# Listening to music is like reading; it's for geeks



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Listening to music is like reading, and that's why it's a dying art. Listening to music demands attention, involvement, imagination, and introspection, just like reading.

To watch a show on HDTV, a mainly visual experience, all you have to do is sit there and watch. Every blade of grass is visible now in sports games. Every pore of skin is now visible on actors. There's no need to fill in any blank spots with your imagination. What you see is what you get. You are a passive spectator, for the most part.

To read a book, you have to exert your imagination. You have to imagine what the characters look like, and what their voices sound like.

Likewise, in listening to music, there is no visual information. Even if it's a DVD of a concert, you only see the musicians and conductor. That tells you little of the "actual content" or experience of the music. Music is something you have to apply some thought to. Music reflects thought patterns, and we have to supply some effort in the experience, to make it have meaning.

That's why nowadays, the experience of music is changing for many. They listen to MPP3s, in cars, or in offices, or with earbuds from portable players, while bicycling or walking, or doing some other activity.

If we listen to music,* actually listen, *in a room with no other distractions, preferably on speakers, with lossless files or cds, then we are a dying breed of "geeks."

Hello, fellow geeks.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I agree. I did a double take when a waitress recently told me there's no TV in her flat; just lots and lots of books.

When she told me she had no TV I was about to say "I bet you're a serious reader" but she had already blurted that fact out.

She sure didn't look like a nerd, but what is a nerd supposed to look like anyway?


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

In college I had a group of friends I used to just listen to music with - many of them have scattered now. But I've recently made some new music geek friends and am remembering how much fun it is to just sit and listen with like-minded people. But it is very, very geeky, yes.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Yes, music is seen now as a "cool hobby" like video games. It seems that the digital medium, and internet-related activities, is a less involved, more distracted way of getting information. It's hard to focus on one thing for too long without getting distracted.

Good music listening, like reading books, demands a degree of sustained effort, attention, and concentration, which many people are not prepared to commit to.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Video games do not make a good example as they require effort and involvement as well. It depends on the type of video game, but there are very demanding and complex games out there. Anyway I do get your point and I agree. For a lot of people music seems to be for casual consumption and not much else.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

There's so much music around us thanks to recording devices, along with other mentally stimulating stuff brought by technology, that it doesn't catch people's attention the same way it did in ye olden days. An orchestra playing a symphony was something much more amazing that it is now, that's why people were more willing to sit quietly listening to 60 minute symphonies.


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## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

hpowders said:


> I agree. I did a double take when a waitress recently told me there's no TV in her flat; just lots and lots of books.
> 
> When she told me she had no TV I was about to say "I bet you're a serious reader" but she had already blurted that fact out.
> 
> She sure didn't look like a nerd, but what is a nerd supposed to look like anyway?


How about :-


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

Yes, I'm a geek also. I listen to the music and follow a score. It's the only "video" I need.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

millionrainbows said:


> Listening to music is like reading, and that's why it's a dying art. Listening to music demands attention, involvement, imagination, and introspection, just like reading.
> 
> To watch a show on HDTV, a mainly visual experience, all you have to do is sit there and watch. Every blade of grass is visible now in sports games. Every pore of skin is now visible on actors. There's no need to fill in any blank spots with your imagination. What you see is what you get. You are a passive spectator, for the most part.
> 
> ...


No argument, start to finish. I feel that way, too.

I have been an avid reader all of my life. I like constructing and involving myself in the story in my mind. That's what great books are about. Movies are passive. It's all determined. Turn it on, sit back and let it unfold. When I read a book, the story, if it moved me, can remain in me for weeks, as if I had lived it personally, as if I had known the characters. With a movie, I often leave the cinema having trouble recalling what it was about.

That's what has drawn me to classical music. I am a participant. I have to listen, use my brain, to make it happen.

I own a portable mp3 player, but I don't use it, except on trips or, rarely, when sitting in a park (with external speakers, not earbuds). I'm too distracted. I can't focus on the music when squirrels are running about and birds are chirping, when the wind is whistling in my ears and I am looking at the sights. I come home having experienced very little of the music. I don't get anything out of it... and my experience of the environment and my surroundings is negatively impacted, too.

