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Carl Swanson wrote: “A few years ago a woman in her 80’s got a Nobel prize for scientific
work she had done in her 30’s. A reporter asked her if she resented the
fact that for so many years her work was either ignored or disparaged.
“No,” she said,”none of that matters when you know you are right.” That
comment may sound to some to be arrogant, but real geniuses usually
know they are right.”I don’t think anyone in this thread is arguing that confidence in one’s
opinion is equivalent to arrogance. That is certainly not my position.
Her comment could mean a variety of things. If she was so set in her
conclusions, that when encountering data that appeared to conflict with
her results, she immediately dismissed the new information without
testing it, that would not only be arrogant, but bad science. Arrogance
is using only
self as the required credential for an accurate
conclusion. We must subject our thinking in a larger context and have
the ability to revise. We should weigh the opinions and responses by
those who have the experience and training relevent to the question at hand. We must respect
our own limitations and not use
our opinions to dominate others for the sole purpose of being “right”.
There is an enormous difference between demonstrating through external
measurements and evidence the reasons for our conclusions being “right”
and simply being content that if we feel we are right, then it is so.
Interestingly enough, it takes much more work to not be arrogant.
Arrogance is the short cut to “being/feeling right”.Because the arts are subjective, there is much more room for arrogance
to foster. People have more luxury of being reality optional
than a scientist. Although, in the long run the social games fade and
all that is left is the intrinsic value of the art. A fellow grad
student did a presentation on Hovhaness in
whichYou bring up an interesting perspective, Carl, and there are two poles
towards which education lies. Even though a great thinker can be
convicted of only one “right” way of approaching something, couldn’t
this potentially limit their growth and adaptability? If intolerance
crosses the line into rigidity, then it is a potential handicap.I have observed two approaches to understanding, perception, and
learning. The first is the
pole of self. At this pole we control the boundaries of our
perceptions,
have a sense of resolution and order. Knowledge is defined through a
process of dismissal of everything that is not “right”. It is not
unlike sculpting an image from stone, permanently chiseling away all
unwanted portions. This individual driven to control and master the art
of sound. What you describe as
intolerance towards deviating from the “right” way would be an
expression of this approach.At the other pole there is a focus on what lies beyond self. This
awakens us to an absence of presumed boundaries, and leaves no
resolution. Self is dissolved in a
sense of
grandeur, timelessness, and an awareness of our inability to fully
comprehend.
It is a dependence on opening
self to be transformed by that which is greater than self rather than
relying
on placing everything we encounter into submission to self through the
assumption of complete comprehension. This individual will
let go of self to comprehend music through a sense of empathy, and is
driven to be transformed by the art of music. Knowledge is gained by
embracing everything and observing relationships in a continually
evolving sense of understanding. This is not unlike a river that is
forever interacting and evolving.Einstein made many statements
that suggest his thinking would fall towards this second pole such as:“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.”
“A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.”
The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own
reason for existing.”“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us “universe”, a part
limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and
feelings as something separated from the rest… a kind of optical
delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for
us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few
persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this
prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living
creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”Both poles of thought can produce focused
motivation and hard work. The first pole approaches musical expertise
as something to master, and the second pole sees it as something to by
which to be transformed. There are geniuses whose thinking
demonstrates both approaches. It does appear to me that the ability to
extend beyond self allows for the greatest potential for growth and
adaptability in the
long term. It is the river that can erode the granite sculpture over
time. The individual who focuses on self’s definition of the
one “right” way runs the risk of not acknowledging where that line is
properly drawn. It can evolve into the inability to admit
limitations. How do you convince such an individual of
anything? How could such an individual learn beyond their present
accepted system of thought?I kept thinking about this thread while having my morning coffee by a
lake. 🙂 The question that kept bothering me was: What could possibly motivate a
sense of arrogance on a mountain top? This baffles me. Arrogance is a
feeling of superiority. What is there to feel superior to on a
mountaintop? Arrogance is how we situate ourselves socially – it is
about feeling superior to other people. An artist who has an arrogant
perspective is an artist who is quite focused on their social dominance
over others. If too much focus is directed towards social prominence,
then there will be less focus on the intrinsic meaning in the art.
