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will mediocrity kill excellence, once and for all ?

Started by katia, July 05, 2007, 03:57:25 AM

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katia

think, how mediocrity dominates everyone's life today. whichever country, profession, race you belong to, don't you see that it is mediocrity that dominates everywhere ?
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rhonda13000

No, but it is ubiquitous and seemingly is the accepted nominal.
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Fer

No, this is incorrect.  What you call mediocre is the "Norm of society." Excellence can only be held by those that exceed the norm. Apathy is for those that fall below the "Norm."
Your statement: Think, how mediocrity dominates everyone life today.
Your right: The norm is everyday people. The standard of society is not set by those below or above the norm - the "Standard" is set by the norm. If the majority of everyday people began to exercise excellence, then Excellence would become the Norm, hence excellence would become mediocre.
The laws of God, the laws of man, He may keep that will and can; Not I. Let God and man decree Laws for themselves and not for me; And if my ways are not as theirs Let them mind their own affairs. - A. E. Housman
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The Middle Way

#3
[Per Fer's post: Excellence is not going to become the norm, so such a terminology as excellence become mediocrity has no meaning to me.]

The bar does appear to be set lower and lower, in terms of what is thought of as desirable in expression/communications, discourse, etc., as we merrily go along.

The human has shown a marked tendency to value security above all else. Physical security is primary, but it might extend to an insecure psychology, and to a massive social insecurity.

If you, or if I, were to make something, or state something in a way that stands out (or particularly that challenges held assumptions that have become thought of as intrinsic to maintaining the status quo), there is the tendency for this collective mind-set to correct what might be more-excellent-than-thou, to bring it down to the average <comfort level> of the mass mentality.

There appears to be more and more of this tendency happening; where crap is king to the point that it's harder and harder to see past it, or cut through it, it becomes so thick and ubiquitous.

[I'm going to try to make an analogy:
The spirit that gets to 'excellence' is the same as what we call Light. The Light might become eventually detectable only as pronounced points, as the overall ground gets darker; the eyes that take in Light might be so adjusted to the dark that they are loathe to risk the comfort level of a permeating dimness, a diffuseness (ever notice that in an urban environs, due to the street lights, one doesn't see the stars so well?) more and more.

But the Light is constant, from its source to its target.]

(Well then Fido got up off the floor, and he rolled over
and he looked me straight in the eye
And you know what he said?
"Once upon a time, somebody say to me"
(This is the dog talkin' now)
"What is your conceptual continuity?"
"Well I told 'im right then", Fido said
"It should be easy to see
"The crux of the biscuit
is the apostrophe"
Well you know, the man that was talking to the dog
looked at the dog, and he said -
Sort of staring in disbelief -
"You can't say that!"
he said
"It doesn't, and you can't, I won't, and it don't
it hasn't, it isn't, it even ain't, and it shouldn't
it couldn't!"
He told him, "No, no, no"
I told him, "Yes, yes, yes"
I said, "I do it all the time
Ain't this boogie a mess?")


(Stink Foot, fz)



And mediocrity does not dominate my life. I split from the whole program long ago.

None of the Above
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Pica Pica

i reckon its the same as always. It's just that making 'things' is easier now, there is more spare time, more ways to disseminate it, so there may be more mediocre product around. Doesn't mean there is more mediocrity around though.



Something I had to say about the subject a few months ago.
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RebeccaFog

Quote from: Katia on July 05, 2007, 03:57:25 AM
think, how mediocrity dominates everyone's life today. whichever country, profession, race you belong to, don't you see that it is mediocrity that dominates everywhere ?

I believe that mediocrity only appears to be everywhere. Quality thrives. It's just harder to attain and so maybe you don't catch it in everyday life as often as you'd like.

  I forgot to ask, are you specifically referring to the mediocrity of my posts?
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rhonda13000

Quote from: RebeccaFog on July 06, 2007, 03:34:24 PM
Quote from: Katia on July 05, 2007, 03:57:25 AM
think, how mediocrity dominates everyone's life today. whichever country, profession, race you belong to, don't you see that it is mediocrity that dominates everywhere ?

