The Prog Mind

They can be very important.  I became an environmental scientist because, when I was in college, I was really touched by Jon Anderson's lyrics and philosophy.  A key moment for me was TFTO, especially the line "...let them rape the forests."  

Dean wrote: Dayvenkirq wrote: Dean wrote: Philosophy is a waste of a mind, it is the single most useless invention mankind has ever created, and the nonsense that dribbles from the mouths of pop and rock lyricists are some of the worst example of that. Prog lyrics are often poor poetry and even poorer philosophy even when compared to the inane banality of Hit Me baby One More Time. Why should I think that the probably drunken and possibly drug-addled musings of a singer in a rock band should carry any meaningful message or insight into the human condition. If the words tell a story then great, if they attempt to impart wisdom then ... meh. I don't understand what is wrong with philosophy. People learn from it. In the entire history of mankind we have never, ever, learnt anything from the navel-gazing pasttime known as "Philosophy", just as we have never, ever, ever, learnt anything from history or even from a story. We will repeat the same mistakes regardless of how much we know it is destined to failure because we are an arrogant species who denies its past mistakes. Philosophy has caused more harm, and killed more people, than any other academic discipline. Stories are an entertainment, just as music is an entertainment, nothing more, nothing less.

Dean wrote: Dayvenkirq wrote: Dean wrote: Philosophy is a waste of a mind, it is the single most useless invention mankind has ever created, and the nonsense that dribbles from the mouths of pop and rock lyricists are some of the worst example of that. Prog lyrics are often poor poetry and even poorer philosophy even when compared to the inane banality of Hit Me baby One More Time. Why should I think that the probably drunken and possibly drug-addled musings of a singer in a rock band should carry any meaningful message or insight into the human condition. If the words tell a story then great, if they attempt to impart wisdom then ... meh. I don't understand what is wrong with philosophy. People learn from it. Philosophy has caused more harm, and killed more people, than any other academic discipline. Stories are an entertainment, just as music is an entertainment, nothing more, nothing less.

That sounds more like politics than philosophy. Isn't philosophy supposed to expand our understanding of the world and its nature (besides science)?

I hold great ties to philosophy. After all it was, by far, my favourite subject in the academic world of higher learning.
My feelings towards the subject of music and lyrics definitely go hand in hand with me. Subject matter and dealing with life problems certainly have been easier to understand and to deal with because of music, for me that is :)

Anyway, I can list an example where philosophy has been strongly present within the music.
First of all. IQ's album SUBTERRENEA gives a very interesting outlook on life after death and spiritually. Certainly key philosophical topics were present in this album. For instance, topics like 'is the mind separate from the body and is their really such a thing as 'higher levels of conscienceness.' Anyway, these are topics that even Some of the great minds of our history as human beings have tried to tackle. The French philosopher, Rene Descartes wrote an 8 piece meditative argument called the cogito which battles the whole universal principal that the mind is separate from the body and certainly this ontological argument helped spawn one of the most infamous quotes 'I think...therefore I am.'

Long story short. When I listened to subterranea it conjured up a ton of philosophical quandaries for me and it even challenged me to think about the exsistence of god as well, so you can be sure I thought about the works of St. Augustine and Tomas Aquinas. Anyway, my point is that philosophy serves its purpose and is definitely connected to a lot of music, especially prog.

Also. One last thing. We, as human beings, should never disregard philosophy. Actually, in a way, we are all philosophers and we all carry our own mantras, ideas and outlooks on life that are different and unique.
Disregarding philosophy is next to impossible cause we all use it everyday even with ourselves only. You just don't even know or realize it. To me, if you castigate philosophy it means that you are a misanthropic, embittered person who really can't stand the noble worth of other peoples thoughts and opinions. Not very open minded to me.

Maybe we are being monitored by aliens who are waiting for the right time to invade Earth.

Either Dean's attitudes toward philosophy rest of some dogmatic set of values by which the consequences of philosophy are judged, or Dean's attitudes toward philosophy rest of some set of values which was derived from philosophical thinking about what is good and what are bad, by which the consequences of philosophy are judged. In the first case, I think it's safe to say that dogmatically held values have done far more harm than philosophy ever has. In the second case, Dean is sawing the branch supporting him. Either way, there's not much use debating with him.

Dayvenkirq wrote: Maybe we are being monitored by aliens who are waiting for the right time to invade Earth.

What?? Has the mothership come already?

Anyway, back to the brass tacks: The only sound things I can think of off the top of my head are only some of those penned by Mr. Hammill and Mr. Rogers Waters.

Edited by Dayvenkirq - May 17 2013 at 12:57

^ You mean developing on the theme of solitude is a waste of time.

Edited by Dayvenkirq - May 17 2013 at 12:56