[atlantaprog] Re: female guitarists, 2 questions

From: "Gene Norman" <flyer103@xxxxxxxxx>
> Brian wrote...Anytime
> someone has an ideological opinion they're
> naturally going to think their view is more
> enlightened than the other side's view
>
> Actually I don't believe this is always the case,
> although your point is well taken. All
> philosophies and not premised upon the idea that
> one's views are superior.  The libertarian view,
> for example, is actually premised on the opposite
> view, that human beings are not perfect and do
> not possess the omniscient knowledge that would
> be required to "engineer" a better world,
> precisely the attempt made by socialism.  This is
> not to say that libertarians don't want to make
> "progress."  Far from it.  But they do advocate a
> different method.  Libertarians, believing that
> humans are not perfect, are more likely to
> advocate SYSTEMS (e.g., the free market, the rule
> of law, etc) over categorical decision making
> (e.g., income redistribution, endless revisions
> of laws, etc.) favored by social engineers.  The
> latter group clearly believes they they should
> "enlighten" the world and, further, that they
> possess the unlimited knowledge that would be
> required to take into account the innumerable
> factors that govern human existence.  These are
> the ones who would say...
>
> "Those who know what's best for us...must rise
> and save us from ourselves."
>
> The libertarian, not presuming this superiority,
> merely believes that law-abiding citizens should
> be left alone.

I'm a libertarian too, and I agree with your analysis of its goals and
methods, except for one thing:  the idea that their view is opposite of the
idea that their views are superior.  That would imply that they think their
ideas are inferior, which is not the case.  Libertarians DO believe that
their way of doing things is more enlightened than other ways, hence their
advocacy for it.  Every libertarian I've met thinks the world would better
if more people and governments were oriented toward that philosophy.
Regardless of how any person thinks the world should change, or whether
these changes should come about by voluntary free association and choice, or
by coercion and force, whatever they consider better is automatically 'more
enlightened', in their opinion.  In this case, the belief that "law-abiding
citizens should be left alone" is considered an enlightened alternative to
current gov't intervention in people's lives.

On a musical note-- I've learned something from the "Top CDs" discussion.
How about these questions:

1.  What was the first album that got you into progressive rock?

For me it was Yes' 90125.

2.  For those of you who play instruments, why did you choose that
instrument rather than another?

I thought about piano, due to the great polyphony and range, and I like the
basic tone of a piano a lot, probably more than any other instrument besides
English horn... But I chose guitar instead because of the greater ability
for expression on individual notes.  When I'm playing I try to keep in mind
the human voice, one of the most expressive "instruments" around.
Unfortunately the piano lacks a lot of this ability-- it can't play notes in
between Western scale tones, can't do vibrato, and there's not as much
control over timbre and legato/staccato shaping of notes (like with
picking/fingers, palm-muting, hammer-ons, slides, bends, etc.)  I also
wanted a polyphonic instrument, which ruled out horns, harmonica, etc., and
melodic/harmonic, which ruled out percussion; also something that would fit
into a rock sensibility, which would tend to eliminate things like banjo,
sitar or [heaven help us!] accordion.  Now a keyboard synthesizer would come
a lot closer to guitaristic techniques but there's something about
triggering notes synthetically that doesn't appeal to me as much as the more
organic, visceral usage of an electric guitar.  Of course I could have gone
with bass but the range and polyphony were more restricted than guitar-- 
after all, this was years before the innovation of piezo-equipped 6-8 string
basses!  ;-)

Brian
Lord Only

Other related posts: