I want to connect this thread on political philosophy of free will to cultural consumption choices that seem “necessary” in some ways. Things you might sincerely tag #mustread or something like Kanye West music which all my music maven friends tell me is a must-appreciate oeuvrehttps://twitter.com/vgr/status/1187751885790302208 …
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In what sense is a must read a must read? Or a must-watch a must-watch? Or a must-listen a must-listen? Or to generalize, a must-obey cultural consumption/knowledge imperative. It is a version of authoritarian “what isn’t prohibited is compulsory” but an unusual kind
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Divine right of kings and absolute rule of divine law produce versions of deterministic agency closure (forbidden+compulsory = everything) via cults of personality or legalism. Cultural determinism is an attempt to manufacture that imperative force.
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A national anthem is a good edge case. In India, it is short, in Sanskrit (so most of us don’t actually understand it), and universally memorized. A true must-know. And hammered in because you must actually sing it frequently in schools. Not just stand for it.
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In the US it is mostly must-recognize but only subset have memorized the whole thing. It’s twice as long, almost as archaic (not a dead language but older English), and most ceremonial performances require standing but not sing-along. In part because it’s a harder melody to sing.
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But back to sat Kanye West as a must-listen. It isn’t authoritarian, and it’s totally opt-in to Nation of Ye, but there is a certain force of necessity there nevertheless. It is a precondition for participation in a temporality; a way of being in historical time.
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To not listen to say John Legend is merely a matter of taste/cultural choice To not listen to Kanye is to forgo an entire timeline, a way of being in time To the extent you think music is a necessary strand of history, it is sitting out *the* timeline. Consensus reality trunk.
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One key idea behind my multitemporality thesis is that it is possible to not read must-reads, not listen to must-listens, etc and still stay not alive, but in time. Ie experience a coherent temporality and be in history. Ie there is no privileged necessary trunk temporality
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I’ve never knowingly listened to Kanye (though I take my musical friends at their word that I’m missing something historic), but unlike the law of gravity, or hard edged laws of justice system, the consequences of not obeying the must-listen law are not as clear. But they exist.
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Paradigmatic example of a must-consume
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Replying to @ankurrsharma @vgr
You're missing the big picture. The Q is "what does it mean to be (eg) 'culturally' American"? (a) there's the trivial stuff. Does it mean you know who Kim Kardashian is, and you've watched the Simpsons? 1/
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