Keith has written extensively on the list about the problem of novelty and has related it to consumer goods. I have been reading a wonderful book as a reference for the course I'm teaching at the Jewish Theological Seminary. It's called "Sweet Anticipation, Music and the psychology of Expectation." It's by David Huron, published by MIT press.
The point it makes and that I agree with, is that true novelty is the work of the classical arts not consumerism. "Things" just sit there and become predictable. A work of art, even a thing like a sculpture, takes you to many different places far beyond mere convenience or the gadget of the moment. In fact, the artist who IS an artist is the one who can complete constant delight and surprise as the quality in the work. It's an act of "mindfulness." Mere usefulness is drone predictability and motivates the marketplace to be a place of mediocrity and simplemindedness. I would propose that the idea of a "new market" is, in actuality, a regressive one considering that the consumer, with the exception of computers, has become more and more subject to elite expert opinion and not to think much for themselves. Economies of Scale. Of course we are now in the throes of the market moving into the Internet in the same manner they moved in credit and banking in the early 1990s. Through legislation. See below and go to the opera and ask questions! Don't just go for fun. Mistrust "fun" as a criteria for a meaningful life. REH PS below sent to me by Steve Kurtz http://act.demandprogress.org/act/verisign_killswitch/?referring_akid=a21619 61.655598.hHxcLV <http://act.demandprogress.org/act/verisign_killswitch/%3Freferring_akid%3Da 2161961.655598.hHxcLV%26source%3Dauto-e> &source=auto-e ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Here's a sample email you can send to your friends: Friends- The war rages on. A private company wants its own Internet Kill Switch: Verisign controls the assignment of .com and .net domain names -- and makes nearly $700 million each year to do it. Now it's seeking the power to take down websites whenever governments wants them censored. It could implement the Internet Blacklist Bill that's pending before Congress. And it could help governments censor political speech abroad -- or, eventually, here in the United States. The group that regulates domain name assignments -- and would need to approve Verisign's request -- is called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. Will you urge ICANN to reject Verisign's request for its own Kill Switch? Just click here: http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/verisign_killswitch/?referring_akid=a2161 961.655598.hHxcLV <http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/verisign_killswitch/?referring_akid=a216 1961.655598.hHxcLV&source=auto-taf> &source=auto-taf Thanks!
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