Klarinet Archive - Posting 000367.txt from 2004/05

From: Tony Pay <tony.p@-----.org>
Subj: [kl] 'Being familiar with' is not 'truly understanding'
Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 08:17:18 -0400

On 19 May, ormondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya) wrote:

> Does "civilisation" equate to "becoming familiar with" as much as it does
> to "truly understanding"?

I'd have thought it was obvious that 'becoming familiar with' doesn't equate
*at all* to '*truly* understanding'. It's rather that when we say we don't
understand something, a large part of that may be down to the unfamiliarity
component. We have to watch out for it, because it's trivial but can be very
damaging.

And -- as Rosen points out -- the other way around. You can get used to a
musical mistake to the extent that you can't judge impartially the evidence
for the correctness of the correct alternative. (And, as far as civilisation
goes, you can obviously also get used to torturing prisoners, or the idea of
torturing prisoners, to choose a current example.)

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd tony.p@-----.org
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE http://classicalplus.gmn.com/artists
tel/fax 01865 553339

... Beware of Geeks bearing GIFs.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org