Did Amir Change Your Mind About Anything?
It’s easy to make snide remarks like “yes- I do the opposite of what he says.” And in some respects I agree, but if you do that, this is just going to be taken down. So I’m asking a serious question. Has ASR actually changed your opinion on anything? For me, I would say 2 things. I am a conservatory-trained musician and I do trust my ears. But ASR has reminded me to double check my opinions on a piece of gear to make sure I’m not imagining improvements. Not to get into double blind testing, but just to keep in mind that the brain can be fooled and make doubly sure that I’m hearing what I think I’m hearing. The second is power conditioning. I went from an expensive box back to my wiremold and I really don’t think I can hear a difference. I think that now that I understand the engineering behind AC use in an audio component, I am not convinced that power conditioning affects the component output. I think.
So please resist the urge to pile on. I think this could be a worthwhile discussion if that’s possible anymore. I hope it is.
Ok, cool. Nobody is forcing audiophiles to become more educated. But it's great that Amir is testing manufacturer's claims so that knowledge is available for the many audiophiles who actually do care (but who don't have the equipment or technical know-now to vet those claims themselves).
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i take this from Wikipedia...The book is free on the internet...it is the best book ever written on this "delicate" and deep subject... Cipolla add to this matter of definition a clarity nobody can negate...
«This second essay, "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" ("Le leggi fondamentali della stupidità umana", 1976),[3][4][5] by Cipolla , an italian economist, explores the controversial subject of stupidity. Stupid people are seen as a group, more powerful by far than major organizations such as the Mafia and the military-industrial complex, which without regulations, leaders, or manifesto nonetheless manages to operate to great effect and with incredible coordination.[citation needed] These are Cipolla’s five fundamental laws of stupidity:
Corollary: a stupid person is more dangerous than a pillager. 
By creating a graph of Cipolla’s two factors, we obtain four groups of people.
Helpless people contribute to society but are taken advantage of by it; Intelligent people contribute to society and leverage their contributions into personal benefits; Stupid people are counterproductive to both their and others’ interests; Bandits pursue their own self-interest even when this poses a net detriment to societal welfare. An additional category of ineffectual people either exists in its own right or can be considered to be in the center of the graph. As is evident from the third law, Cipolla identifies two factors to consider when exploring human behavior:
Cipolla further refines his definition of "bandits" and "naïve people" by noting that members of these groups can either add to or detract from the general welfare, depending on the relative gains (or losses) that they cause themselves and society. A bandit may enrich himself more or less than he impoverishes society, and a naïve person may enrich society more or less than he impoverishes himself and/or allows himself to be impoverished. Graphically, this idea is represented by a line of slope -1, which bisects the second and fourth quadrants and intersects the y-axis at the origin. The naive people to the left of this line are thus "semi-stupid" because their conduct creates/allows a net drain of societal welfare; some bandits may fit this description as well, although many bandits such as sociopaths, psychopaths, and non-pathological "jerks" and amoralists may act with full knowledge of the net negative consequences to a society that they neither identify with nor care about.»
«Non-stupid people are an imperfect and inconsistent group. Sometimes we act intelligently, sometimes we are abused, or selfish villains… And sometimes we are a bit of both. The stupid, in comparison, are models of consistency, acting at all times with unwavering idiocy. However, constant stupidity is the only thing constant about stupidity. That’s what makes stupid people so dangerous. Explains Cipolla. Essentially stupid people are dangerous and harmful because reasonable people find it difficult to imagine and understand unreasonable behavior. An intelligent person can understand the logic of a bandit. The actions of the bandit follow a pattern of rationality: a wicked rationality indeed, but always rational. The bandit wants an advantage for his account. Since he is not smart enough to find ways to get the plus as well as provide you with a plus, he will produce his plus by making a minus appear on your account. It’s all bad, but it’s rational and if you’re rational, you can predict it. You can predict the actions of a bandit, his evil maneuvers and therefore you can build your defenses. With a stupid person, all this is absolutely impossible, as the third fundamental law explains. The stupid person will harass you without any reason, without any advantage, without any plan, at the most improbable times and places. You have no rational way of telling if, when, where, how and why he or she will attack you. Facing a stupid individual, you are completely at his mercy.»
https://bonpote.com/en/the-5-basic-laws-of-human-stupidity/ |
😊 i dont understand the GARP reaction ....Posting a definition can be useful... No ? If you have a better definition of "stupidity" than this Italian economist, please enlighten us...
In a philosophical note, this definition remind me of the definition given in the form of a prayer by Christ : " Then Jesus said, ’Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. ’ Then observe that the Italian economist definition is the same definition given by Christ on the cross, speaking of people doing something helpful to no one and not even to themselves, and doing something detrimental to others and to themselves too , if we think about it... "Idiots" dont know what they are doing basically... I am astonished by the convergence between these two minds, the Christ and Cipolla... Are you not either ? It will be hard in my opinion, to improve on Cipolla definition of stupidity as described in a shortest way by Christ before him ...if someone can improve on this definition i want to listen to him ? The book is free and in open source by the way... i apologize , i like philosophy too much... And sometimes something must be said in a clear way... Thanks...
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Now going back to Amir, he does only his job as a hobby... And it is useful...( i dont like though some objectivist rude behaviour at all , Amir on the other hand is polite by the way)
Myself i dont focus on gear as marketing do in audio and as Amir analyse in his own way...it is certainly useful to read other opinion...
I myself focus on acoustic and psycho-acoustic...Because it is relatively easy to pick basically good gear anyway, but way more difficult to figure out acoustic...And room acoustic impact at least on the same level than the most beneficial gear upgrade at high cost... If someone can demonstrate to me that the heart of audio is not psycho-acoustic ... I bet i will quit audiogon...
😁😊
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