I would take it to be about art in general rather than music specifically. It’s socially acceptable for works of art to support a particular viewpoint—and try to convert their consumers to it—without supplying much evidence to show that it’s actually true.
One example that will probably ring true with LWers is the strong lesson in lots of fiction that following one’s “heart” is a better (more moral, or more likely to lead to success) course of action than following one’s “head”.
Imagine you find yourself in a conversation with a room full of other high school kids, most of whom are as full of confusion and self-doubt as high school kids typically are, and many of whom have found solace, self-identification, and reassurance in popular music.
In that context, this quote is far too stupid to be spoken or sung.
-Pierre de Beaumarchais (and usually incorrectly attributed to Voltaire)
Is this about the seductive power of music to fool people into believing implausible things? If not, what is its rationality?
I would take it to be about art in general rather than music specifically. It’s socially acceptable for works of art to support a particular viewpoint—and try to convert their consumers to it—without supplying much evidence to show that it’s actually true.
One example that will probably ring true with LWers is the strong lesson in lots of fiction that following one’s “heart” is a better (more moral, or more likely to lead to success) course of action than following one’s “head”.
A similar principle might be: any popular game with poor plot, balance, gameplay, etc. has good graphics.
Imagine you find yourself in a conversation with a room full of other high school kids, most of whom are as full of confusion and self-doubt as high school kids typically are, and many of whom have found solace, self-identification, and reassurance in popular music.
In that context, this quote is far too stupid to be spoken or sung.
I think they mostly forgave me eventually.