Klarinet Archive - Posting 001089.txt from 1999/01

From: TOM RIDENOUR <klarinet@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Rudeness and humility
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 22:51:58 -0500

>On Mon, 18 Jan 1999, TOM RIDENOUR wrote:
>
>> >Fred wrote:
>> And as for which clarinet is better- it doesn't matter at all.
>> >They are DIFFERENT, thats all. No clarinet is a substitute for hard work
>> >and talent.
>>
>> No, but a poor one can frustrate both.
>> tom
>
Roger responded:
>I'm not particularly interested in rejoining what has become a territorial
>and prideful commentary on all sides.

Roger,
I hasten to say regarding the prideful matter, that often in
today's society, saturated as it is with a radical relativism which
maintains that there is no truth, only opinions, that there are those
that regard any definite statement on anything as "prideful".
The wide-spread, uncritical acceptance of this sort of
erroneous thinking has resulted in emotion becoming a viable substitute
for truth; truth, which, as I said, many doubt exists, and which others
insist can't be known by us (they do this without recognizing the
self-contradictory nature of such a notion: "The only truth we know is that
we can't know the truth".
The practical upshot, or I should say, the very unpractical upshot
of this sort of stupidity is that many of us can't distinguish a fact
from an opinion. And it is this confusion that has lead to much of the
inappropriate responses to some of the things I have shared here.
Our opinions, how ever strongly or weakly we hold them, are either
founded in reality or not; reality being "what is." To paraphrase Aquinas;
"Humans experience truth when their minds are conformed to reality." That
is, when we come into touch with "what is" our subjective ideas become
increasinlgy "objectivised", and to the degee this happens we can make real
progress in that area.
Coming in touch with "what is" is not facilitated by pride, but
impeded by it; in fact, pride totally blocks out truth.
One might object here and say this is a clarinet list and not a
philosophy list. But I will respond that this has everything to do with
clearly understanding the clarinet, and greatly assist the development
of both playing and correct pedagogy. Without it I, personally, would be
thoroughly confused about the various things I have encountered in the
process of learning about the clarinet......or anything else for that fact.
It is not prideful to try to clarify and state principles which
form the basis of all schools of playing, and to draw others attention to
the benefits of doing so. It is only reasonable; for these principles are
necessary if we are to rightly understand the value and relationship of
the individual things we encounter in playing. Elsewise, with all we man
know, we are like a man who has thousands of trees with no landscape upon
which to place them, or one who looks at a table covered with a coinage
from a foreign realm and cannot discern the value.
It would be wrong for me, or any one, to say they know everything,
as Francois sarcastically accused me of saying. None of us can say that.
But I can say that when I encounter a new fact or thing I do know where it
belongs in relation to the whole, because I have learned the difference in
an opinion and a fact, a value and a principle, a feeling and a real idea,
and inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning, a suggestion and a law.
To offer these objective principles and elements for consideration
is only reasonable, not "prideful".
To ignore them is unwise and perpetuates ignorance and confusion.
To confuse principles and laws for mere opinions to be argued and
contended with is to misunderstand what is going on altogether.

My original posts were simply made
>to ask questions, which I felt were satisfatorilly answered - even if I do
>not agree with all the information presented.

Excuse, me Roger, but your original posts to my comments on
"subjective and objective, was riddled with one knee jerk reaction after
another to individual sentences or statements, without reading the whole
and spending any time thinking about it. You said as much as you neared the
end of my post. You could have saved yourself a lot of time by simply
considering the wholly formed presentation before you began to
inappropriately comment on its' individual parts.
I'm not trying to insult you, but just to recommend that when
someone presents a document to you that contains information gleaned from
years of experience and thinking about those things that you give it a
little reflection and thought yourself before you respond; otherwise, you
may waste your time by making a whole series of inappropriate comments and
criticisms which may well evaporate once you reflect on the whole matter.
If after due consideration, reflection and an attempt to test out
or "prove" these ideas yourself you still see problems, questions and
objections, I would think that your response will be more to the point
and beneficial to all.

Roger continued:
Tom was not stating,
>implying, or suggesting in any way that the R-13 is a poor clarinet? He
>has not said so - but his message is in response to a response to a post
>that discussed clarinets - primarily the Opus and the Buffet R-13.

Roger, that's true, I was responding, not asserting out of the blue.
The R-13; that's another matter. Whatever its' virtues, I am increasingly
convinced as I see improvements offered by those who are thoughtful,
knowledgeable and creative that to continue in the direction of the R-13,
acoustically speaking , is not the best thing for the clarinetists
freedom for music making on the clarinet.
This is my opinion, of course, and I have very sound reasons for holding
that opinion; again, I am not looking so much to what has been, or even
what is, but what is possible for us in the future.
tom

CHANGE A MAN'S MIND AGAINST HIS WILL, HE REMAINS OF THE SAME OPINION STILL.

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