Know-It-All Society

                                                                Know-It-All Society

                 

Martin Patrick Lynch. 2019. Know-It-All Society: Truth and Arrogance in Political Culture, Liveright Publishing Corporation, A Division of W. W. Norton & Company, New York - London.

                                               

An interesting new book from a Board of Trustees Distinguished Philosophy Professor at the University of Connecticut, Martin Patrick Lynch. The author of The Internet of Us Knowing More and Understanding Less in the Age of Big Data.

This is a complex book that requires a careful and attentive reading. It is not to be skimmed, the principal sources referenced are: Michel de Montaigne, Socrates, David Hume, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Friedric Nietzsche, Hannah Arendt, John Dewey, and John Rawls, among others. Unfortunately the people who need it most probably would not be able to understand it.       

"Current research estimates that at least 60 percent of news stories shared online have not even been read by the person sharing them." ... per research at Columbia University -- Study conclusion:  "People are more willing to share an article than read it. (p 41-42)*

*[Dewey, Catlin 2016. "6 in 10 of You Will Share This Article without Reading It, a Depressing New Study Says." Washington Post, June 16, 2016] The research used such tools as Google analytics to discover that the hits on the sites were a fraction of the number of social postings. With only the raw numbers used it might be worse that 6 in 10.

"We think we are sharing news stories in order to transfer knowledge, but much of the time we aren't really trying to do that at all -- whatever we may consciously think. If we were, we would presumably have read the piece that we are sharing. But most of us don't. So, what are we doing?

"A plausible hypothesis is that the primary function of our practice of sharing content online is to express our emotional attitude....As Crockett has noted, expression of attitudes like moral outrage is one way that tribes are built...Social media is an outrage machine." [Emphasis added]  (p 43- 44)

Lynch adds:

"And it may go even further than that, as I once heard a senior Facebook representative (off the record) acknowledge that the company's own data showed that the problem was actually much greater: as much as 90 percent of the stories shared on that platform may not be clicked through by those sharing them."

                (Author's footnote # 13 on Chapter 2)

At 174 pages, this is a brief book that is densely reasoned, but decidedly worth the trouble that the reader may invest.

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INDIFFERENCE

L. A. subway Singer

 Emily Zamourka was homeless for a couple of years singing in the L A subway. How many people walked by? A few may have handed her a little money. But tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions -- in over two years -- walked by without a second glance.

Emily Zamourka recently came to fame with her haunting solo captured in the Los Angeles subway. Zamourka is a classically trained violinist, originally from Russia. She became homeless and started playing on the street after getting hit with massive medical bills

Finally, a policeman, a cell phone, and twitter caused people to take the time to actual listen. The video drew massive amounts of attention online, changing the course of Zamourka's life

When her $10,000 violin was stolen, she was left with only one instrument: her voice. Several GoFundMe pages have been set up to help her, and one violinist offered to give her an instrument.



Joshua Bell
[quoted story]

A man stood at a Metro station in Washington, D.C. and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried on to meet his schedule. 

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In he[sic] 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition
.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

 Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the Metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.          https://www.imamother.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=69716

Darcey Bussell 

Darcey Bussell was one of the youngest ballerinas ever to dance the lead in a world premiere - Princess Rose in "The Prince of the Pagodas." While Bussell was still at school, the choreographer Kenneth MacMillan had noticed her exceptional technique, and in 1988 at age 19, he decided to use her to create the leading role in his ballet The Prince of the Pagodas to Benjamin Britten's music, which led to her moving to the Royal Ballet.

A year later, in December 1989 on the opening night of the show, she was promoted to principal dancer at just 20 years old
.
Nothing can compare with a live performance, but a Blu-ray can at least offer some enlightening extras. In the Blu-ray video of the ballet "Sylvia." We get to see behind the curtain before each act and at the curtain call. For the curtain call Darcey says; for two hours we have danced our hearts out. When the final curtain falls, it is only down for less than a minute -- just long enough to turn on the house lights.We have been on a brightly lit stage for the better part of two hours. When the curtain goes back up we get to see the audience for the first time and see their reaction. It is always a heart stopping moment. If the audience is leaving or just sits silently, it would be devastating. I’m not certain that I would ever have the courage to go back on stage after such reception.

This from one of the world's great ballerinas.

Indifferent does have the power to kill.

The Audience / Viewer and Indifference

When you see a street performer, money is nice. A word of appreciation is great. A little applause? When you read a blog, think about a "like," maybe leave a comment, or even re-post or tweet.
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