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Re[3]: The troubles (revisited)



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.

I do agree with you partially. In my experience rock and roll concerts
are *always* too loud by 20 dB. Many of them (not the ones I would see)
have no musical merit and stand on their shock value and sheer acoustic
power for effect. ("Acoustic" means something else to those people - I
use old terminology cometimes.) Thus the qualification that there is
a dependence on "how it is used" is trivial.

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.

I'm in agreement with you on this, too. I ran middle distance when I
was in college. (My highest achievement was finishing last in an 880 at
the Fresno Relays which was won by Mal Whitfield, then the world record
holder.) I have absolutely nothing against sports *per se*. I do have
strong objection to some sports, however, and the attitudes that prevail
in the sporting world. Among these I include boxing and ice hockey!

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).

My wife, a chemist, plays "The Elements" by Tom Lehrer to her students.
I play Flanders and Swan's "Thermodynamics" to mine sometimes. I even
considered playing "Big Bang" by the group "Bad Religion" in a talk I
gave on cosmology for the public, but I rejected it after listening to
it carefully. Of course I played lots of music in my physics of music
course. Music is among the highest forms of art. Only movies and music
among the arts make me cry.

"Rock & Roll" = "Dreck & Drool"

Leigh