I thought the post might generate some interesting discussion. I appreciate all replies, and anticipated that some would see my post as arrogant, snotty, etc. and others would see it as realistic/pragmatic, etc.
It's difficult to discuss deceased persons, making judgments about them/their life, without possibly offending. I think most of us would have felt similar in terms of assessment of the system, but I simply had the guts to say it publicly.
In terms of making judgments, or judging others' actions, you bet, I do so all the time. Further, I will judge someone's actions whether living or dead. What I hope not to do is what might be termed "judgementalism", harsh criticism of another - the old "get the log out of your own eye," mistake. We tend to want to "cushion" comments in certain social settings and on certain topics. If someone doesn't they come off as brash, harsh, insensitive, etc. So, what if this guy could only afford entry level gear, or had other financial priorities? Perhaps, but the exuberance over his being an audiophile with "state of the art" gear was what triggered my reaction.
When I began learning to ski at age 27 or so I was very proud to proclaim myself a skier, though I wasn't really much of one considering that "real" skiers spend a lot of time on the slopes, have beautiful form from years of perfecting body mechanics, often adopt the culture of skiing, have likely moved upward in terms of equipment and clothing, and may have taken special trips to ski in fantastic settings. I had done none of those initially - but I was telling everyone, "I'm a skier!"
I was actually a hack learning my first baby steps, but was overly proud of my initial progress.
I guess that doesn't happen to anyone else, huh? Especially not audiophiles.
I was intending to lead others reading the post to two concusions:
1. The man was an audiophile, despite what I concluded was a bit of unsupported pride over his rig. He loved music, played it on his rig incessantly, and enjoyed his gear. That's the basic foundation of an audiophile. The quality of his rig is not determinant, but his habitus, his lifestyle of subjecting himself to the music with regularity.
2. His family was loved. We can get too wrapped up in our audiophile world and lose sight of the things which matter most - family, friends, faith (and though faith is important to me, I'm not interested in arguing it), etc.
In the end the quality of his rig was inconsequential, as it will be for us.
Perhaps for the audiophile there are three things which cannot be avoided: death, taxes and judgments of our systems! ;)
It's difficult to discuss deceased persons, making judgments about them/their life, without possibly offending. I think most of us would have felt similar in terms of assessment of the system, but I simply had the guts to say it publicly.
In terms of making judgments, or judging others' actions, you bet, I do so all the time. Further, I will judge someone's actions whether living or dead. What I hope not to do is what might be termed "judgementalism", harsh criticism of another - the old "get the log out of your own eye," mistake. We tend to want to "cushion" comments in certain social settings and on certain topics. If someone doesn't they come off as brash, harsh, insensitive, etc. So, what if this guy could only afford entry level gear, or had other financial priorities? Perhaps, but the exuberance over his being an audiophile with "state of the art" gear was what triggered my reaction.
When I began learning to ski at age 27 or so I was very proud to proclaim myself a skier, though I wasn't really much of one considering that "real" skiers spend a lot of time on the slopes, have beautiful form from years of perfecting body mechanics, often adopt the culture of skiing, have likely moved upward in terms of equipment and clothing, and may have taken special trips to ski in fantastic settings. I had done none of those initially - but I was telling everyone, "I'm a skier!"
I was actually a hack learning my first baby steps, but was overly proud of my initial progress.
I guess that doesn't happen to anyone else, huh? Especially not audiophiles.
I was intending to lead others reading the post to two concusions:
1. The man was an audiophile, despite what I concluded was a bit of unsupported pride over his rig. He loved music, played it on his rig incessantly, and enjoyed his gear. That's the basic foundation of an audiophile. The quality of his rig is not determinant, but his habitus, his lifestyle of subjecting himself to the music with regularity.
2. His family was loved. We can get too wrapped up in our audiophile world and lose sight of the things which matter most - family, friends, faith (and though faith is important to me, I'm not interested in arguing it), etc.
In the end the quality of his rig was inconsequential, as it will be for us.
Perhaps for the audiophile there are three things which cannot be avoided: death, taxes and judgments of our systems! ;)