[totw] is it morally ok to dedicate your life to music?

Topic: [totw] is it morally ok to dedicate your life to music? (Read 4159 times)

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Frisky SKeleton

#41 May 19, 2008, 05:52:30 am

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Quote from: headphonics on May 18, 2008, 10:21:46 pm

is this a joke?

no, everyone was saying OH GOODNESS OF COURSE NOT HOW SILLY when there probably are some moral issues in what would essentially be hedonism. there's a huge difference between dedicating your life to music and playing music as a career, most lawyers wouldn't say they dedicate their lives to law, nor doctors to healthcare. and especially not garbage men to picking up garbage.

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Then try living without music for one year and tell me how good it was.

i know you tend to post some pretty absurd things but would this seriously be a big thing for you? i think i could go a year without music and NOT NOTICE unless you take out movie soundtracks or something.

I USE Q'S INSTEQD OF Q'S

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ghastly_darklord

#42 May 19, 2008, 06:05:48 am

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religion is pretty big champ, I'm pretty sure you get rid of the entire populace of theology (this would include priests, because I'm sure your definition of musician doesn't mean a degree) the world would devolve into chaos far worse than if every musician died,

if a man can't dream what can he do

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headphonics

#43 May 19, 2008, 07:14:59 am

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no, everyone was saying OH GOODNESS OF COURSE NOT HOW SILLY when there probably are some moral issues in what would essentially be hedonism. there's a huge difference between dedicating your life to music and playing music as a career, most lawyers wouldn't say they dedicate their lives to law, nor doctors to healthcare. and especially not garbage men to picking up garbage.

are there? i guess i could see why you think there are but idk i think there are even larger moral issues with compelling someone to give up whatever would fulfill them in life so they can be another COG IN THE WORKS or whatever you would feel you should be doing instead of devoting your life to music. i would say guilt tripping people into fulfilling their obligations to society is at the very least, equally questionable. and again, most people wouldn't be leaving music behind to be a doctor or a teacher or someone that legitimately helps people. most would just have nominal jobs with nominal effects on things that in the greater scheme of civilization are also probably pretty nominal themselves! i don't understand what's so much more acceptable about going to work in the customer service department of some nbc subsidiary, honestly!

also how many people dedicate their lives to music but do it in a way that it affects NO ONE WHATSOEVER beyond them? yeah, there's a difference between playing music as a career and just dedicating your life to it, but do you really think it's likely that someone would dedicate their lives to music and then keep it all tucked away like a secret where it can't positively impact the lives of anyone around them? you don't need to be a professional musician for the music you make to have some sort of an impact, is what i'm saying. you could teach a music class or something and that in itself is can be a pretty big thing for your students!

Last Edit: May 19, 2008, 07:16:51 am by headphonics

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Hundley

#44 May 19, 2008, 07:47:58 am

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Quote from: Couch on May 18, 2008, 05:49:45 am

is it morally ok to live a life dedicated to music?

This question has given me pause at times. What am I really doing for the world by focusing my life entirely around music? There is all sorts of horrible shit going on and all I can do is sit around and write songs and play guitars and etcetcetcetcetc. I'm aware that this is a can of worms kind of question yeah because it hinges on what is moral etc blah blah blah, but here it is.

you know, if this is a concern of yours you should just make sure you always remember to not lose sight of what your music does for other people. you know, expressing yourself, making music that makes people feel. i don't know if i speak for most people but i use music to help me think and feel. it adds much needed flavor to life and provokes things in my mind that i find pretty valuable. i'd like to think there are a lot of people who feel this way.

i think this would be a worthless thing to tell a lot of musicians, sadly, but i've always found your music to be pretty moving. just don't forget to do this at any point(it's easy to forget and just start DOING)

also remind yourself that the process of being a human is a lot less interesting without music. even if you can't apply some concrete FUNCTION to your work you need to remind yourself that without artists like yourself the world is a dull and colorless place.

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Frisky SKeleton

#45 May 19, 2008, 08:11:05 am

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Quote from: headphonics on May 19, 2008, 07:14:59 am

are there? i guess i could see why you think there are but idk i think there are even larger moral issues with compelling someone to give up whatever would fulfill them in life so they can be another COG IN THE WORKS or whatever you would feel you should be doing instead of devoting your life to music. i would say guilt tripping people into fulfilling their obligations to society is at the very least, equally questionable. and again, most people wouldn't be leaving music behind to be a doctor or a teacher or someone that legitimately helps people. most would just have nominal jobs with nominal effects on things that in the greater scheme of civilization are also probably pretty nominal themselves! i don't understand what's so much more acceptable about going to work in the customer service department of some nbc subsidiary, honestly!

usually people will dedicate their lives to something like their family or god, themselves, friends, possessions , money, sex etc

i guess some people do dedicate their lives to their career seperately from money but for the most part i would say people don't dedicate their lives to being a COG or a gofer at NBC

i am probably argueing semantics here but when someone says they've dedicated their life to something the sole purpose of their life is tied up in that something, like WoW players. is it morally ok to dedicate your life to world of warcraft?