This is a type of geek I can identify with.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

So, what are you saying, millionrainbows? Are you telling us the obvious, that our approach to books and music is foreign to most people, or that something should change, that we could or should make it change, or what?


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## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

QuietGuy said:


> Yes, I'm a geek also. I listen to the music and follow a score. It's the only "video" I need.


Video of symphony concerts I find distracting. Do we really need to see up the conductors nostrils. Or the constant switching from instrument to instrument. My own preference is to sit in a seat of my choice and let the entire performance engulf me. The frisson of a live performance adds to one awareness and perception and ultimately enjoyment.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

I'm an avid reader too, but for me there's also nothing like a good movie or TV show.
"all you have to do is sit there and watch" reads to me like a complete misunderstanding of what watching a film involves.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

This feels like an AA meet; Hello I'm ptr, I am a geek who sit down to listen and/or read... That felt quite natural... 

/ptr


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## manyene (Feb 7, 2015)

I wouldn't attempt to place all these activities, reading books and listening to classical music or watching a really good drama on the television in any order of rank: they are all valuable, and probably best if they are intermixed. I cannot do any of these activities for more than perhaps 4 to 5 hours at a stretch.

If these are all nerdish, I am a nerd. I have been doing for a very long time and have developed a very thick skin about it all.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

I do like reading... mostly random wikipedia articles though.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Polyphemus said:


> My own preference is to sit in a seat of my choice and let the entire performance engulf me. The frisson of a live performance adds to one awareness and perception and ultimately enjoyment.


My Dad used to talk about this, too. He said that in Stuttgart, when he was a youth, the orchestra would play in the park every Sunday and the townsfolk would gather in droves. I would love this, too: just stroll down the street to the park and there's an orchestra playing!


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## manyene (Feb 7, 2015)

brotagonist,

Yes (sigh), that sort of thing has now gone. Any summer event in our local park fills our bandstand with a pop group, or worse still a loud PA system playing recorded hits that can be heard over a radius of half a mile, with frequent loud announcements. The rot set in sometime during the 1960s and things have got steadily worse since then. Complaints attract comments that those who protest are trying to stop people from enjoying themselves.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

My own preference is to infiltrate the orchestra and tickle each of the performers without getting caught.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

brotagonist said:


> So, what are you saying, millionrainbows? Are you telling us the obvious, that our approach to books and music is foreign to most people, or that something should change, that we could or should make it change, or what?


I'm saying that music has changed, because of the way people want to listen to it now. Is it becoming a dying art?


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## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

What a lovely memory but sadly those days have gone. Here in Dublin I can remember Brass Band concerts in St Stephens Green and the Phoenix Park. There was an occasion in celebration of Handel when 'The Messiah' was sung in St Mary's Abbey the site of the original performance. But these occasions are all too rare.


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## csacks (Dec 5, 2013)

We do all love music, but there is TV to seat in front and watch, with no extra effort, and there is TV as a challenge, to think and to use the imagination. Like music, and like books. I would not do any difference at all. Probably in the forum about cine, they are comparing Hitchcock with bad music and saying themselves how geek are they.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

millionrainbows said:


> I'm saying that music has changed, because of the way people want to listen to it now. Is it becoming a dying art?


I think some music might have changed (I don't know how, unless you mean the domination of pop music), because of how those audiences want to listen to it now. But there are other people, albeit a rather small group, who like to listen differently. Is it a dying art? I think that as long as composers find their audience, it is not dead. There will likely always be some who are interested.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Last night I couldn't sleep so I listened to 3 hours of Jefferson Airplane and the Doors, and it was fabulous. I feel cool air-guitaring in the dark.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

shangoyal said:


> Last night I couldn't sleep so I listened to 3 hours of Jefferson Airplane and the Doors, and it was fabulous. I feel cool air-guitaring in the dark.


I'm not sure what you mean by that: that you are a member of the diminishing audience for Jefferson Airplane and the Doors? 

What it made me think of, however, is that, perhaps, for performers, they might feel like they are playing air guitar in the dark, since their audiences never see them perform live, but only by way of recordings. This certainly is a change, one that millionrainbows might have been alluding to. In the past, audiences saw live performances.

