The Emperor’s Clothing Syndrome
By Old Grumpy Guy on November 21, 2008 at 6:40 PM in Current Affairs, Emperor's Clothing Syndrome, Humor, OldGrumpyGuy, Open Thread
(How privileged NoQuarter is to be a home to this magnificent series of videos. I am impressed by the considerable time, creativity, and thoughtfulness that Old Grumpy put into this first of ten videos. You will be beguiled and engrossed by this exciting and edifying video. – Susan)
In recent months we have seen the Emperor’s Clothing Syndrome running rampant during the elections. (I define this term partly as a tendency to “pretend to see or believe something out of fear of being thought of out of step with others, also out of fear that you might be attacked or ridiculed if you show your true feelings.”)
Now you might not see a connection between this and my latest video, the start of a 12 part series looking at the greatest composers ever, judged on originality, durability, depth and range of output, historical significance and their general influence. You might also say that this series has little connection with the kind of issues discussed on NQ.
But I think it is all very relevant. (Well, of course I would, wouldn’t I?) For one thing, the series will also be looking at the ECS (Emperor’s Clothing Syndrome) in music as well as the arts and humanities in general. It’s all symptomatic of a sickness in society that showed its ugliest aspects during the election.
Secondly, the series addresses the erosion of the finest aspects of western cultural values and standards, another sickness that is undermining the social fabric of America and Europe.
As I say in the introduction to the series, with my usual modesty, forbearance and understatement: “I’m trying to save western civilization. That’s what my Youtube channel is about. Do I really have to spell it out for you? Sheesh. And then you wonder why I get grumpy.”
The final video in the series will look at the way the Emperor’s Clothing Syndrome has dominated the arts and humanities over the past half century, with the help of academic practitioners looking for theories to build on, trying to carve out some academic territory for themselves and becoming the high priests or priestesses of their chosen domains. In music, it ended with meaningless and very irritating noise.
They are the kind of people who try to impose their narrow and very theoretical world view on others and become blinkered in their focus, doing their best to beat down anyone who doesn’t agree with them. (Now what does that remind you of?)
It’s the kind of pseudo-liberal academic milieu that produces people like the Beast with No Name, who is a Rhodes scholar and yet one of the most narrow-minded and bigoted people you can find.
As I wrote in a comment on the recent NQ post about her, being a Rhodes scholar is a sign of being good at the academic process and does not guarantee good sense.
“One of the problems is that lot of people who excel academically are people who are able to absorb and reflect back what their tutors want them to,” I wrote. “In some ways they are like soft cushions, retaining the imprint of the last person to have sat on them. The Moonies and other cults have had a high percentage of college graduates who were academically bright.”
Dr. Theodore Kaczynski the Unabomber was academically outstanding. I had a girlfriend once who was academically outstanding and had an IQ that was so high it went off the scale, but she was totally lacking in any vestige of common sense and spent a great deal of time attacking people who didn’t agree with her opinions on even the most trivial matters.
Now I am not being anti-intellectual or anti-academic. My God, if there was no place for true intellectuals in this world, what would become of an intellectual giant like myself? What I am saying is that you cannot rely on academics to be impartial, objective, clear thinking and – above all – correct in their judgment and opinions.
In fact, some of the most woolly and equivocal thinkers have tended to dominate the arts and humanities over the past fifty years.
At the end of the series I will be examining this whole phenomenon in greater depth. In the meantime I hope you might enjoy the videos on the greatest composers. At least you will hear some good music, and hopefully be entertained.
by Ronald Scott
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