I am a big fan of jazz… I listen to a lot of jazz, (although of late,
I have been engaged with classical far more then Jazz)…
anyway, I don’t listen to recent jazz… I listen to Miles Davis basically,
and one of my favorite albums is “Kind of Blue”…and for many, many
people, this is the greatest Jazz album of all time…and the best selling
jazz album of all time… critics and many people believe that Davis is the
greatest Jazz musician of all time… but, not everyone agrees…
there are some who will list John Coltrane as the best jazz musician of
all time and that the best album is Coltrane’s “A love Supreme”……
and there are some who say its it Dave Brubeck and the best album is
“Time out” and the song, “Take five” as the best Jazz song ever…
now how are we to best judge which music is the best, really is the best jazz
music?
how do we quantify which Jazz musician or the best album or the best jazz song?
what criteria should we use to judge what Jazz music or musician is the best?
Now comes the interesting part, I say that jazz is the greatest type of music
ever created, and some might agree and some, many won’t agree…
and some will say, classical or rock or progressive rock or alternative rock
or country western… yuck…… is the best music ever created…
how do we choose?
because the act of listening to music is subjective… there simply isn’t
any way for us to quantify the best music, genre or album or song or
musician… so how do we make this judgement personally?
it isn’t done on the logical, rational level… music appeals to the
irrational, emotional side of us…… and we judge our music
on irrational, emotional aspects… if it moves us, it is great…
and if it doesn’t move us, it isn’t………
music appeals to that which is inside the soul… when I was young,
I listen to loud rock and roll… that no longer appeals to my soul…
I am an old man… and the music that appeals to me, that moves my soul
is softer, gentler, quieter music…….although I still listen to “the Who”
and other 70’s rock and I still listen to alternative music… but again, these
days, I mostly listen to new age music, classical and jazz music…
but that decision isn’t based upon logic or rationalism…
my decision is based purely upon irrationalism and emotion…
now, I would suggest that much of our decision making process
is done exactly the same way as we choose our music…
when I favor freedom over security/safety… I am making that decision based
upon what feels most comfortable to me, exactly like how I choose
my music upon… my decisions are done irrationally and emotionally…
freedom appeals to my soul much more then security/safety…
and I would suggest that is how people make such decisions…
that it becomes more then just need based, it comes from
what we feel is right, not by logic or rationalism…
people become democrats and cheer for the SF giants baseball team
and march the streets for Row vs wade… not because they are making
logical, rational choices, but because those causes are causes people
desire by irrationalism and emotionalism…
when I fight IQ45… it isn’t done by being rational or logical…
I fight IQ45 because I am against him, emotionally, irrationally…
and people who fight for the village idiot also fight because they
are making their decisions based upon emotions and irrationalism…
now we cannot, cannot escape us making many such decisions
emotionally or irrationally… we are human beings and we
make decisions emotionally and irrationally… that is the
instinctual, evolutionary aspect of being human…
we still operate in decision making with instincts and
emotions developed over the last million years…
but as I have noted before, as the society become more complex
and developed… we can no longer be so dependent upon our
instincts, our emotions to sway us into making our decisions for us…
at what point does the switch need to be make where we begin to
make our decision from irrationally to rationally, from instinct/emotionally
to logical?
I say with the fate of the planet earth hanging in the balance,
perhaps now would be a good time to make our decisions logically,
rationally………
instead of basing our decisions upon our own personal needs and desires,
we begin to base our decision upon what is best for the continued survival
of the earth and the continued survival of the species called human beings…
that we are dependent upon the other living creature that also exists
on planet earth cannot be denied, so we must also take into account
the continued existence of animals/plants/ tree’s… if we are to continue
our own existence…….
we think of existence in terms of the future, not in terms of the past or present…
we make decisions based upon how it effects the future, not how it affects
the present or the past…we can no longer afford to think like conservatives
and think solely of the past or the present……
it is taking into account the future that will allow us to make less irrational
or emotional decisions…
a good rule of the thumb is “we leave the earth in better shape then we found it”
and of course, the question arises, what is better?
better is simply, we leave more possibilities and opportunities to our children
and grandchildren… we leave them with more choices and possibilities then we had…
so if we no longer drive animals or habitats into extinction, that allows our children
greater possibilities, greater opportunities… when we use up resources or
cause the extinction of animals, we reduce choices/possibilities…
if you can’t use something because it is gone, it no longer becomes
a possibility… if I run out of gas in my car, I have lost the opportunity
to go somewhere… I must refill my car with gas before I
can create new possibilities/opportunities…….
the greater the choices, the greater the possibilities…
and to become human, fully human we must understand
how important choices and possibilities are for human beings…
so we no longer drive for the pursuit of happiness or of material
possessions or of greed or lust or anger or hate… those
drives, those passion, those desires don’t improve
the choices or possibilities we human have…
what is the role of human beings?
to engage with our choices and possibilities……
and that is the pursuit we must follow…
not knowledge or wealth or titles or happiness or renunciation of desires…
or even achieving desires…
no, it is the creation of choices and possibilities that become
what it means to be human…………
Kropotkin