I believe that mediocrity only appears to be everywhere. Quality thrives. It's just harder to attain and so maybe you don't catch it in everyday life as often as you'd like.

  I forgot to ask, are you specifically referring to the mediocrity of my posts?

No sweetie, she is referring to the mediocrity of your mediocrity.  ;) [Rhonda runs as Becky throws a cup of spoiled milk at her... :o]
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RebeccaFog

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Pica Pica

Quote from: RebeccaFog on July 06, 2007, 03:34:24 PM
Quote from: Katia on July 05, 2007, 03:57:25 AM
think, how mediocrity dominates everyone's life today. whichever country, profession, race you belong to, don't you see that it is mediocrity that dominates everywhere ?

I believe that mediocrity only appears to be everywhere. Quality thrives. It's just harder to attain and so maybe you don't catch it in everyday life as often as you'd like.

  I forgot to ask, are you specifically referring to the mediocrity of my posts?

Your posts, mediocre? Never.

More Burnt Sienna
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RebeccaFog

Quote from: Ell on July 06, 2007, 09:59:50 PM
it's certainly true that we don't have such a huge number of great writers and poets as there were in the 1930's, but who among all of those writers was as excellent as Thomas Pynchon, who, we should be proud to say, is one of our contemporaries.

likewise with music. hasn't this year had an unusually excellent string of dance songs on the radio, and in the clubs? Mmmm.


    I'm not sure about your 30's book example, Ell.  There were many writers and books from the 30's that you never heard of and maybe never will.  The well known ones are the ones that are either exceptionally written, or else, just so unique that they are remembered and passed down.  You'd probably faint of shock at how much shlock has been forgotten.
    I'm not disagreeing with you. I just see it as the quality stuff surviving while the mediocre becomes forgotten. That is a point of view that can be applied to many things. Architecture, art, machinery.


Posted on: July 06, 2007, 10:16:58 PM
Quote from: Pica Pica on July 06, 2007, 10:13:44 PM

Your posts, mediocre? Never.

More Burnt Sienna

Thank you, Pica Pica,

but you should say, "More Burnt Sienna, Please."
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The Middle Way

Quote from: Rhonda on July 06, 2007, 09:51:53 PM
Quote from: RebeccaFog on July 06, 2007, 03:34:24 PM
Quote from: Katia on July 05, 2007, 03:57:25 AM
think, how mediocrity dominates everyone's life today. whichever country, profession, race you belong to, don't you see that it is mediocrity that dominates everywhere ?

I believe that mediocrity only appears to be everywhere. Quality thrives. It's just harder to attain and so maybe you don't catch it in everyday life as often as you'd like.

  I forgot to ask, are you specifically referring to the mediocrity of my posts?

No sweetie, she is referring to the mediocrity of your mediocrity.  ;) [Rhonda runs as Becky throws a cup of spoiled milk at her... :o]

Yeah, Beck, your mediocrity is just not cutting it these days. Time was, you seemed to be developing a quite excellent form of mediocre-ness, but something just seems to be missing now.
I'd go for mediocre excellence in your case, instead, maybe, I don't know...

N

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Elizabeth

Quote from: Katia on July 05, 2007, 03:57:25 AM
think, how mediocrity dominates everyone's life today. whichever country, profession, race you belong to, don't you see that it is mediocrity that dominates everywhere ?

If it were not for mediocrity, excellence could not exist. This search for excellence is what makes life interesting. Because there will always be mediocrity, there will also always be excellence.

Love always,
Elizabeth
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RebeccaFog

Quote from: None of the Above on July 06, 2007, 11:26:21 PM

Yeah, Beck, your mediocrity is just not cutting it these days. Time was, you seemed to be developing a quite excellent form of mediocre-ness, but something just seems to be missing now.
I'd go for mediocre excellence in your case, instead, maybe, I don't know...

N

I am shamed.
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Shana A

I am a musician. I often find it frustrating that the marketplace seems to mostly reward mediocrity, however there is plenty of excellence out there if one looks around for it.

zythyra
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." Oscar Wilde


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