I USE Q'S INSTEQD OF Q'S

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Hundley

#46 May 19, 2008, 08:21:33 am

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Quote from: climbtree on May 19, 2008, 08:11:05 am

i am probably argueing semantics here but when someone says they've dedicated their life to something the sole purpose of their life is tied up in that something, like WoW players. is it morally ok to dedicate your life to world of warcraft?

wait are you actually arguing that being a career wow player is even slightly similar to being a career musician? maybe i am not following your thought processes here.

i'm pretty sure you get a free pass if you tie your life up in something that genuinely affects the lives of others in a positive way

Last Edit: May 19, 2008, 08:23:11 am by Hundley

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CorporateGreed

#47 May 19, 2008, 09:42:44 am

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I think we´ve lost track of the original topic.

Either way, I don´t see what morality has to do with it. If you get well known, people
will listen to your music and some of them will find comfort in it. Only when you get
really famous you might be able to do something about the world, but those chances
are close to non-existant.

Other than that, if you're a musician boasting Nazistic beliefs, I think that would not
be morally acceptable. Then again, you might think it is.

That said, it depends on your circumstances. If you have a family and you disregard them
in your quest to become a well known musician, that's pretty amoral i guess.

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Frisky SKeleton

#48 May 19, 2008, 10:31:05 am

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Quote from: Hundley on May 19, 2008, 08:21:33 am

wait are you actually arguing that being a career wow player is even slightly similar to being a career musician? maybe i am not following your thought processes here.

i'm pretty sure you get a free pass if you tie your life up in something that genuinely affects the lives of others in a positive way

no! i am saying there are similiar moral issues in living your life solely for music to living your life solely for world of war craft. i don't know what they are it just seems like there should be some!

it'd be easier if we had a more universal moral handbook

I USE Q'S INSTEQD OF Q'S

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cowardknower

#49 May 19, 2008, 11:25:13 am

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Quote from: everyone telling me that i shouldnt be worried about it

dont worry dude

Yeah, I'm not really worried about this per se. I thought about this very briefly about a year ago, but basically arrived at the same conclusion as everyone else in this thread. (also thanks hundley you are such a sweetie pie)

Quote from: climbtree on May 19, 2008, 10:31:05 am

no! i am saying there are similiar moral issues in living your life solely for music to living your life solely for world of war craft. i don't know what they are it just seems like there should be some!

it'd be easier if we had a more universal moral handbook

the bible climbtree the bible
Yeah, the whole "what is morals anyway" kinda rubs its asshole all over this question and turns it into "is it ok to pursue something that does not quantifiably contribute to society in some way?" and several thousand other cans of worms.

(good discussing guys i am surprised this actually got any discussion the first few replies had me a little worried haha)

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holloway

#50 May 19, 2008, 08:52:35 pm

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Quote from: climbtree on May 18, 2008, 08:28:21 pm

uhhh there probably are some moral issues in dedicating your life to entertainment

What are you, jewish?

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Shepperd

#51 May 19, 2008, 09:29:02 pm

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Quote from: climbtree on May 19, 2008, 05:52:30 am

i know you tend to post some pretty absurd things but would this seriously be a big thing for you? i think i could go a year without music and NOT NOTICE unless you take out movie soundtracks or something.

speak to yourself, I can't go past a day without some dose of music

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Artis Leon Ivey Jr

#52 May 19, 2008, 09:31:14 pm

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uh by saying I THINK I COULD I think he was speaking for himself.

brian chemicals

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Shepperd

#53 May 19, 2008, 09:46:42 pm

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uh that's what I said, and that's not the entire purpose of my post

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last life

#54 May 19, 2008, 09:50:33 pm

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I think people overplay how important music is in their life, I'm sure all of us would be fine with no music to listen to or play (I play music all day though).

Last Edit: May 19, 2008, 09:52:17 pm by last life

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headphonics

#55 May 19, 2008, 09:57:52 pm

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i mean you would probably just compensate for the loss with other creative outlets like writing or painting or some shit, but if you're talking about not having music in your life and not being able to replace it with anything else, i don't think people would be fine! losing a major mode of expression like that isn't really good for your mental well-being i do not think

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Shepperd

#56 May 19, 2008, 09:59:44 pm

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Without music, life would be a mistake
-Friedrich Nietzsche

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headphonics

#57 May 19, 2008, 10:48:37 pm

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gopd is dead......

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last life

#58 May 19, 2008, 10:54:46 pm

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I mean, yeah it would suck at first, but I'm sure people would still be really happy and in the long run completely fine. People just think OH NOES NO MUSIC because they've had it their whole life, I really don't see it as neccessary in anyway. Sure it's nice, REALLY NICE, but so is chocolate.

The world would be fine without chocolate.

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headphonics

#59 May 19, 2008, 11:11:50 pm

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yeah but chocolate does not serve as a therapeutic exercise or a release of any sort. what i am saying is, whether you make it or listen to it, music is an outlet, so i think just plugging it up would lead to a lot of anxiety and yeah just a decline in mental health if you didn't replace it with anything. i don't think it'd be catastrophic but i do think it'd result in a decline in the general quality of life.

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Shepperd

#60 May 19, 2008, 11:28:07 pm

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without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines. Frank Zappa

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