Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
331
Chasm / Re: Metal activism
« on: January 21, 2012, 12:30:04 AM »
OK, well first off, I'm not self-centered so I feel a bit strange participating in a thread about 'my' views and I participate in the hope that it evolves into a broader sort of discussion.
First, the DLA is my favourite metal website, if admittedly not because it's so good as much as because all the others are so awful. I find it surprising no other websites beyond the DLA have taken a stab at furthering high-level metal discourse, and that's a main reason why I recently created (The Metal Discourser (TMD). Furthermore I believe the DLA, while having done metal a great service, has simultaneously done metal a significant disservice, in the way it melds together high-level metal discourse and concepts that aren't innately metal-related such as nationalism, nihilism, etc. It's a disservice largely because the DLA is the only website around dealing with high-level metal discourse--for which the DLA cannot be faulted, but should be praised--and that as a result how it treats the subject carries that much more weight. I feel high-level metal discourse is now in the general metal population significantly associated with the DLA, as if there were no other way to go about it other than the DLA's, and I feel this association has frequently tainted the notion of high-level metal discourse in the minds of those metal listeners who disagree with the DLA's views or attitudes. Because, at the end of the day, I do hold the DLA in a fairly high regard, I must hold it responsible for failing to recognize the influence it has as the flag-bearer of high-level metal discourse and / or for deliberately confining the discourse to rigid frameworks (that serve its own ideological agenda).
TMD's statement of belief (as listed on the home page) is as follows:
Metal scholars agree that the field of metal music studies remains highly stigmatized in the academic world and is underdeveloped. An extremely wide and varied genre of music, among modern musical genres metal deals with some of the most profound subject matter such as philosophy, spirituality, occultism, social commentary, etc, corresponds with some of the most unique alternative lifestyles in its 'metalhead' listeners, expresses some of the most sonically and musically extreme sounds, and incorporates some of the highest levels of complexity and sophistication in terms of musical theory and composition. Metal demands to be examined more closely, from the spiritual or occult experiences of catharsis or transcendence many of its listeners report cultivating, to its applicability in a wide range of academic fields of study and a greater understanding of subcultures and the world we live in, to the age-old question of what makes some metal more psychologically healthy, 'authentic' or just downright better than other metal.
TMD isn't some shining beacon of hope or anything so dramatic, indeed the fact that the need for a website like TMD has existed much longer than TMD has, the fact that the niche has gone unfilled for so long, says far less about TMD's innovation than about the stagnation it seeks to overcome. Making full use of the internet's vast potential as an information technology and maintaining an atmosphere of open-mindedness, seriousness, integrity and clarity, TMD aims to help render the domain of metal in the marketplace of ideas free of bias and misinformation that truth may be free to rise to the surface.
On a personal level, when I think of metal I ignore anything to do with the lyrics or what the musicians intend to convey. For myself, based on my own views and personal experiences, metal is extremely spiritual in nature, more specifically in the vein of the left-hand path, which is the path I walk. For me it's all about how the music makes me feel, what concepts / sentiments it evokes, and I choose to listen to music that is congruent with, expresses, exalts and perhaps even expands on my personal spiritual paradigm. I created TMD's aggregator because I believe internet information aggregation of that sort is the way of the future, far more efficient than the traditional library, and I do plan to monetize TMD in the future (if possible). However I also maintain TMD because I wish to promote metal, because I wish to promote the left-hand path. I listen to metal purely for entertainment in a hedonistic way on occasion, as I'd submit that one cannot constantly maintain a heightened awareness amidst the sickness and perversity of modern society and that sometimes it's efficient to vent or 'slack off', but I have absolutely no desire to promote metal for its applications to mere entertainment. When I say in the statement of belief that "TMD aims to help render the domain of metal in the marketplace of ideas free of bias and misinformation that truth may be free to rise to the surface", I'm referring mainly to PMRC-type misinformation among non-metal-listeners and I want with TMD to help increase metal's respectability among the world's population in general--so that the magical left-hand path hymns can reach more ears and perhaps subtly nudge more minds.
