Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Luke Lusardi's avatar

Humor, music, and the arts in general. A shared history of overcoming obstacles with diverse groups (the world wars, ending slavery, scientific/medical advances). There is plenty of subject matter but not enough public voices willing to say these things. Public personalities seem geared to appeal to the widest possible audience but a "hold together" message is going to cause some defensiveness and might even alienate your existing base. I think we need a wider social norm change where negative behavior in the technology age is punished. Maybe not so much with banning but simply reliable feedback from other users that this is not to be tolerated.

Also, vote. When politicians are publicly punished for incompetence by losing office people notice and public norms shift.

Expand full comment
William Parker's avatar

I think that's definitely true for shallow popular music of the time. But I'm not so sure about the music that persists through historical eras. For instance, there were black stars at the Metropolitan Opera, completely welcomed, before it was a political diversity thing, just because the voices were so incredible. (Leontyne Price, Jesseye Norman, Kathleen Battle, etc.)

(Noted, there is perhaps no better example of Dr. Hanson's signaling thesis than the dedication to be a world class opera singer.)

Currently I see Jazz too as a genre that doesn't particularly care about background or points of view for anyone who wants to invest heavily in the style and nuances. My hunch is that Hip Hop will take on more of this character over time as well.

Expand full comment
3 more comments...

No posts