I happen to like recordings, because they are affordable and work logistically: I can enjoy them when they are right for me.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Listening to classical music is not just for geeks. If that were the case, then my stepdad wouldn't be a hardcore Sutherland fan.

Listening to music is an open activity and I am glad that each person can approach it in their own way... It's a thinking process no matter what the track is methinks.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

millionrainbows said:


> I'm saying that music has changed, because of the way people want to listen to it now. Is it becoming a dying art?


Maybe in the US. I remember the comment by an editor at McGraw Hill - "We were told to avoid the use of the word 'imagine' because people in Texas felt it was too close to 'magic' and therefore might be considered anti-Christian." (The source is here.) 

We were in Norwich Cathedral (2000 odd capacity) just before Christmas for a sold out version of the Messiah (by candlelight) with a proper HIP orchestra - all ages. We'll be going again in September for a (sold out - probably) Rachel Podger concert. There's a classical music festival coming up; there are a couple of good Classical music CD shops locally. Certainly not dying here.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

millionrainbows said:


> Listening to music is like reading, and that's why it's a dying art. Listening to music demands attention, involvement, imagination, and introspection, just like reading.
> 
> To watch a show on HDTV, a mainly visual experience, all you have to do is sit there and watch. Every blade of grass is visible now in sports games. Every pore of skin is now visible on actors. There's no need to fill in any blank spots with your imagination. What you see is what you get. You are a passive spectator, for the most part.
> 
> ...


Rubbish! I think music is real important in mass culture and people listen closely and attentively. Think of the number of hits on youtube for this, I know people who can sing every word:


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Honestly as a classical music listener, I don't like to restrict my listening to an enclosed room with a computer and stereo... I listen mostly on the go... running, jogging, eating, sleeping, napping, commuting, going to the library, researching stuff at the Apple Store, and even the restroom.

Classical music listening for geeks feels to me like it's a limited activity set aside for precious moments. I immerse myself each day with it without boundaries.


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## csacks (Dec 5, 2013)

Taggart said:


> Maybe in the US. I remember the comment by an editor at McGraw Hill - "We were told to avoid the use of the word 'imagine' because people in Texas felt it was too close to 'magic' and therefore might be considered anti-Christian." (The source is here.)


Hi Taggart, I have just read the link. OMG. Amazing story


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

For years, my favorite activity has been reading while listening to classical music (a bowl of snacks might complete the scene). About the only thing that might compare is sex. 

My name might as well be George Geek.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

GGluek said:


> For years, my favorite activity has been reading while listening to classical music (a bowl of snacks might complete the scene). About the only thing that might compare is sex.
> 
> My name might as well be George Geek.


I approve of this post wholeheartedly.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

How I miss the days when I could _actually listen _!



GGluek said:


> About the only thing that might compare is sex.


How I miss those days as well! :lol:


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Actually the only thing that makes me feel nerdy along with working with computers is watching The Big Bang Theory.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Nonsense. Seriously delving into Art, Music, Literature, Theater, Film, Dance, etc... has always been an elective affinity... and the audience limited in scale. At the same time, I have no doubt that the audience for Shakespeare, Monet, Mozart, Haydn, etc... is larger today in sheer numbers than it ever was. Certainly this audience is larger than it was during the lifetime of such artists.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Maybe in the US. I remember the comment by an editor at McGraw Hill - "We were told to avoid the use of the word 'imagine' because people in Texas felt it was too close to 'magic' and therefore might be considered anti-Christian." (The source is here.)

We should have allowed the South to secede.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Polyphemus said:


> How about :-
> 
> View attachment 65920


I remember that day. It was almost love at first sight, but then I noticed that she wasn't holding a book, and hadn't just put one down either, so she was actually there to distract me from my own reading, and I kicked her out of my study.

Sorry Isabella, but I'm a man of principle or I'm nothing at all.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Nonsense. Seriously delving into Art, Music, Literature, Theater, Film, Dance, etc... has always been an elective affinity... and the audience limited in scale. At the same time, I have no doubt that the audience for Shakespeare, Monet, Mozart, Haydn, etc... is larger today in sheer numbers than it ever was. Certainly this audience is larger than it was during the lifetime of such artists.