This blog post (which I posted on this forum and received no responses to hehe) expands some more on my views about metal's spiritual potential.
First, the DLA is my favourite metal website, if admittedly not because it's so good as much as because all the others are so awful. I find it surprising no other websites beyond the DLA have taken a stab at furthering high-level metal discourse, and that's a main reason why I recently created (The Metal Discourser (TMD). Furthermore I believe the DLA, while having done metal a great service, has simultaneously done metal a significant disservice, in the way it melds together high-level metal discourse and concepts that aren't innately metal-related such as nationalism, nihilism, etc. It's a disservice largely because the DLA is the only website around dealing with high-level metal discourse--for which the DLA cannot be faulted, but should be praised--and that as a result how it treats the subject carries that much more weight. I feel high-level metal discourse is now in the general metal population significantly associated with the DLA, as if there were no other way to go about it other than the DLA's, and I feel this association has frequently tainted the notion of high-level metal discourse in the minds of those metal listeners who disagree with the DLA's views or attitudes. Because, at the end of the day, I do hold the DLA in a fairly high regard, I must hold it responsible for failing to recognize the influence it has as the flag-bearer of high-level metal discourse and / or for deliberately confining the discourse to rigid frameworks (that serve its own ideological agenda).
TMD's statement of belief (as listed on the home page) is as follows:
Metal scholars agree that the field of metal music studies remains highly stigmatized in the academic world and is underdeveloped. An extremely wide and varied genre of music, among modern musical genres metal deals with some of the most profound subject matter such as philosophy, spirituality, occultism, social commentary, etc, corresponds with some of the most unique alternative lifestyles in its 'metalhead' listeners, expresses some of the most sonically and musically extreme sounds, and incorporates some of the highest levels of complexity and sophistication in terms of musical theory and composition. Metal demands to be examined more closely, from the spiritual or occult experiences of catharsis or transcendence many of its listeners report cultivating, to its applicability in a wide range of academic fields of study and a greater understanding of subcultures and the world we live in, to the age-old question of what makes some metal more psychologically healthy, 'authentic' or just downright better than other metal.
TMD isn't some shining beacon of hope or anything so dramatic, indeed the fact that the need for a website like TMD has existed much longer than TMD has, the fact that the niche has gone unfilled for so long, says far less about TMD's innovation than about the stagnation it seeks to overcome. Making full use of the internet's vast potential as an information technology and maintaining an atmosphere of open-mindedness, seriousness, integrity and clarity, TMD aims to help render the domain of metal in the marketplace of ideas free of bias and misinformation that truth may be free to rise to the surface.
On a personal level, when I think of metal I ignore anything to do with the lyrics or what the musicians intend to convey. For myself, based on my own views and personal experiences, metal is extremely spiritual in nature, more specifically in the vein of the left-hand path, which is the path I walk. For me it's all about how the music makes me feel, what concepts / sentiments it evokes, and I choose to listen to music that is congruent with, expresses, exalts and perhaps even expands on my personal spiritual paradigm. I created TMD's aggregator because I believe internet information aggregation of that sort is the way of the future, far more efficient than the traditional library, and I do plan to monetize TMD in the future (if possible). However I also maintain TMD because I wish to promote metal, because I wish to promote the left-hand path. I listen to metal purely for entertainment in a hedonistic way on occasion, as I'd submit that one cannot constantly maintain a heightened awareness amidst the sickness and perversity of modern society and that sometimes it's efficient to vent or 'slack off', but I have absolutely no desire to promote metal for its applications to mere entertainment. When I say in the statement of belief that "TMD aims to help render the domain of metal in the marketplace of ideas free of bias and misinformation that truth may be free to rise to the surface", I'm referring mainly to PMRC-type misinformation among non-metal-listeners and I want with TMD to help increase metal's respectability among the world's population in general--so that the magical left-hand path hymns can reach more ears and perhaps subtly nudge more minds.
