What happened?! My last post was months ago and since then the world has become a different place entirely. New President, new Economy, new Job, new Year. Let’s take those in order: I’m hopeful, but not too much. I’m grateful I have a job and thinking about what positive experiences I can have in a down economy. I’m excited about it and looking forward to working hard. New year’s are much like the ones before them, except I’m older.
I’m back at the Capitol working in the Speaker’s Office as a legislative consultant for the Democratic Caucus. I’m also been appointed to a city commission here in Davis. The Historical Resources Commission reviews the historical assets of the city and reviews petitions to change and alter them before they go to the city council. This is the first time I’ve actively pursued civic duty and it’ll be interesting to see how the city’s commissions work and interact with the city council and community.
As I have the time I’ll be making some changes to the site, updating the various sections in an attempt to give the site a more centralized theme and purpose. Since my interests are so eclectic, you can still expect to see peculiar posts here at times. Don’t get your expectations up, this is going to happen slowly. I’m pretty busy with work and living my life. Anyway on to the actual reason for this post: Dilettantism!
I’ve commented multiple times over on Gamestooge about music rhythm games, Wii Music, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band, and how they don’t help people learn how to play or appreciate music more. If anything introducing these games to children and young adults will distract them from learning the skills necessary to play music and/or turn them off to the difficulty inherent in the task as the games will difficult are easy enough to master and memorize while learning piano, guitar, drums, any instrument really is a difficult endeavor. I’ve been having trouble putting these thoughts into words but I’ve found a great article by Rob Horning about the very same topic that is worth the read. The problem as he sees it and the one that I completely missed is that in our consumerist world is that we’ve largely replaced mastering of a topic or area with collecting stuff regarding it! We’ve replaced personal accomplishment with personal collections. Instead of learning the ins and outs of music, we just collect music. Instead of absorbing and mastering philosophy, or history, or calligraphy, or anything, we buy things that are about them and then point to these collections of stuff as a sign of our mastery/expertise without ever having to invest the time and energy that is necessary to actually master them.
Just a thought. What do you think? Are these just games? Or indicators of a decline in our culture’s ability to commit? What things in your own life have you found yourself taking the easy route by collecting stuff instead of time and energy? For me it’s been writing and illustration. I’ve collected piles of stuff that should be used to better my craft but have still yet to put the effort into it.
I have little, to add regarding my own experiences being a self-proclaimed connoisseur who is really nothing more than a collector, and I’m not sure that I see signs of decline in this respect, but I have noted the phenomenon and have often shaken my head wistfully at the myriad people who never take the time to look anything up or do original research.
First and foremost I notice this phenomenon in scripture study. When I was 18, I decided that it would be appalling for me to continue claiming to be a Christian and to have not read through the Bible, so, I read through the Bible (and a few other such books as you would be familiar with). Nevertheless, as I look around me and speak to others, I find that very few of my peers, including Christians of other faiths, have read through the Bible, and if it was appalling for me to continue into adulthood claiming to be a Christian, knowing but little more than the soundbites and anecdotes inherited from the serious study of others, I cannot help but be disappointed in my fellow man. I have always been impressed with the more thorough and sound understanding demonstrated by those who have taken the time to sit down and do the work of reading their scriptures. (Putatively, more than simply reading would be recommended, but then I suppose my observation may be due to the probable fact that those who have taken the time to do the harder work, are more likely to value what they obtain from it and also put effort into maintaining what they have obtained.)
However, as you have noted, this phenomenon is not merely religious, and I have noted such as well. When I decided it would be worth my while to learn about the Dead Sea Scrolls, I read them (the translations, of course), and religious studies majors commended me for putting more effort into the task than their coursework had required of them (granted, coursework is likely to be broadly focused). And, while one might fault me for not trying to learn the original language, (though I think there are actually few who would be so picky) I have not turned a blind eye to languages either. Currently, I am working my way through a textbook on Middle Egyptian. I’m pro-life and appalled by Roe v. Wade, but unlike many others, I have read the decision, as well as Griswold v. Connecticut which sets some of the precedent upon which the (no less precedent setting Roe v. Wade) decision was based. Having read the decisions, I can tell you rather precisely what I think is wrong with them. (Unfortunately, since nobody else reads, it is rather difficult to get much constructive feedback.) I’ve read the constitution. I’ve read the Federalist Papers. I know something about what my rights are, but it is appallingly clear to me that the population at large does not. The population at large thinks their rights effectively equate to whatever they think is good, (hence many smokers think they have the “right” to smoke wherever they want, and many others think they have a fundamental right to pornography, or birth control, or any other such ridiculous thing) and they care nothing for the basis upon which those rights might be predicated.
I have read my former party’s latest platform and know that I support it, and what it is that I stand for when I say that I’m a Republican. (I’ll be back, but I unregistered as a Republican in protest over the party’s support of John McCain during the primary. I don’t read the platform every time it’s published, but I think it important to keep myself reasonably informed regarding what it is my party stands for.)
I could go on, but I’ve written at length already. Clearly it is not enough simply to read these things, but few even go to that length. We live in a day and age when these things are accessible, and while not everyone is Christian, and not everyone is a U.S. citizen, we almost all have interests, and groups we support and identify ourselves with. Regarding interests, such as science, languages, etc., it is clear that there is far more information available than we could ever digest in a lifetime simply by reading and experimenting. I think it is telling simply that we make the effort to try.
Collecting is important. It has often been said that the only science is physics, and everything else is stamp collecting. Honestly, a lot of stamp collecting goes on in physics, and I think a lot of real science goes on outside of physics. However, even the stamp collecting has value, if it is done right. I think that one might even argue that there is no science which is not stamp collecting. It is not the collecting that is appalling, it is the neglect of what we collect that is appalling, and to some extent, the choice of what to collect.
This neglect, I think, is a kind of intellectual sloth.
It is evident that the de-classics-ification of our society has been the impending doom of intellectuality everywhere. Yet, how many classes of calligraphy and music have *we* taken? I know Chinese, you know Portuguese, but mostly out of our religious cultural happenstance. I highly agree that important and every useful skills are being ignored by the focus on video games, but how many instruments do *we* play?
When I ponder this question, I often find it easier to point the finger at education or parents and blame them for the lack of sufficient education, though I think they actually did well with what they had. I think my biggest and most visceral fear is that being a Renaissance man today actually requires more focus and sustained effort than in times past. Our educational system may celebrate mediocrity, but we somehow managed to preserve the idea the Benjamin Franklin and others have had over the years: the ultimate in education is to educate oneself.
BTW apple’s Garageband does provide music lessons…at a price. I’m sure that we could work on getting that to become more open-sourced in the future. Let’s start by learning the piano first, eh?
Also, post all you can on your involvement in the commission! I want to know from eye-witnesses what civics is all about (and can’t wait to get involved myself).
I’ll have to say that Guitar Hero has actually helped with my music. I’ve played it but a few times, and in those few times, I’ve learned a new way to look at rhythm, and it inspired me to pick up my guitar again. That is all.