Minimalism

Rachel and I were just watching a story that Nightline covered about this man and his family living in a minimalist fashion in New York City. The man calls himself "no impact man," and he does everything devoid of electricity, carbon monoxide emissions, and materials that require trees for their production. His life is changing in more ways than one; completely different behaviors and patterns to his everyday living.

Given the circumstances of global warming and environmental concern, we may think such a shift in life is a noble one. However, if the environment was not at the front of our minds we might think this guy to be ready for the loony bin. I think composers of minimalist music probably experienced something of the sort when they presented their ideas - this-stuff-is-crazy-and-whomever-calls-it-music-is-a-loon-too. (I'm sure they still get such sneers.) Why? Because it is against the grain. It causes people to think a bit differently about music, to look at it from a different angle, in a different light. It causes people to empathize with something new.

Why are some folks so apt to block certain things from their minds? Is it because they are afraid of empathizing with new things? Is it a narrow-minded environment from which they might come? (But if that's the reason, then people are enslaved to a way of thinking, and we know that slavery in America is unconstitutional...just thought I'd throw that in, I guess...) So what is it? Why are people quick to cast aside, and slow to consider?