thewayofthefool

The biggest challenge I find in responding to your theory is how to approach your musical classifications. Are you referring to corporate-sponsored major label music from these genres? If so, it helps their business model to put forward simple archetypes that people can readily identify with. The extent to which these song scenarios resemble a culture's reality can only be answered on the most general level. On an individual level, I think there is a psychic fatigue setting in from identifying with over-simplified archetypes within ultimately self-defeating allegories. Example: I don't dislike hip hop, but I don't listen to it much at all because I'm tired of hearing about rims and strip clubs. There are plenty of hip hop acts that come from a different perspective, but they don't get corporate support. Your argument is to loosely constructed for a concise response, but could be compelling with further refining.

Thank you Neon for two reasons: 1) To participate in a focused discussion on the concept of belief is the very reason that I joined this website forum. 2) If the world is ever to become more rational, we need to populate literature, movies, theatre, etc. with story lines of people going through the traumatic process of their personal illusions dying. The last few months I've been hesitant to use the word belief at all. Suddenly that word seemed to weaken the structure of every argument, or line of discussion of which I was involved. Currently, I still can't find an edifying use of the term. One day I realized that I don't believe in the law of gravity, but I'm not drifting up towards the ceiling fan. Belief has no substantive relationship to the laws that govern our physical experience -- until we demand that it does. At that point, many people exchange certainty for reality ;and never see the bait and switch that was put into play.