And YouTube has allowed anyone to listen to classical music without any fears of reprisal .


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Maybe in the US. I remember the comment by an editor at McGraw Hill - "We were told to avoid the use of the word 'imagine' because people in Texas felt it was too close to 'magic' and therefore might be considered anti-Christian." (The source is here.)
> 
> We should have allowed the South to secede.


Not sure which state is more backwards. Texas or Oklahoma? And then there's Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Arizona. Some of the most retarded people in these states are governors and legislators. One thing you have to take in to consideration here in the US is that there is a growing disparity in incomes, and more poverty. Texas is a prime example. People are working longer hours, and are very tired. These folks don't come home after a 10-12 hour workday and curl up with a Tolstoy novel, or listen to an opera.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Maybe in the US. I remember the comment by an editor at McGraw Hill - "We were told to avoid the use of the word 'imagine' because people in Texas felt it was too close to 'magic' and therefore might be considered anti-Christian." (The source is here.)
> 
> We should have allowed the South to secede.


A modest proposal...


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Becca said:


> A modest proposal...
> 
> View attachment 65979


If at first you don't secede, try, try again.

_;D_


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

starthrower said:


> Not sure which state is more backwards. Texas or Oklahoma? And then there's Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Arizona. Some of the most retarded people in these states are governors and legislators. One thing you have to take in to consideration here in the US is that there is a growing disparity in incomes, and more poverty. Texas is a prime example. People are working longer hours, and are very tired. These folks don't come home after a 10-12 hour workday and curl up with a Tolstoy novel, or listen to an opera.


But of course when they didn't have to spend all day at the office the opry houses were filled to capacity.

Back around 1870.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

brotagonist said:


> Movies are passive. It's all determined. Turn it on, sit back and let it unfold.


There are a lot of movies like that but there are also movies that can be very involving, very affecting. Yes, the movie has a script but the text of a book is written, too. The score of the symphony is just as determined. A good work of art that plays out over time in any of these forms can be active. They can require and reward dedicated attention.

And yes, a film has a lot more to it than a book but, again, if that is well put together it can be arresting. The composition of the shots, the imagery, the sound design, the score, the references using any of these aspects... all of these can be compelling and I haven't even brought up the plot, the acting performances, or the text by itself.

I love listening to things with concentrated attention, but I must confess I haven't bought any new scores in a while and I don't often pull out the ones I have. I just don't have as much time to do nothing else. I appreciate the value of dedicated listening, but it isn't going to stop me from listening to music. I understand I won't get as much out of this string quartet since I'm distracted but I'm still going to listen.

This is one reason I love attending the symphony; for me there are no distractions, no chores to work on, cats that want attention. This is one reason that I like watching operas, and a good explanation for why I didn't get into the genre until I lived somewhere that had frequent opera performances.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I pretty much need music on at all times. It's helps me pay attention to other things. I have a hard time reading while listening to anything with vocals. And there are a few pieces and performances that don't work.

Fricsay's 1961 Eroica with the Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin was banned from my iPod after I caught myself standing there dumbstruck a couple times. Needless to say I took the time to listen to it on my own time.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Also I am fortunate to have a bunch of friends and acquaintances that also really love music. We have record club get-togethers where we sit around and listen to records. Sure, we'll drink, eat, and chat about the music we're listening to and whatever, but there is a lot of active listening going on. There hasn't been any classical music, but people bring really interesting, fascinating stuff.

I don't think this is normal, but it does happen!


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Becca said:


> A modest proposal...
> 
> View attachment 65979


England isn't already the 50th state? I didn't know.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Wood said:


> England isn't already the 50th state? I didn't know.


Of course not! The 53rd state (let's not discount Canada and Puerto Rico) is known as "the United Kingdom." Whoever made that map colored it in wrong, just as if the Welsh had never conquered England.

(So my plans to travel to England have been put off by a decade.)


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

brotagonist said:


> No argument, start to finish. I feel that way, too.
> 
> I have been an avid reader all of my life. I like constructing and involving myself in the story in my mind. That's what great books are about. Movies are passive. It's all determined. Turn it on, sit back and let it unfold. When I read a book, the story, if it moved me, can remain in me for weeks, as if I had lived it personally, as if I had known the characters. With a movie, I often leave the cinema having trouble recalling what it was about.
> 
> ...


