« 073: Gateway | Main | 075: Missed Opportunities » March 01, 2004

074: Running Solo

A question posited to me after I posted the quote from Berendt's book was: Would I rather lose my hearing or my sight? If you had the choice. I can't say that I'm eager to lose either, but if I HAD to, I'd lose my hearing. Which tears me up because I love listening to music. The rest of the noise of human culture -- the whining, the bitching, the constant drone of consumerism, the perpetual bla-bla-bla of disquietude -- I wouldn't miss. But music and the sound of the wind in the trees: these I would miss.

Because, you see, you can still function in human society without your hearing. You aren't a drain on someone else's resources if you can still see. It's when you lose your eyesight that you're solidly fucked. And I understand that there are people who manage quite well without their eyesight and I marvel at their tenacity and ability, but, in the self-reliance department, you're not a solo agent any longer.

Joseph Campbell's Hero Cycle argues that the hero is always alone, either in his cause (he's the only one brave enough, stupid enough, strong enough, etc... to accomplish the quest) or in the final solution when he is changed enough by the events of the quest that he no longer has a place in society -- the mythologically charged version of Colin Wilson's Outsider.

A conversation with Dr. Bull posted over at Wired News just the other day discusses the impact of the iPod on modern culture. Bell points out that the personal music device -- especially ones with the prodigious storage capability of the iPod and the like -- allow you to create your own environment. By insulating yourself from the rest of the world by a buffer of your individualized soundtrack, you create a world which you control. You are your own God and Hero.

But you can still see; you can still participate in the rest of human society. You may not be important There, but Here, you are everything.

Posted by Teppo at March 1, 2004 11:13 PM

Comments