Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

[Rob Haskins <>]

How true, Rod. Someone on Twitter identified individuality as a toxic characteristic of Western culture. In their formulation, individuality is simply a "mask for selfishness." I was astonished. I'd known, of course, in the increasing tendency toward communality in Western culture, of course, but actually to see individuality attacked as something undesirable—this is taking it to a whole new level. I shudder for what children are learning today.

On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 3:49 PM Rod <> wrote:

Good to hear of your interests in the forum here.

I'm familiar with Randy Hostetler's work. I think

Laura Kuhn even wrote the bio in the Baker's musicians book.

There's an enormous amount of literature on Cage, so the quantity

really isn't the issue; it's that until we adopt a way of life that applaudes 

individuality rather than mass conformity, then the only people who will 

find interest in folks on the lesser known spectrum of life will be those folks 

who stray away from the mass hypnosis of certain aspects of life - 

delving into the uncommon in order to expand their boundaries.

Yes, more books, more music, and so on can be produced,

but I think one of the best ways of passing on info is thru sheer

enthusiasm for what you're doing and when asked about influences

to name names.

Rod

--

Rob Haskins, DMA., PhD

Professor and Chair, Department of Music

(he • him • his)

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