[linux-audio-user] Thesis: Playing and making music

[Fons Adriaensen]

On Mon, Dec 11, 2006 at 04:28:32AM +0100, Esben Stien wrote:

> Fons Adriaensen <fons at kokkinizita.net> writes:
> 
> > To compare this to the skills of a gamer seems a joke to me.
> 
> I disagree wholeheartedly;). As a die hard free software first person
> action gamer, I find what I do to be an art; just as my jujutsu is an
> art, which is not just about hitting someone in the head.

Concerning the game playing, I'd agree that there may be more involved
than the ability to push buttons. But assuming for a moment there is
something in there that is a bonus to humanity, as art is, I wonder why
it can apparently be expressed only in a context of violence and killing,
and in a simplistic mindset consisting of 'good' and 'evil'. 

You don't find this lack of subtlety in oriental martial arts - they
are about more than the technicalities of hurting someone efficiently.
They also train your mind and personality, and teach restraint rather
than indiscriminate violence. Here again we have two things that can't
be compared.

IMHO, all art, using the word in the usual sense, touches on ambiguity,
the complexities of the human condition, and things that escape the
framework of rational thinking. Not that it's supposed to express any
of these in any way - certainly music isn't, even if it is often 
interpreted as such.

-- 
FA

Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa.