Merry christmast nonoise....
Nietzsche and Runaway Audio Consumption
Came across this today. A lot of posts bring up the issue of "how much is enough?" or "when is audio consumption justified" etc.
Does this Nietzsche aphorism apply to audio buying? You be the judge!
Friedrich Nietzsche: “Danger in riches. — Only he who has spirit ought to have possessions: otherwise possessions are a public danger. For the possessor who does not know how to make use of the free time which his possessions could purchase him will always continue to strive after possessions: this striving will constitute his entertainment, his strategy in his war against boredom.
Thus in the end the moderate possessions that would suffice the man of spirit are transformed into actual riches – riches which are in fact the glittering product of spiritual dependence and poverty. They only appear quite different from what their wretched origin would lead one to expect because they are able to mask themselves with art and culture: for they are, of course, able to purchase masks. By this means they arouse envy in the poorer and the uncultivated – who at bottom are envying culture and fail to recognize the masks as masks – and gradually prepare a social revolution: for gilded vulgarity and histrionic self-inflation in a supposed ‘enjoyment of culture’ instil into the latter the idea ‘it is only a matter of money’ – whereas, while it is to some extent a matter of money, it is much more a matter of spirit.”
Nietzsche, Friedrich. 1996. Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits. Cambridge University Press. (p. 283-4, an aphorism no. 310)
I'm pretty sure @mahgister will want to read this one! (Because they speak so artfully about avoiding the diversion that consumption poses to the quest for true aesthetic and acoustic excellence.)
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I’m confused how humanity is being used in some of these posts. We are animals, our "humanity" is from evolutionary and societal pressures in my opinion. Spirit isn’t something external to the mind or consciousness. I've never seen or heard of any evidence that points to any sort of universal spirit or consciousness, it’s simply part of us, it dies when we die. |
It all boils down to how it completes us and is not reliant on some limited western way of thinking of spirit as an outside force due to some religious affiliation. It all comes from within and we merely project onto other things so as to make us feel whole. It's how we relate. Nothing that metaphysical about it. It's a means of dealing with nature, objects and reflects the character of the one projecting. We do it all the time in life without thinking or being aware of it, unless we transgress others wrongly. I'm an atheist and yet I find it easy enough to "grok", which could make it just a matter of choice in understanding something. We all put names to things. All the best, |
@djones51 Carl Jung had a very popular and compelling idea of collective consciousness. He exactly believed in the idea that since humans have similarly evolved, we have a collective consciousness that is sub-conscious, that we are not immediately aware of. And since I have started typing I wanted to add that I like exploring philosophy such as Nietzsche, but I lean towards Diogenes and the classical philosophers (I gather Nietzsche hated the Stoics). So Diogenes would not approve of my speakers, and I keep that in mind when finding myself wanting more, when the answer often times is to want less. The stoics might say go experience sound in a natural environment, the sea, the river, the leaves in the wind and animals about. |
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