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Head-Fi's Sybil
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2002
- Posts
- 2,382
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- 125
People have sometimes asked why I spend so much time on Head-fi. They wonder why I don't choose to frequent sites and lists which are exclusively literary and/or academic. The answer to that lies partly in the compassionate but vigilantly polite atmosphere created by Jude and the moderators; but a good deal of it consists of the focus of the site: music and music equipment appreciation. These dual interests, which are both supportive of others' achievements, tend to bring out members' good natures, humility and mutual respect.
Writers' forums, by contrast, are often centered on the work of individual members. Often, this leads to ill-natured exchanges, verbal tough-offs and chest-thumping monologues that read like hip-hop for stiff old men, except when some equally mannered individual interrupts to valorize "the Street" and wax evangelical on the primacy of colloquial narrative (for vast helpings of why affected colloquial narrative can be at least as self-indulgent as intentionally cryptic high modernism, attend a poetry slam).
Because writing is a solitary art, it affords little chance for direct support. This is why, historically, writers have relied so often on friends, relatives and spouses to be their immediate audience. However, public exchanges between writers often dissolve into turf wars: the smaller the turf, the more vigorous the tussle. (This is perhaps why poets and experimental novelists have engaged in some of the nastiest in-fighting I've ever seen.)
To the spectator, it all looks like an exceptionally bitter game of playing the dozens. This is why such sites are frequented by (i) novices on lower levels, who, after hearing one another recite platitudes from manuals, soon outgrow such settings and (ii) bitter academics vying for meagre scraps of recognition.
Truthfully, I find intellectual competitiveness tiresome and depressing. Too often, it is compulsively ill-natured. I'd much rather focus on honing a powerful idea collectively, or exchanging odd images or turns of phrase for the fun of it, than trading intended slights with the latest ho-hum hombre.
The beauty of Head-fi is that, while its skirmishes are many, its focus is on selfless appreciation. No point in thrusting one's achievements in people's faces when we're all taking turns listening to Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra on a G08 through a Raptor or Maestro ZR. The true achievement lies in appreciating the sound.
Head-fi's focus would seem to be on collective improvisation rather than humorless battles for dominance. That is why many of us reside here, I think -- because an atmosphere of reasonable acceptance engenders friendship, whereas turf wars lead to self-congratulatory isolation.
Those who happened to catch Bill Moyer's interview with Jeanette Winterson will have listened to the sort of speculative conversation I look for on these boards. There, as here, the focus is on ideas and expression, not hypercriticism to the point of mutually enforced silence. The aim is to bring out people's ordinary genius, not to drown out all voices but one's own.
Writers' forums, by contrast, are often centered on the work of individual members. Often, this leads to ill-natured exchanges, verbal tough-offs and chest-thumping monologues that read like hip-hop for stiff old men, except when some equally mannered individual interrupts to valorize "the Street" and wax evangelical on the primacy of colloquial narrative (for vast helpings of why affected colloquial narrative can be at least as self-indulgent as intentionally cryptic high modernism, attend a poetry slam).
Because writing is a solitary art, it affords little chance for direct support. This is why, historically, writers have relied so often on friends, relatives and spouses to be their immediate audience. However, public exchanges between writers often dissolve into turf wars: the smaller the turf, the more vigorous the tussle. (This is perhaps why poets and experimental novelists have engaged in some of the nastiest in-fighting I've ever seen.)
To the spectator, it all looks like an exceptionally bitter game of playing the dozens. This is why such sites are frequented by (i) novices on lower levels, who, after hearing one another recite platitudes from manuals, soon outgrow such settings and (ii) bitter academics vying for meagre scraps of recognition.
Truthfully, I find intellectual competitiveness tiresome and depressing. Too often, it is compulsively ill-natured. I'd much rather focus on honing a powerful idea collectively, or exchanging odd images or turns of phrase for the fun of it, than trading intended slights with the latest ho-hum hombre.
The beauty of Head-fi is that, while its skirmishes are many, its focus is on selfless appreciation. No point in thrusting one's achievements in people's faces when we're all taking turns listening to Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra on a G08 through a Raptor or Maestro ZR. The true achievement lies in appreciating the sound.
Head-fi's focus would seem to be on collective improvisation rather than humorless battles for dominance. That is why many of us reside here, I think -- because an atmosphere of reasonable acceptance engenders friendship, whereas turf wars lead to self-congratulatory isolation.
Those who happened to catch Bill Moyer's interview with Jeanette Winterson will have listened to the sort of speculative conversation I look for on these boards. There, as here, the focus is on ideas and expression, not hypercriticism to the point of mutually enforced silence. The aim is to bring out people's ordinary genius, not to drown out all voices but one's own.
