Re[3]: The troubles (revisited)

["Beth Thacker"<thackerb@gvsu.edu>]

     Well I don't believe that the one message I responded to in a long 
     time was not about physics, as I agree with whoever said that this 
     discussion veers too far from physics.  So I'll reply once and let it 
     go.  I just get too irritated when all music is classed as either 
     classical or rock and roll, neither of which I listen to (although I 
     respect those for whom that is a choice), which I tried to point out.  
     
     Leigh, sounds like you are actually agreeing with me, as you are 
     discussing how loud the music is played which is definitely "how it is 
     used" and does not have to do with the music itself. 
     
     As for sports, all kinds of counter examples can be given.  It is 
     known that girls who play sports in high school are more likely to 
     finish high school and go to college (for academic reasons, not sports 
     reasons) and are less likely to get pregnant in high school than those 
     who don't.  And we still have to call out Title IX sometimes (in the 
     US) to maintain women's teams at all levels!  It is often the 
     money-making use of sports that is counter productive.  But, I still 
     hope the WNBA can get make a go of it.  For some of us, it has been a 
     long time coming.
     
     Lastly, for whoever commented on the use of  music in class, I only 
     use it because the words are relevant to the topic, not to enforce a 
     type of music (I wouldn't ever do that).  I even preface it with, this 
     may not be your kind of music, but I would like you to pay attention 
     to the words (which I put on the overhead).
     
     Peace,
     
     Beth
     


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re[2]: The troubles (revisited) 
Author:  <phys-l@mailer.uwf.edu > at Internet
Date: 10/20/97 5:20 PM


> Music or sports or anything else cannot make you dumb.  It
> depends how you use it.  It depends on what you use it for...
     
I'll have to disagree with this contention if the author includes 
rock & roll in her portmanteau as "music" as evidently she does. 
I would also point out that it can make one deaf as well as dumb!
     
I have attended a couple or three of rock concerts. In every case
     
I have observed the sound was cranked at least twenty dB above a 
reasonable level, and I understand completely why this was done. 
The purpose is not solely to substitute quantity for quality. An 
element of anethesia or narcosis is involved as well. The higher 
mental functions are disturbed and prevented by the deafening 
sound. One truly enters an altered state of consciousness which I 
find disagreeable but which some find pleasant. (I might point out 
that some enjoy turning their minds off. Alcohol and cocaine 
evidently provide some relief from Weltschmerz for some people.)
     
My brother, a pilot and designer of hovercraft*, tells me that 
when one goes aloft in a small airplane he "leaves half his 
brains on the ground" because of the reduced mental functionality 
engendered by the incessant roar of the engines. He claims every 
pilot knows this, so I don't understand why everyone else doesn't 
recognize that the same phenomenon can be observed in action at 
rock concerts. In my experience rock music is almost always used 
in this manner, and frequently it is used for this purpose. The 
contention that "it depends..." is therefore irrelevant.
     
Of course I recognize that "rock & roll" encompasses some works 
of considerable musical merit, a characteristic which can be 
appreciated when the volume is reduced to human scale. That is 
why I found myself at rock events, after all; I'm not inherently 
masochistic. Earplugs (which I also use when mowing my lawn) 
don't help much. Yes, I do think that some of the Beatles' music 
is in this category, more enjoyable to listen to than much of 
Bartok in my view. Somehow these two B's don't stack up to the 
Three Originals (Bach, Beethoven & Brahms), however.
     
As for sports not making anyone dumb, it depends on the sport. 
Boxing has certainly impaired many brains; likely football has 
done so as well. There is also a cultural element in the sports 
Gestalt that mitigates against conspicuous intellectuality in 
its participants. This varies from sport to sport, but we track 
guys were intellectually distinguishable as a group from the 
baseball players with whom we shared a locker room (and season) 
when I was in college. Yogi Berra and Casey Stengel were as much 
admired for their unselfconsciously dumb utterances as for their 
considerable talents in sport.
     
Here again one must differentiate sports. Mountain climbers and 
golfers are allowed to be smart; some quarterbacks are too. An
     
interior lineman had better not demonstrate that he is clever, 
however; his stereotype is of someone "just following orders". 
Since little intellectual virtuosity is expected of professional 
football players many never complete their university programs. 
Some players allow themselves to be exploited by college teams. 
They get a good foundation for the future provided they are 
among the very few who go on to remunerative professional sports
positions, a smaller proportion than the fraction of physics PhDs 
who go on to prestigious university positions.
     
While I don't agree with all Tom said, I don't think that blaming 
rock & roll for the troubles is a worse generalization than 
blaming television. However neither attitude is constructive. The 
troubles, I think, are real. Identifying their causes would only 
be constructive if we could hope to eliminate any we identified. 
In the cases cited that is not a credible threat. After all, both 
cigarettes and alcohol are uncontrovertibly troublesome, yet the 
will to eliminate them does not exist in our society.
     
Bleak, isn't it? The best you can do is to influence those around 
you, and those of us who have been given the bully pulpit of the 
teacher are in a better position to do so than many in our society.
     
Leigh