tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post7836511229021872728..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Knowing What You Are DoingBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-44035872049360179752016-11-18T10:38:56.704-06:002016-11-18T10:38:56.704-06:00Heh!
Actually, my very favourite kind of expert i...Heh!<br /><br />Actually, my very favourite kind of expert is the one that shows me where I have been mistaken. My second favourite introduces me to something I didn't know. My third favourite is the kind that confirms what I believe to be true.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-13988987663932029062016-11-18T08:56:10.014-06:002016-11-18T08:56:10.014-06:00Living so far away I didn't even know who Trum...Living so far away I didn't even know who Trump was until his stint as Birther in Chief. Do I need to say I wasn't impressed? But I'll second Tom Hanks. Nothing would make me happier than to have Trump surprise us all and be as good a president as he is a bullshit artist. Don't get me wrong. One of my dearest friends is a bullshit artist! <br /><br />Again from my favorite curmudgeon: "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." and "A national political campaign is better than the best circus ever heard of, with a mass baptism and a couple of hangings thrown in." H. L. Mencken<br /><br />And yes, we love experts until they start to say what we don't want to hear and contradict our most cherished beliefs. Then we suddenly become very suspicious. We're all guilty of that.Christine Lacroixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02006109075551438090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-27860729790035092612016-11-18T08:37:48.375-06:002016-11-18T08:37:48.375-06:00I was very glad to keep the website free of any pa...I was very glad to keep the website free of any partisan vitriol. Thanks for noticing! I think the best thing I have heard so far was from Tom Hanks, who rather surprisingly said that he hopes the Donald Trump turns out to be such a good president that he will be happy to vote to re-elect him in four years.<br /><br />Thanks for the links! Mencken is the very model of a curmudgeon.<br /><br />I think that not knowing who the Kardashians are signals your virtue!<br /><br />I have a bit of a complex position on "experts". On the one hand I distrust them, but on the other hand I am a kind of elitist. I think I can explain this by noting that there are different kinds of experts. There are those that really do know their stuff, like Richard Taruskin in music. But the majority of those who we might call public intellectuals are deeply invested in the culture war. Their testimony, corrupted as it is by their often hidden agenda, is not to be trusted. Yes, there are lots of people plodding along behind the scenes doing good work. But there are lots of others who are engaged in manipulating public opinion to ends that I often find very questionable indeed. This election provides a wealth of examples. The amount of sheer lies that were put on display every day was astonishing.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-24222998373436295502016-11-18T01:56:08.713-06:002016-11-18T01:56:08.713-06:00Sorry, this is probably a better link the the Lich...Sorry, this is probably a better link the the Lichtman explanations:<br />http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-is-going-to-win-beat-hillary-clinton-predictions-polls-al-a7325716.html?cmpid=facebook-postChristine Lacroixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02006109075551438090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-77791323439539957182016-11-18T01:38:23.195-06:002016-11-18T01:38:23.195-06:00I finally googled Kardshians. Their names keep pop...I finally googled Kardshians. Their names keep popping up on various websites and I wasn't really sure. So they are reality stars, whatever that means. Guess they might turn up in four years for the next Presidential campaign. Got to stay informed! Bryan you've often commented that we should distrust 'experts' of various stripes, scientists, meteorolgists, political pundits. For my part I'm grateful that these people keep plodding along trying to find answers to questions that I find fascinating. Of course they make mistakes: Apparently even the Apollo moon rockets were off course 97% of the time. There is one 'pundit' who was right in this election:<br />https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/28/professor-whos-predicted-30-years-of-presidential-elections-correctly-is-doubling-down-on-a-trump-win/<br />Maybe he was just lucky?Christine Lacroixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02006109075551438090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-54881261848468172412016-11-18T01:24:37.428-06:002016-11-18T01:24:37.428-06:00Thank you for not dipping into politics during thi...Thank you for not dipping into politics during this particularly repugnant election. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I didn't. Your website was my go-to safe place for the duration. So glad it's over! The famous curmudgeon H.L. Mencken said: “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” His other quotes on democracy : https://www.aei.org/publication/on-election-day-some-quotes-from-h-l-mencken-on-elections-voting-and-democracy/<br /><br />My only hope now is that Donald Trump will once again prove everyone wrong and be a good president. And thanks for not bringing the mud into your website.<br />Christine Lacroixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02006109075551438090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-68444016493515416352016-11-17T15:36:46.306-06:002016-11-17T15:36:46.306-06:00I indulged in a few days of mirth at the expense o...I indulged in a few days of mirth at the expense of the politicos and media apparatchiks who were so violently dumbfounded by the electoral results-- but only time will tell if that was more or less justifiable <i>Schadenfreude</i> or me revealing myself to be blind to the approaching terror. We'll see.Marc in Eugenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04331547981498637474noreply@blogger.com