Serene Repose
Perkone
Caldari State
554
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Posted - 2012.04.09 04:01:00 -
[1] - Quote
Mark this up to the decline of the West. There was a time, oh so long ago, when one was required to obtain skill in penmanship and oratory - some modicum of public speaking ability. These were marks of accomplished people, and a standard one strove to meet during one's schooling. You're now in the midst of the self-indulgent generations who place the "I" before the "we."
"Why should I be bothered to learn these things when my career as a computer geek will never require me to use them?" So, yes, we're supposed to be charmed by the awkward communication skills of those whose "genius" lies in other more "useful" areas. But, doesn't this view rather limit the expectations of potential? It's not as though people who know they're doing public presentations once a year couldn't take the time out to actually learn how to do it. It's not rocket science. It's just that they don't place emphasis on it as being significant...any old thing will do.
Does it damage anything? If you place no importance on aesthetics, and are purely utilitarian in your outlook, probably not so you'd notice. If you've looked out your window lately and noticed Western Civ's habitations are a shade on the ugly side across the board, and wonder why, this aesthetic thing may have something to do with it.
Speaking of YouTube...those people who do those homemade vids in their bedrooms or the room their computer happens to be in, are inadvertantly showing what really poor decorators they are. Mintchip, for instance, often has a bookcase behind her with all the books in a stack, or falling over. Once she had a drawer that wouldn't close 'cause some lacy thing was poking out of it. It's evidence they're not looking at their surroundings with an appraising eye, as though they're part of the whole. Yet, they are.
Everyone's free to downplay it. "So what?" Or, to wonder why the complete picture is so far from the presenter's vision. Don't they think about what they're doing before they do it? Of course not. If you're a computer whiz, all you're worried about is did you get the camera to work? Is the sound coming through? But, you're using a camera to create a visual image. You're using the sound in the same way. Production values are intended to increase the aesthetic value of the image involved.
So, we make our mark. Is it elegant, and beautiful? Dynamic? Powerful? "I am," comes the response, "'cause what I'm saying is so knowledgeable." Or, is it wall to wall aesthetic trash marking our place in cultural history as the ones who threw aesthetics out the window. I guess it all depends on standards of excellence. I wouldn't call CCP's contribution to aesthetic value "awesome." But, then, that's a word that gets tossed around so much it's lost its value, too.
Smokestack lightnin' shinin' just like gold |