This blog post (which I posted on this forum and received no responses to hehe) expands some more on my views about metal's spiritual potential.
332
Chasm / Re: Metal activism
« on: January 20, 2012, 11:32:59 PM »
I've talked a lot about how I disagree with some of the DLA's views. That's (as far as I can tell) why I got banned at one point. But you've set the stage so nicely for me with this new thread, if you want to talk about my views anew I won't object.
Just let me know more specifically what you want to talk about, I'm not completely sure and I don't want to waste a bunch of paragraphs barking up the wrong tree.
Just let me know more specifically what you want to talk about, I'm not completely sure and I don't want to waste a bunch of paragraphs barking up the wrong tree.
333
Chasm / Re: Audiofile and Megaupload
« on: January 20, 2012, 05:49:33 PM »Which views don't you share?I've mentioned it in the past. This thread isn't about me and archiving music files is no crime, carry on.
334
Chasm / Metal activism
« on: January 20, 2012, 05:01:44 PM »if I want to help out metal I would volunteer in other ways to be frank
Which are those?
I don't mean to start a thing about it, but you asked so I'll answer. Considering I can already get any songs I need on Soulseek, I see more value in collecting / archiving information about metal and the concepts and dynamics present in the music, and writing columns or articles about metal. I don't share the same views as the DLA about metal so I can't really contribute in this capacity here, but I spend a lot of time working at it elsewhere.
335
Chasm / Re: Audiofile and Megaupload
« on: January 20, 2012, 05:39:30 AM »The reason I didn't check the link the first time is because it had "tinyurl" in its URL. I don't have time to check every link someone posts, and if I want to help out metal I would volunteer in other ways to be frank, besides my playlist is only 500 including zero full albums so I don't have much to share. I wish there was more metal for me to enjoy, that would be a welcomed problem!Also remember this:
http://tinyurl.com/olae
I'll just leave this here again, if Transcix or others want to volunteer...
336
Chasm / Re: Becoming a Priest
« on: January 20, 2012, 05:30:52 AM »In the meantime, what have Christians been doing? Reproducing, raising healthy children, home-schooling and voting conservative.If you want to promote Christianity, be a good Christian but raise your children agnostically and let them make their own decisions. Anything less and I think you're really raping them in one of the most insidious ways, it's a recipe for blind faith.
The jihad against Christianity has failed.It was orchestrated by Christianity and neo-conservatism to begin with.
The jihad against liberalism was quickly avoided by those with dollar signs in their eyes.In my view America is a conservative fascist state, and the media manages to help perpetuate this by fooling people into believing the opposite and using liberalism as a boogeyman. In modern politics liberalism is so much more desireable mainly because it's less Christian--the elite recognizes how well-suited Christianity is to render the masses manipulable. Mainstream Christianity has the best threats (hell), the best scare tactics (Satanic influences), the best numbing and attractive doctrine (everything will be OK if you accept God's forgiveness), the best polarizing doctrine (good/evil, god is on our country's side, abortion is murder, homosexuality is evil, etc), the best confidence-reducing doctrine (you're all sinners who need to be saved by an external force), the list goes on and on. Of course true Christianity isn't like this, but it does tend to be rather sheepish, it's for the less fortunate and weak (the universe is indeed merciful), so it needs the left-hand path by its side to do the 'dirty work' and guard against corruption and false idols and, frankly, to rule (which is why the left-hand path has been demonized from the start).
The timeline you're painting seems to be originating from an idealistic perspective, treating things like paganism, Christianity, political process and political history, treating them as they should ideally be, not as they actually are. An honest Jihad, that's a good one! Hardly any wars--be they physical, political, social or religious--are fought on the basis of principle and belief, despite what the soldiers are told.
