When I looked over this thread in the music production forum, I couldn't help but notice that people were ready to write a lot more about the negative side of production than the positive side. This is something I've noticed more generally, too: it seems like people spend a lot more time ranting against things they hate or dislike than they do praising the things they like.
Think of Fred Phelps and his family's harassment of gays and grieving military families -- and also of the people who feel stirred to indignation by this and spend time ranting against him. Think of political pundits, most of whom are so consistently negative. Think of Dante's Inferno, so much more popular than the Purgatorio and Paradiso (heaven) that many people probably don't even know the latter two books exist.
I think that for a lot of people (I include myself) it feels really good to let off a bunch of steam and gather up all their rhetorical resources to strike out verbally against an "enemy." But we don't get nearly the same pleasure out of doing the same to exalt the stuff we enjoy. For example, I've praised and denigrated lots of different tracks in the music forum, but it seems like my angry or irritated rants are always much longer and more forceful than my positive posts.
Thoughts on this asymmetry?
May-08-2009 23:33
Sunsnail
Global Moderator
Registered: Sep 2004
Location:
repost
May-08-2009 23:36
MrJiveBoJingles
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Jun 2004
Location: U.S.
quote:
Originally posted by Sunsnail
repost
Link?
May-08-2009 23:36
elFreak
Blood Diamonds and Salsa
Registered: Feb 2008
Location: With Juan Pachanga Eating Tacos. Ah Ha Si Mi Gusta.
still not getting any eh?
seriously though, people put their work out there for critiquing, the negative feedback is the most useful to make improvements. If everything is super duper awesome, what is there really to say? This isn't slobberonsomeamateurspenisaddict.com
Originally posted by elFreak
seriously though, people put their work out there for critiquing, the negative feedback is the most useful to make improvements.
This is so very true in, well, everything. You can always improve on your work in some way.
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quote:
Originally posted by ziptnf
I probably wake up QWOPing.
May-09-2009 00:33
noikeee
dubstep convert
Registered: Apr 2002
Location: lost and wandering looking for directions.
this thread is so negative lol plz delete it
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sempre contra a corrente do jogo
May-09-2009 12:48
Lebezniatnikov
Stupidity Annoys Me
Registered: Feb 2004
Location: DC
Being positive risks putting your true likes out there for others to criticize, and who wants to do that? It's much easier to criticize others than defend your own taste/opinions. 95% of debates go this route (especially in the PDD).
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May-09-2009 12:56
Halcyon+On+On
Liebchen
Registered: Sep 2004
Location: midcoast
I don't believe you are correct to reduce critique to enmity. I see what you are saying, I just do not believe they are the same thing.
Though of course that's not to say that all critique has purely altruistic aims or anything like that.
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There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
The pleasure of a good negative rant
