simmerdown wrote:this whole forum is about how to get better at music
Poise is/are for old people on long car rides
Acid Penguin, there's a big difference between suggesting that you're espousing a viewpoint that was held by fascists and calling you a fascist.
I definitely wouldn't bother responding with and keeping civil with someone who was actually a fascist, not worth the effort.
The main contention I had with your reasoning was statements like this:
acidpenguin wrote:While it's true that physically based technical skills do not relate directly to creative ability I think the point is that people are not equal and it's somewhat naive or blinkered to simply say 'we can all be awesome if we try hard enough'. That doesn't in any way mean people shouldn't try if they want to ('cos you can't tell until you've tried, right?), nor does it mean that those who are not the very best are totally devalued, either in creative or more technical performance fields.
There is however an interesting article in New Scientist (28 Jan '012) called The Orchid Children which references the work of Elaine and Arthur Aron in relation to genetic studies into the SERT gene. This suggests that what they call 'highly sensitive persons' perceive life at a finer and more nuanced scale than others and that this is a genetic trait. It'd be interesting to see how this relates to people of a creative nature (ie how many artists carry this gene varient), maybe that increased sensitivity is actually one of the prerequisites for higher creative thinking. If that were true then it would totally blow the 'anybody can be Mozart' argument out of the water.
You've stated this entire thread that there is a top tier that is to you obviously a result of a genetic predisposition, and as we all know nothing has been proven in this field. You're convinced already. Eugenics isn't in itself evil, that wasn't the point. It has a massively positive impact on animal and plant breeding, and getting rid of diseased strains etc. Where it fails IMO is in terms of human potential and development. It wasn't just about the breeding or purifying of a superior race etc.
It was about trying to isolate positive and negative genetic traits. This is IMO beyond dangerous for people to
speculate about, and at this time I see nothing but speculation about the impact of genes on intelligence etc. Great for scientific research for sure, but not so great to base a theory on.