Julf wrote: > But then there is this: 'Why the Flat Earth Movement is the Best Symbol > of the Increasingly Diminished Value of Truth and Intelligence' > (http://news.nationalpost.com/life/why-the-flat-earth-movement-is-the-best-symbol-of-the-increasingly-diminished-value-of-truth-and-intelligence) > > "ItÂs the same quick-fix attitude thatÂs besieging our political > landscape: information that doesnÂt accord with your carefully > manicured world-view is Âfake news, opinions that donÂt cohere with > your own are offensive, everything you dislike or that frightens you can > be wedged between scare quotes and rejected out of hand. Never mind the > Âexpertise of Âprofessionals and Âelites. You still matter. You > know everything you need to know." > > For many audiophilia is a way to escape from a modern world full of > knowledge, science, technology and expertise into a simpler, gentler > word where you count simply for having been around long enough to read > enough audiophile magazines and but the right boxes. But because you are > Special, with better ears than the ears of all those know-it-all > engineer types, your Truth trumps (pun intended) all their formulas. > > Unfortunately proving them wrong just strengthens their resolve.
Yup, very appropriate observation into the nature of audiophilia and the bigger sociological context which we're seeing playing out all over the place like politics. Years ago, I remember the term "intellectual embarrassment" being used as one which I've thought about as apropos for much of what we see written in the audiophile world. I think it applies nicely to the quote from the flat earth article and your comments about the desire of a "simpler, gentler world" where essentially any opinion can be acceptable no matter how outlandish. This has become the fate of various audiophile sites IMO (cough... cough... AudioStream, 6moons...). Even if at some point the intent was to seriously discuss the technology and disseminated knowledge, they now read like either a bad music review site that just wants to sell whatever idiosyncratic stuff the guy likes, or a hangout for the New Age faithful. Forget the "intellectual embarrassment" part, it's just plain embarrassing that this is presumably what many audiophiles consume in terms of the source of information on a regular basis! As for likening this to the Flat Earthers, thankfully there aren't many of those around even if the article can throw up a few celebrity names. They can perhaps take pride in being the "few" and the "elite". However, considering that the audiophile press has been at this for decades now and considering how many audiophiles already belong to the subjectivist camp, maybe the psychology works out better for the vocal objective folks which might be a minority at this time in many places. Archimago's Musings: (archimago.blogspot.com) A 'more objective' audiophile blog. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Archimago's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2207 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=107343
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