Philosophy by SMS

I engaged in a philosophical discussion today that can only be described as "Philosophy by text: bettering your mind 160 characters at a time."

It started when someone in my class said something that sparked a beautifully poetic thought in my head. He brought in a piece of music he wrote (while collaborating with a poet). The teacher asked if his collaborator wrote the words, and he said, "no, he didn't write them; he just chose them from an essay..." I didn't hear the rest of the sentence or who wrote the essay or, well, any discussion of the piece of music before it happened. Instead, I pulled out my phone, and the following interaction happened throughout the course of the day between me and perhaps the only person I know who would engage in such conversation with me, by any medium.

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Thought of the moment: you never write words, you merely select them.

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hmm, but the selection of them creates meaning.

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Undoubtedly. Much like we do not create new colors, but our choice of what to paint with speaks volumes.

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yes. what about music then?

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Stravinsky invented the last remaining harmonies. So yes, it is still true. All notes and chords exist, it's their placement we decide.

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George Segal -- a sculptor -- said it took him years to realize it is man who makes art, not gods or demi-gods

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Man turns the everyday (made by gods) into art.

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oooh, watch out Segal

---end SMS conversation---

NB: I'm not sure about the Stravinsky statement, but I stand by that all notes and harmonies already exist, it is their placement. In fact, a rant about this is probably short-coming, explaining how I ended up writing music how I do and what shifted me about 3 years ago...

Anyway -- I just wanted to share.