While there have been great artists who are arrogant, perhaps their
greatness occurred inspite of the arrogance, and not because of it. I
really believe that continual learning absolutely requires a love of
the honest truth. The honest truth does not result in arrogance, but
something much healthier and stronger. Arrogance is a fragile facade,
it is about “needing” to be superior. If we have true respect for self
and others, then we have peace about ourselves regardless of how this
places us socially. If we can have the courage to face our true selves,
and encourage this in our students, only then will we see how much we
have to offer the world.Diane Michaels wrote: “I like Carl’s Schumann quote, but if a genius just stands on top of
that mountain, laughing arrogantly rather than continuing to challenge
himself, the world will tire of his gifts.”I agree 100% with you, Diane. Being on top of the mountain would allow
one to see so much further, resulting in a passionate drive to
explore that vast landscape more intimately. To continue with that
metaphor: when I am on top of a mountain and take in the vastness I
become gratefully small. My own insignificance, and my small part in
something so much more grand fills me with reassurance. Those moments
that I cannot see past the boundaries of myself are the same moments I
feel imprisoned. I would
hope with all my heart that genius is about the grand perspective and
not the small prison of self.But to explore this question from another angle, not possessing the
highest giftedness does not diminish a person. We all have more locked
up potential than we realize. Helping a student to catch a glimpse of
what could be, can help lead them towards this potential. Every
person’s experience and feelings are equally valid. The great artist
possesses more skill in communicating this, and empathizing with their
expression helps us to understand our own. Helping students to
communicate more accurately their own expression is a venture always
deserving the highest respect.I fell in love with the harp when I was about 4 years old, and sat. on the Lap of the harpest at Williamsberg Inn (1967-68?) anyway she was so sweet to me and allowed me to touch this amzing instrument.
What is so interesting about the very highest degree of giftedness is
that it often is accompanied by a great passion to strive to achieve.
This is because the gifted individual can always see just beyond what
they can produce. It is very likely that Beethoven, Mozart, etc. each
conceptualized musical form more perfectly, and with greater meaning than
they were ever able to realize. I strongly suspect that every great
artist dies interrupted.I saw a program about child prodigies and one, Guyland Leday, stood out
to me. He is seven years old and plays the Zydeco accordian like a pro.
He uses complex syncopations, nuance, and has an amazing stage presence. He is
fun and free-spirited like any child, but when he holds the accordian,
his face becomes very serious and concentrated.Hard work is important and necessary for achievement, but giftedness
goes to the question of motivation.Calista, thank you for your thoughtful post. I wished we lived nearby
to share notes. 🙂 I had a very interesting lesson with a student with
mental retardation. The caregiver attended and observed. The caregiver
is an educator with a
deep understanding of this student. She advised me to work directly
with the sound with this student. Rather than attaching symbols and
labels to musical ideas, to just simply improvise with her and let her
respond to the patterns I create – and I respond to hers. This is a very interesting approach.
The student can give her very best attention to the sounds when we play
together. She creates music that contains some patterns and some
randomness. She creates rhythmic/melodic motives, but begins the piece
at a different spot on the keyboard each time. I play along on the harp
imitating her motives. We also tell stories with music exploring the
opposites of high/low, loud/soft, fast/slow, since that is the first
step in musical development in children. It will be interesting to see how this approach evolves over time.Evangeline
By now, you have probably found or gotten access to the Dubois “7 Last Words of Christ” – it is available through several harp music stores. I purchased another one recently, but can’t remember from where – possibly International Music or even Vanderbilt Music? I can’t remember. But it is out there. Hope you find it. Let me know if you can’t find it.
i hate that i dress sizes 10-12, but if you were to take a look at my fingers on their own, you would think i’m a size 22-24
Hi clare. my name is jess i am 18 and also from australia and have also been playing harp for about 10 years! your harp sounds so cool! ive seen and heard all about the electric harps! i own an aoyama delphi pedal harp. it would be cool to get in touch with u to talk harp! lol im in melbourne and there isnt a large harp community here so if you would like to my email is Jestastic@hotmail.com it would be cool to here from you!
Jess