I feel the same way about having to 'construct' the meaning of the music actively, which is also the reason I mainly listen to classical. However, I find taking an mp3 player with you doesn't diminish the pleasure at all, for me it makes the music even stronger, since it becomes associated with the images you see and with your day's activities in general. But this is subjective, of course.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

starthrower said:


> Not sure which state is more backwards. Texas or Oklahoma? And then there's Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Arizona. Some of the most retarded people in these states are governors and legislators. One thing you have to take in to consideration here in the US is that there is a growing disparity in incomes, and more poverty. *Texas is a prime example. People are working longer hours, and are very tired. These folks don't come home after a 10-12 hour workday and curl up with a Tolstoy novel, or listen to an opera.*


That is not the reason. Someone who loves Tolstoy and opera will look for rest and refreshment from his workday in these things. People will always find time for things they are passionate about. Poverty is not the reason either, because YouTube and public libraries are either free or very inexpensive.

And the fundies.... yeah, you gotta love them....


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

starthrower said:


> Not sure which state is more backwards. Texas or Oklahoma? And then there's Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Arizona. Some of the most retarded people in these states are governors and legislators. One thing you have to take in to consideration here in the US is that there is a growing disparity in incomes, and more poverty. Texas is a prime example. People are working longer hours, and are very tired. These folks don't come home after a 10-12 hour workday and curl up with a Tolstoy novel, or listen to an opera.


I live in the People's Republik of Kalifornia where there's this goose-step animus against affluence.

I'd say its even more backwards than Texas and Oaklahoma.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

SiegendesLicht said:


> That is not the reason. Someone who loves Tolstoy and opera will look for rest and refreshment from his workday in these things. People will always find time for things they are passionate about. Poverty is not the reason either, because YouTube and public libraries are either free or very inexpensive.
> 
> And the fundies.... yeah, you gotta love them....


It's not just about money. I'm in a situation right now where I'm working a lot of hours, I'm tired, and if I sit down with a book after work, I'm falling asleep in ten minutes. It's a good thing I did a bunch of reading when I had more free time. I've got nine years to go, then I can collect social security, and work part time.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Everywhere I go: the highway, the mall, Panera Bread, sporting events, etc; people are mostly engaged in the same activity: eyes staring at the smart phone. I find this sad.

You could do the same things in 1962 without these phones and there didn't seem to be this urgent need to "stay connected".

If getting along without a phone or iPad and instead, reading and listening to music makes me a nerd, then I wear this "badge of shame" proudly!!


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Everywhere I go: the highway, the mall, Panera Bread, sporting events, etc; people are mostly engaged in the same activity: eyes staring at the smart phone. I find this sad.
> 
> You could do the same things in 1962 without these phones and there didn't seem to be this urgent need to "stay connected".
> 
> If getting along without a phone or iPad and instead, reading and listening to music makes me a nerd, then I wear this "badge of shame" proudly!!


I agree. Why do you need a device to communicate, when the person you are with right this moment is standing beside you? Or you've already decided that you're getting together this afternoon? etc.

I don't have a smart phone yet, but I do plan on getting one in the next 1-3 years (no real need, but monthly fees are coming down, so I might finally ditch my land line). What I want to avoid is to become a slave to the device. I hope that I can master it. I believe I am strong enough :lol:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

brotagonist said:


> I agree. Why do you need a device to communicate, when the person you are with right this moment is standing beside you? Or you've already decided that you're getting together this afternoon? etc.
> 
> I don't have a smart phone yet, but I do plan on getting one in the next 1-3 years (no real need, but monthly fees are coming down, so I might finally ditch my land line). What I want to avoid is to become a slave to the device. I hope that I can master it. I believe I am strong enough :lol:


I stopped visiting some young relatives 1200 miles away, because instead of communicating with me, their eyes were always glued to their smart phones. They weren't even aware I was there!! No hello. No goodbye....

At least they weren't being branded as nerds or geeks!!


