Perspectivism

Many philosophers have looked at the nature of living and argued that life is nothing but suffering and misery.  These sorts of viewpoints tend to assume that “philosophy of life” questions are objectively true for everyone, regardless of their perspective.  But if our various attitudes and ideas change the way we experience the world, then it may be the case that certain viewpoints make life worth affirming and others make life worth denying. 

It seems clear that how the world affects us as individuals is always shaped in some way or another by our attitudes and ideas.  We all go through various mood swings and perspectives about the world over the course of our lives and these shape our experience.   On some days certain things will make us laugh that on other days would make us furious.  The actual event taking place in the world may be exactly the same, while our reaction and experience of the event may be completely different depending on our attitude at the time. 

For instance, after watching a scary movie, a knock on the door may completely frighten us and result in us calling the police.  The scary movie shapes our perspective in such a way that an ordinary event, such as someone knocking on the door, becomes a seemingly frightening and dangerous event.  The experience of the world is different than what it would have been if we had not watched the movie. 

The physical reality of the external world takes place in a definite way and then our internal world shapes the way in which the events of the external world make us feel.  This is something we experience quite often.  We may hear a motivational speaker or have a sudden epiphany about the world; now, tasks that we once found frustrating are transformed into something enjoyable.

The trouble with ideas and attitudes as they pertain to the philosophy of life are numerous.  There is a question of what attitudes and ideas we should bring to the world and also what attitudes and ideas we are willing and able to accept.  We may desire to take a life-affirming attitude toward the world but be unable to do so for a multitude of reasons. 

If enjoying the events of the world were as easy as just looking at it in a certain way, everyone would choose such a viewpoint.  Furthermore, various attitudes and feelings about the world can depart quickly.  A great novel can leave us feeling happy about life and ready for anything – but these feelings generally fade away within a short period of time. 

While our experience of the world is affected by our attitude, the events themselves still play a significant role on our experience, regardless of our attitude.  It does not seem that I can make the experience of being tortured enjoyable by merely assuming the right mindset. 

Even with these worries in mind, the philosophical question of what attitudes and ideas we should aim for in our approach to life is still of great importance. What we are looking for a is a way to make life in general worth affirming, even if that does not result in every experience being enjoyable. 

How do we properly shape our perspectives?  We need to attack the issue from numerous fronts mentally and physically.  I have a lot to say about mental perspective shifting, but I’ll go into that on another day.  Also, a lot of perspective shifting must be highly personalized to the individual. 

But here are some very basic things everyone can do to shift their perspective positively: don’t surround yourself with negative people, eat healthy, sleep, expose yourself to a variety of media and art, workout, and sit in silence for at least 30 minutes a day.

We all basically know to do these things – it’s just a matter of actually doing it.

Various Thoughts on Rap Music as a Genre

                Rap music holds an interesting position in our culture in terms of artistic and popular criticism.  For many intellectuals, rap music is either perplexing, idiotic, or both.  There are a number of reasons for this, many generational, sociological, or psychological.  I’d like to draw out a few of my thoughts on what rap music is and what it means.  It wouldn’t surprise me if many of these ideas have been discussed before, but I must plead ignorance to most writings on rap music criticism.

                Rap music, unlike other music genres, is inextricably tied to the artist’s real identity.  And while pop and rock groups often cultivate artificial identities (see Lady Gaga, Motley Crue), any indication that a rapper has misrepresented who he is decreases the quality of his music.  For instance, if it turned out Jay-Z was not from the Marcy Projects, and instead from a wealthy suburb, virtually all of his music would immediately be rendered terrible.  In juxtaposition, a variation in the biography of virtually every rock or classical musician I listen to would have little or no effect on my enjoyment of their music.  This is not a criticism of rap music, but an example to point out the unique way in which identity informs aesthetic quality in rap music.  In pop music, we understand that Britney Spears or The Backstreet Boys are cultivating a false identity – we accept it as the nature of the genre.  In classical music, the music almost completely stands alone and is rarely informed by indirect information.

                Now, what is the nature of identity as it applies to rap music?  Generally, the better the rapper, the more we know about who they are, how they think, and how they’ve evolved.  The average rap fan knows everything about where Jay-Z’s from, Eminem’s family, Tupac’s social struggles, etc.  Once we as fans understand their identity, we understand their music.  We see where every shift in perspective fits into their big-picture development as a human being.  That’s why it is so difficult for non-rap fans to even understand what is going on in much of rap – without a certain amount of understanding of the history of rap, the socio-cultural dynamics between rap individuals, and an artist’s underlying motivations, numerous songs are virtually unintelligible or without meaning.   

What is the rap identity?  The rap identity is the modern version of the American dream: rags to riches, overcoming adversity, the triumph of the individual over his circumstances.  The experience for the listener is two-fold: (1) they view the artist as an object of admiration (the underdog overachieving) and (2) they view themselves as the artist and experience what it is like to be in their position. 

This is why rap has certain unique features that rarely, if ever, take place in other genres: rap “dis tracks” and constant guest performances on one another’s records.  Rap “dis tracks” are essentially the clash of identities between two rappers.  They are going to use music as a way to express why their identity is more genuine and actualized while their opponent is not legitimately representing who they are.  Guest performances, which rarely make sense in rock music, are commonplace in rap because it gives each artist a chance to present variations on their identity through the overall theme of the song. 

Granted, most of this discussion only applies to rappers who are consistently popular and influential throughout their rap career i.e. good rappers.  One-hit wonders of rap come and go because they haven’t understood these concepts.  Their songs are not an expression of their identity but instead capture an external feeling.  This can work in the short-term, but they will not have long-term success because the listener has not connected with them individually – they have connected with a rhythm and theme that exists outside of the nature of the rapper.   

Communication Barriers

                While reflecting on what I was hoping to accomplish through this blog, I have mixed feelings.  I’m glad that I’ve been able to post relatively consistently, albeit a very short period of time, but I still haven’t captured the direction I was hoping to go in. 

                The posts have mainly explicated theories on how I think different things work in the abstract.  Although this is what I want to write about, it is only part of what I am trying to accomplish.  I’d like this blog to draw out abstract explanations from an extremely personal point of view.  The current distance between my internal thought process and external postulations is something I’d like to destroy.  Granted, there will always be a distance because of the limitations and differences between thought and communication, but I’d certainly like to bring the two much closer together.

                That being said, this is not easy.  Such directness can run the risk of being convoluted or uninteresting.  I want more rawness but not at the expense of clarity.  I recognize that the conceptual point I’m trying to make is easier shown than explained.   In the coming weeks I hope there will be a shift in tone and perspective on the blog.  Whether this will be for the better is yet to be seen.