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Why Are We Breaking Our Brains?

A master sommelier takes a sip of red wine, swishes it around a bit, pauses, ponders, and then announces: “…. It’s from a mountainous region … probably Argentina … Catena Zapata Argentina Malbec 2020.” Another sommelier at a fine eating establishment in a major city is asked: “What would you pair with shrimp?” The sommelier hesitates for a moment then asks the diners: “What shrimp dish are you ordering?” The sommelier knows the pairing depends on whether the shrimp is briny, crisp, sweet, or meaty. Or some other “house specialty” not mentioned here. The sommelier can probably give good examples of $10 wines and bad examples of $100 wines. And why a good $100 wine is worth … one hundred dollars.

Sommeliers do not have a master’s degree in biochemistry. And no one from the scientific world is attempting to humiliate them in public forums for “claiming to know more than a little bit about wines” with no scientific basis to back them up. No one is shouting “confirmation bias” when the “somm” claims that high end wines are better than cheap wines, and well worth the money.

Yet, guys and gals with decades of involvement in high performance audio who claim to “hear differences” in various elements introduced into audio chain are pulled thru a gauntlet of scientific scrutiny, often with a great deal of fanfare and personal invalidation. Why is there not a process for “musical discovery” for seasoned audiophiles, and a certification process? Evaluator: “Okay, I’m going to change something in the system. Tell me what you hear. The options are interconnect upgrade, anti-skate calibration, removal of acoustical materials, or change in bitrate. Choose one.”

How can those with pretty “sensitive antennas” and years of hands (and, ears) on good gear convince the technical world that they are actually qualified to hear what they are hearing?

Why is it viewed as an inferior process for seasoned professionals to just listen, "swish" it around in their brains for a bit, and comment?

128x128waytoomuchstuff

Showing 2 responses by wsrrsw

wsrrsw's avatar
wsrrsw
894 posts
 

@curiousjim ’I’m coining Loretta.”

@waytoomuchstuff You wax poetic. So thanks.

I’ve posted this quote before but it seems appropriate. ‘There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ’my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’ Issac Asimov

The internet has let so many pontificate and prattle as if they were experts. Not using our real names and faces doesn’t help. Most here are kind and want to help. And then there are the righteous bomb throwers (And if someone cuts up and does it well that’s laudable too). But all and all this joint rocks.

Making sausage isn’t pretty and the internet is sausage.

wsrrsw's avatar
wsrrsw
894 posts
 

Gimme That Wine   

By Lambert, Hendricks & Ross Lyrics

My wife got tired a' me runnin 'round, so she tried to keep me home-
Well, she broke my nose and hid my clothes, but I continued to roam.
Then she finally hit my weak spot - threatened to throw my bottle out
Well, from the basement to the rooftop, everybody could hear me shout...

Chorus: Gimme that wine (Unhand that bottle) (3 times)
'Cause I can't cut loose without my juice.
Gotta have hot lucy when I go walkin' y'know.

Well, one day while crossin the avenue, a big car knocked me down.
While I was stretched out tyin' up traffic and crowds came from blocks
around
Now the po-lice were searchin my pockets, before they sent me to the
funeral parlor,
But when one o' those cops took my bottle, Jack, I jumped straight up
and commenced to hollar

Chorus: Gimme that wine (Unhand that bottle) (3 times)
'Cause I can't get well without Muskatel
I only drink for medicinal purposes anyway

Well, now, one real dark and dreary night as I was staggerin' home t'
bed,
Well, a bandit jumped from the shadows and put a blackjack 'side my
head.
That cat took my watch, my ring, my money, And I didn't make a sound,
but when he reached 'n got my bottle, you could hear me for blocks
around

Chorus: Gimme that wine (Unhand that bottle) (3 times)
Beat m' head outta shape, but leave my grape.
Watch, ring and money ain't nothin' but don mess with my wine, JIm.

Well one day my house caught fire while I was layin' down sleepin' off a
nap
An' when I woke up everything was burnin' with a pop an' a crackle an' a
snap.
Now the fireman chopped up my TV set and tore my apartment apart,
But when he raised his axe to my bottle, I screamed with all my heart...

Chorus: Gimme that wine (Unhand that bottle) (3 times)
So I can drink one toast before I roast.
No sense goin' out half baked, Might as well be Alll tore up

You can take all those Hollywood glamor girls- Lana Turner, Rita
Hayworth,
Bridget Bardot, n' Lucille Ball,
and all them chicks 'n line 'em upside the wall
Put a GIGANTIC jug beside 'em, n' tell me to take my choice.
Well, there'd be no doubt which one I chose, the minute I raised my
voice.

Chorus: Gimme that wine (Unhand that bottle) (3 times)
Well those chicks look fine, but I love my wine.
Now some folks like money, some like to dance and dine,
But I'll be happy If you give me that wine

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