337
Chasm / Re: Audiofile and Megaupload
« on: January 20, 2012, 04:55:26 AM »
Why search for this stuff online, don't y'all own it, on CDs or digitally? Why not share it on programs like Soulseek instead of hosting it somewhere? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there's any risk sharing files on the lesser-known peer-to-peer things like Soulseek.
338
Chasm / Re: Sadly, our science is bullshit
« on: January 19, 2012, 11:36:15 PM »No doubt this will go soon too.
The researchers in Sweden controlled for such variables true or false:QuoteIs it that people who eat a lot of processed meat tend also to be obese and not exercise? Or that the sulfides in the meat cause cancer? Or that these people also tend to smoke, live near nuclear power plants, guzzle down six gallons of horse semen at Christmas, etc?
This meta study very clearly identified its findings as correlational rather than causational in nature. When Conservationist said "The causation-correlation guesswork commences", I assume that he was referring to how people would interpret the study, and that he was criticizing the study for being so specific and impractical as to leave out factors such as weight, exercise, etc. Admittedly investigation taking into account these variables must first start somewhere, presumably with a study that does not take them all into account, but perhaps Conservationist was commenting on the volume of studies inspected in this meta study and pointing out how much time it is taking to begin accounting for additional common-sense variables.
I would have preferred the thread to be a bit clearer, so that readers understand Conservationist is not saying science is bullshit (as The Right often does) but that *our* science is bullshit, i.e. the way *we* use science--such as by investing many resources to determine irrelevant truths--is bullshit.
I agree to some extent with his argument against the way we use science, although I wouldn't take it so far as he does. But I don't have time to get into it now, just wanted to try and clarify what we're talking about here.
339
Chasm / Re: Audiofile and Megaupload
« on: January 19, 2012, 10:45:08 PM »going to be a pretty big undertaking considering the percentage of music in the audio forum that was hosted on megaupload, but we should begin moving over to mediafire and rapishare asap.
Why did Megaupload get closed but not Mediafire and Rapidshare? Are these other two safe bets?
340
Chasm / Re: SOPA panic
« on: January 17, 2012, 04:01:59 PM »
For the record, I don't even own a cell phone.
341
Chasm / Re: SOPA panic
« on: January 17, 2012, 02:50:21 PM »
I'm not going to be taking any action either - I don't believe online piracy can be stopped in the foreseeable future, no matter how strict the laws, there are always ways around them on the internet. But I hear some websites are taking defensive actions, if they have stuff like the DLA's audiofile section that could get them into trouble.
342
Chasm / Re: (Moral) Transhumanism
« on: January 16, 2012, 07:31:11 PM »
Thanks for sharing this, Sidereal.
343
Chasm / SOPA panic
« on: January 16, 2012, 07:28:55 PM »
That means they're going to be blacked out, offline. Various metal websites have weighed in on the SOPA issue. What are you going to do?
Strike Against SOPA
If passed, do the new online piracy laws risk affecting the DLA?
Strike Against SOPA
If passed, do the new online piracy laws risk affecting the DLA?
344
Chasm / Re: Personalised domain suffixes up for grabs
« on: January 12, 2012, 08:29:40 PM »
It's a novelty and a marketing thing. I mean ".com" says nothing about your brand, it detracts from your URL. These new suffixes may do better in the search engines too. For more obscure brands, it gives legitimacy if you've never heard of the brand before since you know it cost them $250,000 to set up. And it's more international as the suffix does not need to be roman characters.
345
Chasm / Re: Personalised domain suffixes up for grabs
« on: January 12, 2012, 08:23:06 PM »
It's going to be confusing at first, but I'm warming up to the idea. One thing against it is that it disenfranchises people who dished out lots of money for select dot com addresses. Also I should mention that after someone applies for a suffix there's a two-month period during which you can submit any complaints if you believe the suffix would infringe on your copyrights.