For some reason, blogspot isn't allowing me to comment. So I'm making my comment in response to Blaine's post on Greek Music its own post. Hopefully this works!
Haha! Holland, I love your comment about popular music fading with time, except for of course the Beatles. Which in a way ties back to Catherine's comment about exceptions. So much of the Greek culture was preserved EXCEPT for most of the music, it seems. And today so much popular music is not conserved EXCEPT for the Beatles, according ot Holland. Perhaps Greek music is the exception because it is oral knowledge. This I believe exposes oral knowledge's biggest flaw.
If no one makes an effort to preserve oral knowledge, to continue passing it down in some way, it is lost. Perhaps that is what happened to Greek music. No one made a real effort to preserve it, hence it was lost. In a depressing way, this shows just how fragile knowledge is. It shows what we as humans value. We make an effort to preserve that which we care about. Think of all the ancient texts that have been preserved. Think of all the ancient mathematical formulas we're still learning about! Society decides what is important and makes sure it stays around. Everything else is left to waste. It is most unfortunate that we don't see much of Greek culture in our music today.
I agree. The only knowledge we have of classical Greek piece (or the oldest anyway) comes from songs written on the walls and columns of ancient Greek city structures.
ReplyDeleteI think your post/comment also calls into question the kind of knowledge that is important in an eternal sense. We spend a great deal of time learning to keep up with the current technologies and sciences... yet in a generation or two nearly everything we know will be obsolete. The same with generations past: knowledge of using an abacus, of the latest sailing techniques, of navigation, of things that were important to those ancient peoples' very survival no longer has a place in society except on the fringe.
ReplyDeleteWhat, then, is important to know in an eternal sense? Truth is a knowledge of things as they are, were, and always will be. Truth transcends time and space and remains pertinent throughout every generation.
Repentance, forgiveness, faith, justice, honor, mercy-- these truths and the application thereof make up a form of knowledge that never becomes obsolete. Interestingly enough, these are passed down through every institution of knowledge I can think of: folk, oral, written, music, to name a few. Not only is knowledge of these things vital-- but also of when and how to exercise these principles appropriately.
In response to Kacey, I think it may not be that we only write down the things we think are important, but that we feel that some things we feel as beings central to our community, no one will ever forget. We also might not have a way of expressing the things we want to preserve. I know I have neglected to write down some spiritual experiences because I feel that there is no possible way I could forget them, or I don't know the right words to express how I felt.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Samuel, My mother likes to tell me "this has absolutely nothing to do with your eternal salvation." We need to focus on those kinds of knowledge that bring us closer to becoming like Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven.