200
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 220:
Line 220: + + + + + + + +
Talk:World History Lecture Nine (view source)
Revision as of 13:58, April 6, 2009
, 13:58, April 6, 2009→Non-German 'Great' Composers: reply
:::: You're in the wrong place if you think we're going to sacrifice the truth for political correctness. We don't. Welcome the truth yourself and you'll won't regret it.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 09:16, 6 April 2009 (EDT)
:::: You're in the wrong place if you think we're going to sacrifice the truth for political correctness. We don't. Welcome the truth yourself and you'll won't regret it.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 09:16, 6 April 2009 (EDT)
:::::Regarding nationalities, it does not disturb me in the slightest to observe one nationality be better than others at something. I will take the example of German composers (because I would rather not go any further off-topic). Let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that Germany has had a disproportionately large number of great composers compared to other European nations. Leave aside the problems I mentioned above. What this would indicate is that Germany has a long culture of music-making: great concert halls were built there; archbishops commissioned new music all the time; great concert halls were built; the public went to hear music being performed; the greatest teachers moved there; and that, therefore, German children with a natural talent for music would have had their talents nurtured and would have had a better musical education. Such cultures, as I said, are self-perpetuating. It is a cycle which feeds into itself. The alternative possibility, that there is something in the water in Germany, or that Germans have something in their DNA which the rest of us lack, is racist and has no supporting evidence. Or would there be an alternative explanation?
:::::As for languages, I wouldn't insist that that all languages are equal in every respect, though I would have a hard time ranking them in any order of superiority. For ease of learning, and intuitive grammatical sense, Esperanto is superior to Japanese. For the ability to communicate with a large number of people all around the world, English is superior to Swedish. For singing in a classical style, Italian is superior to English. Is this what you're referring to?
:::::And as for religions, I do not consider them all equal. Some religions contain beliefs which are harmful to oneself or others when acted upon, and the number of such beliefs is not the same in every religion.
:::::I am not interested in political correctness, or in censoring the truth. I am glad that you share my opinion. My statements on Beethoven, I repeat are: first, that the title of "world's greatest composer", unlike the title of "world's tallest building", cannot be awarded with truthful objectivity. Your preference for Beethoven is an opinion, not a fact. It would be better to describe Beethoven as being "one of the greatest composers". Second, that what you say about Beethoven is rather vague and conveys little useful information, and would be better and more interesting if it were made more specific. Third, that it is historically imprecise to describe him as German, and that it is potentially misleading to draw the conclusions you did. --[[User:Eoinc|Eoinc]] 09:58, 6 April 2009 (EDT)