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I miss scarcity

This is not a complaint. Or, if it is a complaint, it's half-aimed at me. Mostly this is a reflection.

In the old days, I got to know music really well -- in great detail, sonically, musically, reading all the credits, the liner notes, etc. A friend would have an album I didn't, so I'd go to his house to listen. We'd talk about the music. We'd talk about how album sides hung together or didn't. We were thrilled by double albums.

Now, a torrent of information is everywhere. I listen alone, often to a single song, often not listening to anything over and over again.

You will tell me, "That's your choice." I'd half agree. It's like agreeing that "It's my choice not to live off the electrical grid." 

As I read and teach about AI, I am learning that our tools often prioritize speed and information glut. It seems, initially, like a cornucopia but it becomes a wash of "content." I must admit, I'm losing my talent for managing all this content, and I'm losing my love for it. And it's making me into a different person, somewhat, and I am not so sure I want to be that person. End of reflection.

Wizard Conjuring Cosmic Chaos Art Print featuring the drawing Let There be Content by Benjamin Schwartz

hilde45
jl35
4,452 posts
 

@mahgister Maybe the best thing you’ve written here !!!

stuartk
4,010 posts
 

@hilde45 

I’m wondering whether one’s preference for streaming or physical media have as much to do with the internal effects/impacts of different modes of listening as the external factors that typically get mentioned, be it the ease of streaming or the ritual quality of playing vinyl. In other words, are we actually talking about preferring one state of consciousness over another? 

 

 

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
15,048 posts
 

What is called "friction" here for me is the way we confront reality with our attention span, and our attention result from a body/mind gesture and is a gesture...

Too much easy rich amount of propositions at no cost as what is proposed by A.I. for example makes us poor in our own creative effort then with less deep attention gestures, because all being easy  tend to become  of equal value...

This is the general pattern for the mass of people... It ask for each one of us a conscious concentration around our priorities more than about  leisure time...

 

The issue isn’t nostalgia. It’s recognizing that streaming’s abundance changes the structure of attention. When every recording is instantly available, there’s less friction, less commitment required for any particular listening choice. This can cultivate—often unconsciously—a browsing habit rather than a dwelling habit. The scarcity of the CD era forced a kind of focused attention: you made a choice, you lived with it, you went deeper because you were there. 

soix
11,233 posts
 

Yeah I just don’t care much about the stuff you’re talking about so really don’t miss it at all.  But that’s me and I totally get it if you and others do.  Happy New Year!

bassbuyer's avatar
bassbuyer
887 posts
 

Scarcity can be hard to find.  My closing thought for the year.  Happy New Year to all!  

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