Title inspired by, but post completely unrelated to: Tom Petty.
I was thinking...
Dangerous but rare occurance, I know.I was thinking what it must have been like to be traveling in the desert for days on end with nothing but arid flatness (for lack of a better term) for as far as the eye can see, and to suddenly lay eyes on this. One of the grandest of all vistas, for sure.
There is no way to know what one's reaction might have been, as García López de Cárdenas didn't list his every emotion upon discovering it. No modern man can ever enjoy the view as Cárdenas did, because we all have our preconceived notions and expectations in regard to what the Grand Canyon is like. If I am told how wonderfully beautiful it is, then I expect to see something that will fit such a description. If my experience is less breathtaking than what a picture in a brochure leads me to expect, I will be disappointed. For only if I have no expectations can I truly appreciate this example of nature's pure beauty to its fullest extent.
In a way, I'm jealous of Cárdenas, since he could view the spectacle without any high hopes. I am jealous though only because I assume he saw it as one of Nature's many masterpieces. It is entirely possible that he saw it as an enourmous obstacle. Maybe he wanted to keep exploring but couldn't circumvent the enormous crevice. Or maybe it was utterly tantalizing, as he was stuck in a desert and saw an unreachable source of water below him.
Consider the Wright brothers' first flight. Of course if we watched a video of the Wright brothers' first flight, we would appreciate the flight for the great impact it has had on the world, but would not be very impressed with a flimsy aircraft lifting a few feet off the ground for a mere 12 seconds. To really be in shock and awe of the flight, one would have to have never seen such a vehicle take flight, one would have to be convinced that such a feat was physically impossible, one would have to have been in Kitty Hawk in December of 1903.
This sort of phenomenon occurs on a lesser scale a thousand times over, every day. The ear with which you listen to a song changes based on what you're told about the song beforehand. JoMo and I were talking yesterday about how great Stairway to Heaven really is. We both agreed that it's overrated, but why does it constantly appear at or near the top of "all time greatest rock songs" lists? I think that somewhere along the lines, someone said that it was a great song, and word spread. Now, when people try to rank songs, they see Stairway listed and associate it with "greatness," even if they don't personally think it's a particularly amazing song.
Similarly, I visited the Museum of Fine Arts today for a class. As I wandered the halls and rooms, I noticed that some were more crowded than others. At first I thought it had to do with the layout of the rooms, but some of the busiest rooms weren't in central locations that would be highly traveled. The room that I observed having the most people in it happened to be the room that had its walls covered with Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, and the like. I feel as if many people look at the pieces by these artists simply because they are told that they are good artists. If the paintings didn't have the titles or the artist's names listed, would they still attract the same crowds? I'd venture to say no.
We're all guilty of this by default, there is no realistic means of viewing everything without any prejudices. I can provide no way to correct this or avoid it-nor do I think it's particularly bad-it's just a simple observation I thought I'd share.
Consider the Wright brothers' first flight. Of course if we watched a video of the Wright brothers' first flight, we would appreciate the flight for the great impact it has had on the world, but would not be very impressed with a flimsy aircraft lifting a few feet off the ground for a mere 12 seconds. To really be in shock and awe of the flight, one would have to have never seen such a vehicle take flight, one would have to be convinced that such a feat was physically impossible, one would have to have been in Kitty Hawk in December of 1903.
This sort of phenomenon occurs on a lesser scale a thousand times over, every day. The ear with which you listen to a song changes based on what you're told about the song beforehand. JoMo and I were talking yesterday about how great Stairway to Heaven really is. We both agreed that it's overrated, but why does it constantly appear at or near the top of "all time greatest rock songs" lists? I think that somewhere along the lines, someone said that it was a great song, and word spread. Now, when people try to rank songs, they see Stairway listed and associate it with "greatness," even if they don't personally think it's a particularly amazing song.
Similarly, I visited the Museum of Fine Arts today for a class. As I wandered the halls and rooms, I noticed that some were more crowded than others. At first I thought it had to do with the layout of the rooms, but some of the busiest rooms weren't in central locations that would be highly traveled. The room that I observed having the most people in it happened to be the room that had its walls covered with Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, and the like. I feel as if many people look at the pieces by these artists simply because they are told that they are good artists. If the paintings didn't have the titles or the artist's names listed, would they still attract the same crowds? I'd venture to say no.
We're all guilty of this by default, there is no realistic means of viewing everything without any prejudices. I can provide no way to correct this or avoid it-nor do I think it's particularly bad-it's just a simple observation I thought I'd share.
3 comments:
I'll start by saying this: from now on, you are to assume it's well-written unless I explicitly claim otherwise. Comprende?
::great sigh::
I really wanted you to take it one step further. Really. I don't know if it has one step further to go, but where I don't see the step, you should've. Maybe you did take that one next step, implicitly. I still would've liked to have seen one more group of thoughts as to why this phenomenon occurs (although, I know you did, but why is the human psyche inclined to follow and not lead? For, I believe, that might be the next step, here.)
As I guess is the case with all four examples, I think the Stairway and aristry scenarios are the most Catch-22. In order for Van Gogh and Monet to have become as "idolized" as they have, they must have been really great artists because there are so few commonplace artists' names on our societal tongue.
Did you wander less-populated rooms? What did you find? An appreciation for the lesser-well-known artwork? Or a desire to rest your eyes on familiar beauties?
As you have already surmised, I can't imagine what it would have been like to have been the first to lay eyes on the Grand Canyon. And, what I think I know about myself, I probably would've been a hopeful skeptic if I were at Kitty Hawk in 1903.
Haha, I understand, thanks.
I'm glad that you have confidence in me to see the steps. I suppose if I gave it some thought I could've found a place worth going; the post was getting quite long though and I realize I have a tendency to drag things out, so I thought I'd end with mere observations.
That's true, what you say about the artists. I knew what I was saying was flawed as I wrote "somewhere...someone" as if one person declared it to be truth. I know that couldn't have happened. That being said, far worse songs have become popular in America, so just because it was popular doesn't mean it's the best (and the fact that it's popular can probably does push it towards the tops of people's lists).
I did in fact wander less-populated rooms, I didn't knowingly skip any rooms. One of my personal favorites was actually the room of sculptures from Ancient Rome. Some rooms I didn't spend much time in (hey, you can't love everything), particularly art from Africa and old art from Central/South America which was primarily beads, jewelry, wood carvings, and ornate tools. Admittedly, I did like most of the paintings by the big names, but not all of them, and I spent more time looking at other paintings.
I think I'd have been a "hopeful skeptic" as well.
The blog ends when the blog ends. How long is a piece of string? Don't worry about dragging it out. Like the bathroom stall conversation, let it end of it's momentum or volition or accord, or what-have-you.
Indeed you are right with far worse fads becoming popular in America. ::gawks contemptuously at Z100:: Good point, there.
And good for you, you Cárdenas of the Museum of Fine Arts (I think my dirty mind would prefer the Museum of the Impure Arts) you. (That's another connection that you need to make! Gah, I'll make a blogger out of you, yet!)
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