Snap Judgements..

[scorpionldr]

I felt inspired to look at stingray89's recent thread about why he is ashamed of his generation, and I have some of my own thoughts on why things appear to be growing increasingly stagnant in our generation.

I think it all comes down to snap judgements thats effecting art and music, etc. Its amazing how quickly now someone can kill another's creativity simply by listening to a piece of music for under a minute and say something like "sounds like video game music" or "has machine gun drums" just because it was written say, for instance, on a computer. The same applies to art. If its a beautiful picture of a maple tree most won't bother to venture farther than "it's a tree."

Commercialism, in my view, also relies on snap presentations, because of the fact that the only real message you can get out in about 15-30 seconds is "BUY IT!" ....The only way an artist or a product can even explain what it is about is taking a whole series of watered down pieces of their own art and making collages of several 2 second actions being carried out to demonstrate potential. With that sort of publicity at stake, how can we expect anything greater?

The fact that the country now has xbox360, ps3, and hdtv all in their living rooms is no additional help, seeing as most can't be bothered to leave their homes for much except for work. Why would we want to create anything new or innovational when all the work has been done for us by corporations while we're slaving away delivering packages or entering data from keyboards?

I just find it kind of interesting that one person can mention they are ashamed of their own generation when technology itself has reduced the motivations of the public to the point there's not much will to create anything new because its instantly dismissible.

Whats your thoughts?

[Deluge Of Sound]

I think that you're making a snap judgement about our culture's snap judgements.

[line6man]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

I think that you're making a snap judgement about our culture's snap judgements.

I'm not sure if that was meant to be funny or serious, but I agree.

[scorpionldr]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

I think that you're making a snap judgement about our culture's snap judgements.

perhaps I am. But I'm not sure I can say as much as I did in just one snap.

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by line6man

I'm not sure if that was meant to be funny or serious, but I agree.

This brings to mind one of my favorite quotes:
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
-George Bernard Shaw

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

perhaps I am. But I'm not sure I can say as much as I did in just one snap.

I think you could condense what you wrote into a snap. Not to say that you're wrong, but I think that the issue at hand has a few more nuances than simply stating the problem.

Here's an awesome article that's related to what we're talking about (although it more directly discusses Pitchfork and their influence among listeners):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...042800457.html

[scorpionldr]

I think its interesting, but my main point for writing was that it just seems as if we're at the point with technology that it doesn't seem like people are able to give a **** about achieving these days, or at the very least taking notice of things beyond their appearances.

[Deluge Of Sound]

But that's exactly it--who do you blame for that? The populace? The companies?
Is this actually a real trend? Why did it happen? Why is it continuing to happen? Is this an informal observation, or are you repeating something that you read? Are you, perhaps, repeating something that you have read that tends to jive with your observations?

Nuance, man, nuance!

[scorpionldr]

Time and commercialism, combined with art no longer being about art anymore. Every artist wants to find the quickest way to arouse the industry's senses by repeating something thats already been done before.

Its a xerox culture. Button pusher society. You copy a copy of a copy, and what do you get? Another copy, thats nowhere near the par of the original.

[L-A]

Actually, the examples you give show more of an individual's lack of ability to analyse complex works. Snap-judgement, or use of stereotypes, comes from this person's habit of using qualificatives that encompass more than they could conclude alone.

AKA it's-not-their-fault-but-yes-it's-dumb.

[sarcastro83]

[scorpionldr]

Originally Posted by L-A

Actually, the examples you give show more of an individual's lack of ability to analyse complex works. Snap-judgement, or use of stereotypes, comes from this person's habit of using qualificatives that encompass more than they could conclude alone.

AKA it's-not-their-fault-but-yes-it's-dumb.

True, but with that sort of person as a type making up an entire audience of the arts, how can we expect anything great to be created?

Where's the potential?

[EBodious]

funny, i did go thru the "what's wrong with this new generation" thread cause that complaint is so common. it has been made for, literally, thousands of years. i once posted quotes as far back as plato.

i once had a professor that made the point that it is a disservice (really an insult) to the human imagination to think that the latest technology will stunt our future creativity. technological advancements have and will always continue. so will our adaptability and our imaginations. aspects of them will change, so art may not look like it used to, but that doesn't mean it is lesser, just different.

this, of course, just my opinion. i liked the prof's perspective. OTOH, i still limit my kids' screen time as much as i can. i like hands on, real world stuff.

