Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Merlion" data-source="post: 3112760" data-attributes="member: 10397">Ok, first, this still supports one of my other points, that I maybe havent gotten across quite as well, which is this: A person cannot make an objective, absolute statement about a creative work's merit/quality. They can only express their opinion. Thats why I have a problem with people saying that a book or a movie or a painting or whatever is "bad" or "badly written/drawn whatever". Because that is only that person's opinion, and not a fact, and yet many people state it as a fact, and speak as though all artistic works are either objectively "good" or "bad." Then what exactly does its merit derive from? A person spends time, effort, energy, puts thought and emotion and care into something...so, if that doesnt give it some degree of inherent value, how then does it aqquire value to give some sense of recompense for the the effort put into it?Now you said this: and this:  There is one problem however, well two in a way. One, the work itself exists independently of "the beholder" and two, it is beheld by many and each have their own opinion of it...so which one is correct? Which one matches the reality of the work as it exists apart from being observed? Either a thing has merit, or it doesnt. And that merit cannot be determined by peoples opinions, because they will all be different and many will contradict. Therefore, works must either have or lack merit in and of themselves, seperate from any perception of them . But how then do we decide which ones do and which ones dont?  We dont decide. We realize that they all have merit or value but that there quality is subjective and a matter of opinion. Yes, it does.  No, I'm just explaining my stance as it is for me, as part of larger issues. To which I have agreed repeatedly... This part I disagree with, and it is the crux of the point for me. Our culture ascribes a greater importance to the patch of learning/growing/mature from about age 14 or 15 to somewhere in the early twenties, but I disagre with that ascription. I also disagree with the idea that any...or at least most...of the changes in a person based on age are as massive as our culture makes out. I'm not inflating, its just all a single issue in my mind. Ever? or only on internet messageboards? Because I know that you know there are many, many ocassions where how we come across to people is extremely important to our lives. Job interviews spring to mind. I wasnt saying they are...with that part I was refering to how, to me at least you seemed to be saying that I am/was/do get to worked up in/about this conversation. I was talking about how I'm not "raising a sweat" about it, I merely go into most things very wholeheartdly.The only thing I've said you might want to "raise a sweat" about, is in regards to your professed lack of concern about how others percieve you, and more importantly about how you affect them by what you say and how you say it. People's feelings pretty much always matter. I was brought up to always have regard for the feelings of others, and to conciously (not neccesarily obssesively) be mindful of how my words and actions may affect others, be it emotionally or in some other way. Now this is odd. You've repeatdly said that you feel a work's merit is purely subjective, and yet you are speaking of this particuarly works merits in a totally objective, and absolute manner.</blockquote>

Verification