by Gary Powell
Below I quote three astute observations from icons working in divergent disciplines on the importance of the individual, our creativity, life’s possibilities and how we relate to music; physicist Albert Einstein, psychologist Jerome Bruno and philosopher Ayn Rand bring the gift of perspective and importance to what we do daily as composers, musicians, performers, entrepreneurs and as humans.
“The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.” –
ALBERT EINSTEIN
… A new breed of developmental theory is likely to arise… Its central technical concern will be how to create in the young an appreciation of the fact that many worlds are possible, that meaning and reality are created and not discovered, that negotiation is the art of constructing new meaning by which individuals can regulate their relations with each other.” – JEROME BRUNER, from Actual Minds, Possible Worlds (The Jerusalem-Harvard Lectures)
“The nature of musical perception has not been discovered because the key to the secret of music is physiological—it lies in the nature of the process by which man perceives sounds—and the answer would require the joint effort of a physiologist, a psychologist and a philosopher.” – AYN RAND, A Manifesto
All Content of Gary Powell’s Site is Licensed Under a
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.
by Gary Powell
Below I quote three astute observations from icons working in divergent disciplines on the importance of the individual, our creativity, life’s possibilities and how we relate to music; physicist Albert Einstein, psychologist Jerome Bruno and philosopher Ayn Rand bring the gift of perspective and importance to what we do daily as composers, musicians, performers, entrepreneurs and as humans.
“The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.” –
ALBERT EINSTEIN
… A new breed of developmental theory is likely to arise… Its central technical concern will be how to create in the young an appreciation of the fact that many worlds are possible, that meaning and reality are created and not discovered, that negotiation is the art of constructing new meaning by which individuals can regulate their relations with each other.” – JEROME BRUNER, from Actual Minds, Possible Worlds (The Jerusalem-Harvard Lectures)
“The nature of musical perception has not been discovered because the key to the secret of music is physiological—it lies in the nature of the process by which man perceives sounds—and the answer would require the joint effort of a physiologist, a psychologist and a philosopher.” – AYN RAND, A Manifesto
All Content of Gary Powell’s Site is Licensed Under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License
.
Einstein’s quote really highlights the value of individual thinking, something often missed by nearly all established businesses today. Risk mitigation is one of the top priorities for most established companies, and as such, the individual thought has no place in such an environment. Entrepreneurship offers an avenue for the individual thought to develop. It offers unlimited benefits, as well a high potential for failure. But if you as an individual let the risks deter you from your goals, then you are no longer the individual. You have just joined “the herd”.
The truth is that these quotes are still valid to every individual to benefit from the creation of the noble and sublime. Yet, it is human nature to form relationships and flock together. In most circumstances, people with common understandings tend to interact better together. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve the individual personality without understanding how to compromise and conform to other’s views as well. The quotes from Albert Einstein, Jerome Bruner, and Ayn Rand are good reminders being aware of the individual but remembering that there is no individual without the joint efforts of opposing perspectives. It is a shame how institutions are created to conform the individual into discovering unanimous uniqueness.
Ayn Rand’s quote speaks to the beautiful ambiguity as to why people are drawn to music. How can one explain why we love? Our chemical response to air through an instrument or a singer is a completely organic response to something seemingly arbitrary. It is this reaction to music that should fuel a musicians performance practice. A true, honest, and organic response to how a performer presents their craft is necessary for the most believable delivery.