Name:
Email:
Subscribe Unsubscribe
Email:
Subscribe Unsubscribe
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Choosing to Believe May 30th, 2005 -- I once heard a missionary say something so profound, yet so seemingly obvious, something that anyone who had given a moment's thought to it would have seen it, but something that runs so counter to our cultural dogma that not only do we not question it, we don't even think of the need to question it. But before we get to that, let's talk about logic. People's actions, despite what you many think, are dictated by logic. No one says "it's really hot in here, so I'm going to put on my Winter coat," or "I like cats, so I'm going to go get a dog," or "I love Nine Inch Nails, so I'll buy this Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass CD," or "I can't get enough of this 19th century Russian literature, so I'll go rent an Adam Sandler movie." You do what you do because of what you know to be true. And that's the point, people's actions are based on the logic that follows from their knowledge. Likewise, belief is based upon knowledge. I believe there are fourteen steps going to our upstairs because I know that to be true. I know it to be true because I counted them a little while ago. I know my counting is true because I know how to count. I know that counting is true because math is something that has been proven throughout the ages to be a basic tool for finding truth. This missionary guy was talking to a Chinese college student, and was explaining the basic tenets of Christianity to him. He told the student that "all" he had to do was believe in Christ, and he would be saved. The student responded by saying "I want to believe this, and I like this, but I can't, because [and here's the important part] I can't choose to believe something." Now, first reactions -- does that strike you as blasphemous, as something so untrue that you don't even feel the need to defend your rejection of it? And I'm not talking about being religiously blasphemous, but culturally blasphemous. That's the way I felt. I thought "you're saying that I don't have a choice? That my beliefs have been dictated by outside forces? That I am a slave to my beliefs, not their master?" But, after having the philosophical wind knocked out of me, I started to try to process it, and it started to make sense, and much of my worldview felt like it was starting to unravel. Try this as an exercise. Convince yourself that red is actually blue, or that up is down, or that Usher makes really exciting music. You just can't, because these things run counter to your fundamental beliefs regarding existence. To believe them, you would have to be convinced that your currents beliefs are wrong, that your knowledge upon which those beliefs are based on are actually false, and that these new ideas are the truth. You just can't do it, it's impossible. You can try to convince yourself, but you'll never truly believe it. I think the best you could hope for would be to lobotomize yourself in some Totall Recall-esque fashion, erasing your current knowledge and implanting yourself with knowledge you don't actually believe, and hoping that along the way you'll meet one of those cool Martian women with three . . . ANYWAY! I often hear people presenting their faith as if it's one of the desserts at a cafeteria, where all you have to do is present your sales-pitch well, and the person will choose yours ("Hmmm, this Islam pie says I can die and be with a bunch of women who feed me grapes all day, and this Christian pudding says I can go and worship God for all of eternity, that doesn't sound that great, but this Mormon cake says I can get my own planet, awesome. I'm definitely going with Mormon.") When it comes to scientific knowledge, beliefs have to be based upon testable and reproducable facts, things where you can point and say "that is how a cell reproduces." The problem with religion is that our beliefs are based upon unprovable knowledge. I can't show you a picture of God, or a video of the resurrection, or give you a mathematical formula explaining atonement. These things exist on a plane that is far beyond our meager abilities to prove or disprove. If you do believe, your knowledge has to come from somewhere else. I can't convince you one way or the other. Keith |
| Catching Up May 23rd, 2005 -- Sorry it's been so long, folks. I have two big pet peeves when it comes to reading webpages. One is "under construction" banners, and another is when every update is a "I'm soooo sorry that it's been so long since I last updated" update. But, it's a necessary evil here. This page isn't read by a ton of people, anyway, mostly because it's been so long since we've played anywhere and have even attempted to bring in any new fans. That will be changing soon. I've started about five posts in my head, and then never got around to actually writing them, so I'll give you a bunch of underdeveloped ideas here, and maybe it will equal one update: Making a great album is an artform, but it also takes a lot of money and a lot of collaboration. I own hundreds of albums, but I've come to realize that, compared with other art mediums, albums are really boring if you try to actually pay attention to them. I can probably count on two or three hands the number of times that I've just sat still, listened to an album, and thought of nothing else. Most of the time I listen to music while driving, working on the computer, or messing around the house. Contrast this with other art forms. A painting doesn't require full attention, but you can look at a painting for two seconds or for five hours, the painting doesn't care. Books require full attention, but a book can be read for a few minutes here and there and still be comprehended. A movie requires full attention, and like albums exist in a specific time frame. I think the problem is that listening to music is doesn't require the full attention of the audience, but at the same time it takes a set amount of time to listen to. It's kind of the worst of both worlds. I think the ideal kind of music would be one where every second of the album is interesting in it's own way, but if paid attention to, another level of meaning and interest is revealed. Following hearts. I've heard probably ten-thousand songs in my life about "being true to yourself", "following your heart's heart", "let your spirit guide you", etc. I'm starting to realize how truly terrible that advice is. I have natural desires, and probably the vast majority of those desires will result in me sitting on the couch, staying inert, and eating. Doing what you do best, versus being innovative. I had a friend in college who could write the most beautiful Baroque music. It sounded just like lost pieces of Bach. We had a "real" composer come in one time and critique some of our music, and she absolutely trashed a piece by him, saying that he needed to find his own voice, etc. Well, guess what, he was doing what he could do well and what very few other people could do. Who cares if you're original, as long as what you do is good. Well, there's three postlings. In Wind-Ups news, we're still practicing hard, and things are looking good. We took our first official band picture a couple of weeks ago, and we might take some more tomorrow night. I've also started the official Tigerbot Must Come to Greenville Petition, so go give it a sign and we'll see if we can get them up here. Have a fantabulous week, folks, and I'll talk to you later. Keith |
| Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia May 6th, 2005 -- I just wrote that because I ran across this, which is about the funniest thing I've ever seen, made all the more funny by the fact that it's actually real. With that said, there's not much news right now. We just finished moving into our new house, and my mind has been taken wholly captive by boxes, furniture, and overwhelmingness. We did have a great practice this past Tuesday, and things are sounding better now than they have in our entire history, which is a very good thing. So, hopefully, things will be back to normal next week, and we'll also (hopefully) be doing an opening gig sometime in the next month. Later, folks, and have a great week. Keith |
|
Older posts can be found here.
Write Keith at keith@thewind-ups.com |
 |