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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 oeuvre
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Thinking about the rule of totalitarianism "Everything not forbidden is compulsory." (T. H. White) which Gell-Mann ported to physics. Science of Discworld 2 states it as the principle of societies run on tribal law.
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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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