RationalBiker Posted December 25, 2007 Report Share Posted December 25, 2007 I do not see any sign of a mind in my head. I never seen, heard, felt, smelt or touched my thoughts, but somehow I know I have them. I'm guessing you don't believe you have any thoughts either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agrippa1 Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 (edited) So on empirical grounds, I believe in the existence of my mind to the extent that I believe in ghosts, spirits, souls and gods. Hmmm... I know you have a mind, even a rational one, by observing the concepts you've embedded in these funny symbols you've put on my computer screen. I have a heck of a lot more evidence for your existence, and your mind's, than I've ever seen claimed for ghosts, spirits, souls and gods... I make a definite point of identifying the observables. It comes from a desire to trace what one knows to what one perceives. I got that piece of advices from a Russian born novelist. Who, apparently, never existed? But back on topic, the point of telepathy would be a valid one if we didn't have some idea that our minds function in similar manners and process sensory data similarly. I believe we can agree that we all experience similar emotional responses from certain types of music. This is not telepathy or some spooky action at a distance, it is the encoding of emotion into musical components, just as concepts are encoded in our vocal grunts. (the next question is: are the emotional responses to music learned or innate?) However, I agree with your point (?) that you don't need to analyze music rationally in order to determine what you like and don't like. (but maybe to determine why you like or don't like) Existentialism means never having to define your terms. Edited December 26, 2007 by agrippa1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McVey Posted December 29, 2007 Report Share Posted December 29, 2007 About two thirds of the Objectivists I know are techies, not esthetes. *raises his hand Before they read Ayn Rand's books, they probably couldn't name a single classical composer. They hear about Rachmaninoff from her Well, I had heard of a few before I came across Miss Rand (my father's influence), but I did learn of his existence from her. I listened to that Etude linked on the wikipedia page. I know one doesn't judge a composer by a single piece, but I found that thing chaotic, pretentious and extremely dated - it reminded me of silent-era cinema music. I wont turn my nose up at an offer to hear more Rachmaninoff, but nor will I actively search for more. It's not the piano that's at fault, mind. I quite like the piano-led orchestral version of The Silent Enigma by Anathema, though the original metal with lyrics is forgettable crud (as is the rest of the album). they get curious, find a CD, realize that they like it, and add it to their list of favorites. Mmmmm, The Four Seasons... Peer Gynt suite... Kariela suite (I think)... Yesterday I finally received my copy of The Planets suite by Gustav Holst from Amazon, which I bought because because it was mentioned on BBC science documentary about the actual planets, but other than Mars The Warbringer I was disappointed (though I am only 3/4 through it). Oh well. I find Michael Oldfield - whose Ode to Cynthia ("Excerpt from Incantations") has long been my favourite song of all - similarly to be a mixed bag. That reminds me... next up, Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre... No rest for wicked philistines. JJM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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