tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326339.post1794765480791075564..comments2023-10-21T07:14:37.880-07:00Comments on Jazz: The Music of Unemployment: In defense of quietAndrew Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11471871547839907538noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326339.post-75708362616286162782010-02-15T23:17:46.914-08:002010-02-15T23:17:46.914-08:00Thanks for the comments! (And A., thanks for makin...Thanks for the comments! (And A., thanks for making your photo available! It was perfect for the post, I think. I would love to hear more about "Quiet," the film it came from.)<br /><br />I agree that the motivation for recording and representing one's self has shifted somewhat (in tandem with big shifts in technology, of course). I just wonder from time to time about the extent to which we all engage in these "conversations" because we <i>can</i>, and because it's <i>easy</i> -- rather than because we have anything interesting to say.<br /><br />Social media is just part of it. The music industry is another (one reason I cited the marketing bit up top). Politics is another. And so on. What ties them all together is this feeling that once expression becomes habitual or compulsive, we're starting down a road in which eventually all anyone does is "speak," without ever "listening."<br /><br />Of course, that's the pessimist in me. It's interesting to think about, but I don't know if I believe that the worst case scenario is really going to happen. But last Friday, I apparently did!Andrew Durkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11471871547839907538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326339.post-56482868208824869112010-02-13T00:58:04.777-08:002010-02-13T00:58:04.777-08:00Not everybody's recorded messages are meant to...Not everybody's recorded messages are meant to be kept for posterity. Anthropologists might be interested a hundred years from now, but nobody is eagerly awaiting the collected Facebook updates of Babs Bloggerton. The point is conversation, just in a medium other than speech.cinderkeyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01578961959712679966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326339.post-48604418887370863102010-02-12T18:15:56.186-08:002010-02-12T18:15:56.186-08:00Good post; you should check out the Borges short s...Good post; you should check out the Borges short story "The Library of Babel" for a reductio ad absurdum of the notion.<br /><br />I'd argue that the real motivation behind the change is not so much that *more* stuff is being recorded, but *why* it's being recorded. <br /><br />Before recording technology got so cheap and widespread, people recorded things (with cameras, audio tapes, camcorders, etc.) because they wanted to *remember* them years later. Now, with digital cameras and such, people record things because they want to *share* them with others in the present. <br /><br />It's a completely different mindset; things recorded are throwaway shadow-puppets of what's happenening now, instead of long-term records of what happened in the past. I'm not totally convinced it's a worse situation, but it's certainly a fundamentally different one.<br /><br />Thought-provoking stuff; I'm interested to see where the trend goes in fifty years. Assuming I'm around that long, of course.<br /><br />(Found your blog because that's my photo above; thanks for the credit, and I'm glad you liked it!)5556777https://www.blogger.com/profile/14856802460717640236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326339.post-53446064195620658902010-02-12T17:14:52.408-08:002010-02-12T17:14:52.408-08:00I was thinking about this same idea a few years ba...I was thinking about this same idea a few years back, when I heard that some company was making grave markers with embedded video monitors, so if you wanted to see what that person was sorta about, you could watch it. <br /><br />I envisioned those giant graveyards near where I grew up with thousands and thousands of gravestones, and feeling this overwhelming sadness that there's just not enough time in this life to hear all the stories. <br /><br />Graveyards are depressing enough: your whole life's accomplishments are reduced to this piece of granite that people will stop thinking about in 40ish years once your descendants kick off. Now imagine all of those with videos begging to be heard.<br /><br />Ugh. No wonder why I'm anxious.The Overthinkerhttp://artwork.jillknapp.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326339.post-70828693961406018712010-02-12T12:43:29.321-08:002010-02-12T12:43:29.321-08:00I happened upon youtube video with the back on my ...I happened upon youtube video with the back on my head front and center the other day. Traumatizing as hell. I mean, I was aware that the bald spot existed, but it had been sort of an abstract concept.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com