How To Disappear Completely

I had fun writing this for class

I think I should rename the musicologist character to Philosopher-Musicologist (because I like hyphens)....

I put the following excerpt in the extended entry, because, well, it just takes up too much space on my blog, and I like to persuade myself that I am being organized by throwing things under the bed, or in this case, the extented entry...

In a recent interview with the on-staff Musicologist at Local Broadcasting Network, Representative Martian expressed a desire to participate in Earth's complex communicative system, the radio. However, in order to participate fully in the human language games controlling the air waves, Martian asked for clarity regarding some of the rules: "I understand you humans make a distinction between things, which you subsequently term music, speech, and noise. Maybe there are other categories as well. Yet sometimes I fail to discern the difference. Please inform me what counts as music in your society and what counts as....not music?" The following is a transcription of the ensuing interview.

Musicologist: Hmm. That question's always fascinated me, because if you put it to 10 musicologists, you'll still end up with 11 different answers. Part of the problem is that we always have to use language to describe our experiences of the world. So our ontological systems are determined heavily by how we are allowed to use our language (you might want to read Quine or Wittgenstein for more on language). So I'll probably focus on language issues when dealing with the question of what counts as music. That said, I'd hazard a guess that there are as many different musics out there as the humans that create them and enjoy them. Human beings are endowed with a creative ability that seems to distinguish them from the rest of life on our planet. This gives them some freedom in actually deciding what counts as art.
Martian: But is it not a bit arrogant for your species to assume this special distinction of creativity and power over meaning making?
Musicologist: I suppose that it is. And perhaps the ability to designate terms to describe our experiences is not a distinctively human trait. Certainly it's a power that we often abuse and misuse. But I still think that it is a part of who humans are.
Martian: So you earthlings get to decide what music is then?
Musicologist: To some degree, yes. However, there is also some degree to which one's language needs to accurately reflect reality. So when a community refers to music, it needs to be talking about something that actually exists in that community, something that can be experienced by that community. An individual can't just waltz into the public square, start banging on pots, and claim he was giving a concert. Decisions regarding what counts as what (ontological designations) have to be made by groups. Individuals then have to follow the rules. Otherwise, none of us would understand each other.
Martian: It is our observation that none of you do.
Musicologist (laughs): You're probably right. But we seem to understand each other enough to get by at any rate.
Anyway, there are many different groups, and each group has its own decisions regarding what counts as music. And we can see the miscommunication that occurs between groups that have different criteria regarding music. The desirability of having a common language to describe a common experience becomes more apparent in cross-cultural communications. But that's wandering a bit off topic.
Martian: So in order to understand what music is, then, I would have to go to each different group or community and ask them separately?
Musicologist: Most likely.
Martian: Is there not one entity that I could present to every group and have them agree it was music? Is there no universal?
Musicologist: Well, now. Here's where things get interesting. Despite having a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and contexts, humans basically inhabit the same earth. They basically have the same body with which to experience that earth. Most of us all have two eyes, two ears, one mouth, etc. So I think that there will in fact be a lot of overlap between groups as to what counts as music. That's why I can listen to serial tone rows and then raga and recognize both as music. Whether this is because there is an objective entity out there, an Ideal Form or what have you, I really don't know. I don't think there needs to be an Ideal Form in order for common elements to pervade every groups' musics. There just needs to be a common way of experiencing the world.
Martian: Would I have to be a human, then, in order to fully understand your music?
Musicologist: You might have to. I could give you specific examples of songs or pieces that would probably give you a general idea of what counts as music within my particular discipline or culture or age group or class demographic. But, as Quine noted in Word and Object, understanding someone else's way of describing the world can sometimes require the full adoption of their viewpoint, an immersion into the entire web of that community's way of relating to all of life. Because, for all the Western fixation for clarifying and abstracting and isolating and objectifying, how we perceive the world is all connected to the sum of how we experience it.
Martian: Thank you. I'm not sure if this is helpful yet. But it helps me understand humans better, I suppose.
Musicologist: Drop by my office some day, and I'll play you some Cage. And then some Britney Spears.

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This was a class exercise in which we were supposed to describe what we would say to Martians if they asked us how to distinguish between music and noise. A bit of a departure from my normal style of academic writing, but I had fun. If I had been writing for Dr. Davis or Dr. Steele, I would have sprinkled verses galore* in the text. But I'm still feeling out the academic language game rules here.

*Once, someone remarked on my "liberal" use of Scripture in a philosophy paper. I was devastated until I realized that they meant "generous" rather than "Heretic." Language is, as Dr. Chausible notes, a curious thing.