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## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Everywhere I go: the highway, the mall, Panera Bread, sporting events, etc; people are mostly engaged in the same activity: eyes staring at the smart phone. I find this sad.
> 
> You could do the same things in 1962 without these phones and there didn't seem to be this urgent need to "stay connected".
> 
> If getting along without a phone or iPad and instead, reading and listening to music makes me a nerd, then I wear this "badge of shame" proudly!!


What you write is true, but we must try to control the technology rather than allowing it to control us.

True story: A few years back, "the boss" came to me asking for my mobile phone number. He said we were all going to be put into some network that would save money for the university. I said I didn't have one. "Get one", "I don't want one", "You need one", "I don't want one". After a while, I said, "Okay then, let the university buy me one." Done - and the university is paying my phone bill to this day.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Kivimees said:


> What you write is true, but we must try to control the technology rather than allowing it to control us.
> 
> True story: A few years back, "the boss" came to me asking for my mobile phone number. He said we were all going to be put into some network that would save money for the university. I said I didn't have one. "Get one", "I don't want one", "You need one", "I don't want one". After a while, I said, "Okay then, let the university buy me one." Done - and the university is paying my phone bill to this day.


That is the way it should be. Your private phone is your private phone. Your work line is your work line. You don't take business calls on your personal phone. There could even be security issues with using a private phone, like firewall leaks to the company computer system, etc.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Everywhere I go: the highway, the mall, Panera Bread, sporting events, etc; people are mostly engaged in the same activity: eyes staring at the smart phone. I find this sad.
> 
> You could do the same things in 1962 without these phones and there didn't seem to be this urgent need to "stay connected".
> 
> If getting along without a phone or iPad and instead, reading and listening to music makes me a nerd, then I wear this "badge of shame" proudly!!


I cannot express howmuch I agree with your viewpoint. Students at my school, my children and their friends, my own friends except a few, all glued to the screen; doing what ? Even my own wife is now a self-chosen victim of the Whatsapp, with those annoying bleeps. Even when walking my dogs, deep into forrest or fields, glorious skys and landscapes I see another walker staring at the device.
Sad is the correct word, deeply sad. But there is no use fighting it, it's a lost battle. Time is better spent listening to music (Schumann for me atm).
I'm not against cellphones, I sometimes use my Nokia 3310 to telephone people.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Yes. What kind of world have we created? Go anywhere internationally and it's the same mania.
Accidents happen walking on the streets as inattentive phone gazers bump into other pedestrians.

The only ones laughing are Apple and Samsung.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I got a flipphone for 25 bucks a month.
f them.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Kivimees said:


> What you write is true, but we must try to control the technology rather than allowing it to control us.
> 
> True story: A few years back, "the boss" came to me asking for my mobile phone number. He said we were all going to be put into some network that would save money for the university. I said I didn't have one. "Get one", "I don't want one", "You need one", "I don't want one". After a while, I said, "Okay then, let the university buy me one." Done - and the university is paying my phone bill to this day.


As far as the kids go, the parents must set limits within the home-no phones at the dinner table, don't be smart-phone rude to relatives or guests when they visit, etc;
The problem is the kids see their moms exhibiting the same smart-phone immersion behavior.
As a parent, one has to not only impose rules but set a fine example too!


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

brotagonist said:


> I'm not sure what you mean by that: that you are a member of the diminishing audience for Jefferson Airplane and the Doors?
> 
> What it made me think of, however, is that, perhaps, for performers, they might feel like they are playing air guitar in the dark, since their audiences never see them perform live, but only by way of recordings. This certainly is a change, one that millionrainbows might have been alluding to. In the past, audiences saw live performances.
> 
> I happen to like recordings, because they are affordable and work logistically: I can enjoy them when they are right for me.


I wanted to say that listening to music is its own reward. Usually, the more solitary the experience feels, the more I get out of it. In that sense, I may be an extreme geek or something.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Itullian said:


> I got a flipphone for 25 bucks a month.
> f them.


Me too. I'm one of the last hold outs. I carry a cell phone for emergencies only-especially if I have car trouble. My cellphone blocks text messages and I don't send any either.
The other person in the house has the latest iPhone and I don't see the need for over 90% of its features.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

hpowders said:


> If getting along without a phone or iPad and instead, reading and listening to music makes me a nerd, then I wear this "badge of shame" proudly!!