[PSPookie]

Then again, the ability to quickly recognize paterns and make snap judgements has been crucial to the survival of homo sapiens. So I guess it's not all bad.

[L-A]

Originally Posted by PSPookie

Then again, the ability to quickly recognize paterns and make snap judgements has been crucial to the survival of homo sapiens. So I guess it's not all bad.

It's necessary. If we didn't classify (pretty efficiently I must say), we'd need to go through the whole "Oh! you can sit on it!" process every time we see a new chair.

Also, on a completely different tangent - disillusion and faux-smartness is a fashion statement right now. Maybe that's just that.

[scorpionldr]

Originally Posted by EBodious

i once had a professor that made the point that it is a disservice (really an insult) to the human imagination to think that the latest technology will stunt our future creativity. technological advancements have and will always continue. so will our adaptability and our imaginations. aspects of them will change, so art may not look like it used to, but that doesn't mean it is lesser, just different.

if technology is used in art like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdwN6rRU0Xk
then we are most certainly thinking productively.
But to see just how many people around me (in my own town) that call themselves friends can't be bothered to start a musical project with myself or any other people because of simple reasons like "it would take time" or "because I'm tired" is an acceptable, yet disappointing excuse, considering how many will feed hours of their day to cablevision.

Or the fact that many people view doing something like remixing (or making any other form of music for that matter in their own eye's image) wouldn't be "commercially acceptable". What kind of depraved lives do we live where we have to consider the validity of our own ideas because they may be similar to others that thought them before us?

What if Mozart or Bach used these excuses?

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

perhaps I am. But I'm not sure I can say as much as I did in just one snap.

3 Snaps in Z formation?

[tZer]

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

I felt inspired to look at stingray89's recent thread about why he is ashamed of his generation, and I have some of my own thoughts on why things appear to be growing increasingly stagnant in our generation.

I think it all comes down to snap judgements thats effecting art and music, etc. Its amazing how quickly now someone can kill another's creativity simply by listening to a piece of music for under a minute and say something like "sounds like video game music" or "has machine gun drums" just because it was written say, for instance, on a computer. The same applies to art. If its a beautiful picture of a maple tree most won't bother to venture farther than "it's a tree."

Commercialism, in my view, also relies on snap presentations, because of the fact that the only real message you can get out in about 15-30 seconds is "BUY IT!" ....The only way an artist or a product can even explain what it is about is taking a whole series of watered down pieces of their own art and making collages of several 2 second actions being carried out to demonstrate potential. With that sort of publicity at stake, how can we expect anything greater?

The fact that the country now has xbox360, ps3, and hdtv all in their living rooms is no additional help, seeing as most can't be bothered to leave their homes for much except for work. Why would we want to create anything new or innovational when all the work has been done for us by corporations while we're slaving away delivering packages or entering data from keyboards?

I just find it kind of interesting that one person can mention they are ashamed of their own generation when technology itself has reduced the motivations of the public to the point there's not much will to create anything new because its instantly dismissible.

Whats your thoughts?

What you are describing is superficiality. It's not necessarily as pervasive as you may think because the deeper thinkers don't really hit the radar.

Things that require a more considered opinion are things that a superficial person won't be interested in. That's not to say that an entire generation is superficial - just the ones who insist on being seen and heard.

[scorpionldr]

I personally think superficiality is something a person should attain when they've learned enough about a subject to be that shallow. And from my perspective, thats a non-existant point. But thats just me.

people have no visible appreciation or recognition towards anything of the past, yet manage to make a meaningless comment on it anyways. I think it'd be amazing how much could change tho, if people actually DID bother to learn.

[MEKer]

I am never wrong with my snap judgments. I admit that I thought I was once, but luckily, I was mistaken.

[tZer]

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

I personally think superficiality is something a person should attain when they've learned enough about a subject to be that shallow. And from my perspective, thats a non-existant point. But thats just me.

people have no visible appreciation or recognition towards anything of the past, yet manage to make a meaningless comment on it anyways. I think it'd be amazing how much could change tho, if people actually DID bother to learn.

If you are looking for shallow, self-absorbed people who don't have time to invest in contemplative exercises, you'll certainly find them.

If you are looking for considerate, patient people who are interested in plumbing the depths, you'll them too.

I wouldn't be so quick to judge an entire generation. That's what shallow, self-absorbed members of previous generations do.

I tell my kids all the time - if you are looking for reasons to be disgusted or disappointed, you will always find them.