XPost: alt.philosophy.taoism, alt.philosophy.zen, alt.buddha.short.fat.guy   
   From: cuddly@mindless.com   
      
   On 9/15/2016 11:55 AM, noname wrote:   
   > liaM  wrote:   
   >> On 9/14/2016 9:25 PM, noname wrote:   
   >>> Julian  wrote:   
   >>>> On 14/09/2016 15:48, Tang Huyen wrote:   
   >>>>> On 9/13/2016 8:42 PM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>> The 1 in a million coincidences get noticed.  The other 9999999 misses   
   >>>>>> aren't noticed.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> The random mutations that guide evolution   
   >>>>> roughly work on the same principle, that the   
   >>>>> 1 in a million mutations get noticed, and   
   >>>>> that the other 9999999 misses aren't noticed.   
   >>>>> Mother Nature notices that 1 in a million   
   >>>>> mutations offers some better chance at   
   >>>>> survival and even blossoming, and that the   
   >>>>> other 9999999 don't, or even can drive the   
   >>>>> species to the ground. Sometimes success   
   >>>>> can go wild and drive the species to the   
   >>>>> ground, like the armour plates of dinosaurs,   
   >>>>> or just the mere size of the whole animals, as   
   >>>>> some dinosaurs in South America rise to   
   >>>>> seven stories high and are essentially eating   
   >>>>> machines. Scientists (and not even scientists,   
   >>>>> but mere mortals) wonder how they can have   
   >>>>> sex.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Mental culture and religion essentially work   
   >>>>> on the same principle, too, as 1 in a million   
   >>>>> strivers hit the jackpot, so to speak, and   
   >>>>> successfully start a trend in mental culture   
   >>>>> or a religion, like in Buddhism, Daoism,   
   >>>>> Jewish mythology, etc. Ditto for political   
   >>>>> leaders, like Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Hitler,   
   >>>>> Gandhi, Trump, etc. whilst the other   
   >>>>> 9999999 don't get any traction and instead   
   >>>>> drop into the dust bin of history.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> It's a brutal world.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Same with artists/writers/musicians.   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>   
   >>> How come I have to disagree with everything?  It sucks.   
   >>>   
   >>> Yes, very few writers/musicians/artists survive, because most of them suck.   
   >>> There's nothing random about it.  They suck because they aren't what   
   >>> they're trying to be.  Writers who aren't writers are guys walking around   
   >>> with writers' block.  Artists who aren't appreciated maybe aren't   
   >>> expressing themselves in a way people can relate to, or what they're   
   >>> expressing is just more whining like people are sick of.  And lots of   
   >>> wannabe musicians don't want the music at all, they just want the money and   
   >>> the chicks.   
   >>>   
   >>> You can not succeed at something without commitment to what it is.  People   
   >>> in "mental culture" think they're getting themselves all magicked-up, but   
   >>> they don't even know what "mental culture" means to anyone but the teacher   
   >>> trying to suck them in for a few dollars, or more students to advertise on   
   >>> their website, or whatever.   
   >>>   
   >>> It isn't a brutal world, at least that isn't what I'm seeing.  I'm seeing   
   >>> that it seems brutal to people who are brutally stupid, who haven't learned   
   >>> to think, who are wandering around quoting this or that in hopes that   
   >>> somebody will post *anything* in response that makes some sense for a   
   >>> change.   
   >>>   
   >>> Whatever.  If I just disappear one of these days, you'll never know whether   
   >>> I went off to do something else, or if these useless forums simply bored me   
   >>> to death.   
   >>>   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> I agree, commitment's the thing, but disagree otherwise about art that   
   >> sucks.   
   >   
   > I'd be very surprised if we agreed on art, there's so *much* of it that   
   > even picking an area where we might agree is tough.   
   >   
   >>   
   >>  The time designated geniuses ruled the roost is over.   
   >   
   > Yes, the artists of the past, the scholars of the past, all of the   
   > "designated" authorities of the past, are always called into question by   
   > younger generations who grow into a different environment.  Today what is   
   > "designated" is whatever goes viral into fashionability, which is probably   
   > no different from past "designation" except in the form of its expression.   
   > Some people follow fashion, bowing down to whatever is designated as being   
   > fashionable, from clothing styles to politics; others look, instead of just   
   > following.   
   >   
   >> Good artists   
   >> abound, more so than at any time in the past.  Some of the best   
   >> contemporary French poetry I've come across was displayed on the screen   
   >> of my newsreader back 15 years ago, and not just from one or two   
   >> individuals.  At least 4 or 5.  Ditto, if one cares to look for art on   
   >> the web, in sites such as SoundCloud for music (and YouTube), and   
   >> DeviantArt for graphic arts.  We're no slouch either on absfg. We've got   
   >> Ned's boxes, Kitty's oil paintings, Julian's diaries (and who knows what   
   >> else he has, apart from the grand Clown that adorns his wall).   
   >>   
   >   
   > I hope I didn't give the impression that I think there is no good art   
   > anymore, because I agree there is a lot of good art out there.  I think   
   > there is also a lot of bad art, as there has always been, done by people   
   > who aren't really artists, but instead are drama-queens looking for   
   > attention and thrashing around trying to find it delivered by others   
   > instead of making their own.   
   >   
      
      
   Metoo am repelled by drama queens (mind you a Shakespeare could appear   
   among them) -   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)