in a philosophical context first? It’s a very rich field of study. Or do you object to the topic of beauty itself on the whole?
I replied but It came out on the general thread instead of here.