I am the only computer professional that I am aware of who does not have a smart phone ... and I intend that it stay that way! I stare at a screen often enough as it is!


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

hpowders said:


> Me too. I'm one of the last hold outs. I carry a cell phone for emergencies only-especially if I have car trouble. My cellphone blocks text messages and I don't send any either.
> The other person in the house has the latest iPhone and I don't see the need for over 90% of its features.


If I dropped my texts it would be 20 bucks a month :lol:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Itullian said:


> If I dropped my texts it would be 20 bucks a month :lol:


I did that! That's 1 1/2 CDs more a month!!! 18 CDs a year!!!


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## Guest (Mar 10, 2015)

I finally bothered to open this thread.

I realized that it is one big distraction used to make the point that mp3 listeners are not real listeners. 

Ok I'm done.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

nathanb said:


> I finally bothered to open this thread.
> 
> I realized that it is one big distraction used to make the point that mp3 listeners are not real listeners.
> 
> Ok I'm done.


As long as many great recordings of the past aren't available on CD, it will never be true that mp3 listeners aren't real listeners. I personally prefer CDs, but only because the Bluetooth on the stereo doesn't work that well and LPs and 78s are tricky when you have small children around. CDs and mp3s are both supremely practical choices, although thinking in those terms probably means that I'm not a real listener!


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

starthrower said:


> It's not just about money. I'm in a situation right now where I'm working a lot of hours, I'm tired, and if I sit down with a book after work, I'm falling asleep in ten minutes. It's a good thing I did a bunch of reading when I had more free time. I've got nine years to go, then I can collect social security, and work part time.


My condolences. But you still find time for listening to classical music and talking about it, don't you? If your interest was something else, say, mountain biking, you would prbably find time for that too.

The main reason for people not being involved in intellectual pursuits like reading and serious music listening is, as far as I can judge, not the lack of time and money, but social conventions, such as "it is not for my class", "it is unfashionable", "uncool", "it makes me look like a geek", "it is boring", "strictly for relaxation" etc.


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## Guest (Mar 10, 2015)

Figleaf said:


> As long as many great recordings of the past aren't available on CD, it will never be true that mp3 listeners aren't real listeners. I personally prefer CDs, but only because the Bluetooth on the stereo doesn't work that well and LPs and 78s are tricky when you have small children around. CDs and mp3s are both supremely practical choices, although thinking in those terms probably means that I'm not a real listener!


But as long as it's true in the minds of some, we'll see this is a popular form of invalidation threads


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Maybe in the US. I remember the comment by an editor at McGraw Hill - "We were told to avoid the use of the word 'imagine' because people in Texas felt it was too close to 'magic' and therefore might be considered anti-Christian." (The source is here.)
> 
> We should have allowed the South to secede.


Actually he is right in a way: imagination is the closest thing we have to magic since it can open up other worlds for us and set the spirit free. But it is present in books and music to a much greater extent than in that fundie religion which claims to be a "living relationship" but if you pursue it with any degree of seriousness, it becomes tight as a straighjacket and dry as the deserts of Palestine... but I'd rather not go into this.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Becca said:


> I am the only computer professional that I am aware of who does not have a smart phone ... and I intend that it stay that way! I stare at a screen often enough as it is!


I'm also a computer professional but have the opposite work schedule. Since I pull like 100+ hours on average maintaining servers and laptops, I pretty much am glued to the computer screen most of my days... Luckily I can listen to as much music as I can.

My break will be whenever I go in for part-time stuff at the ballet which will be good respite to help out there.


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## Guest (Mar 11, 2015)

Albert7 said:


> I'm also a computer professional but have the opposite work schedule. Since I pull like 100+ hours on average maintaining servers and laptops, I pretty much am glued to the computer screen most of my days... Luckily I can listen to as much music as I can.
> 
> My break will be whenever I go in for part-time stuff at the ballet which will be good respite to help out there.


They let you post as much as you want to, too, don't they?


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## Saintbert (Mar 12, 2015)

I don't find listening to music or reading a book demanding. It feels like taking a break, letting fresh air in. All day our senses are bombarded with images and sounds, and we're being rushed from one thing to another. When I listen to music I hardly feel like I'm doing anything.


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