When we discussed idealism vs realism I reflected on what I consider myself to be. I would say that I am a realist because I often search for the practical solution to problems. I also consider incentives and economical gains to involving myself into anything, which is a major characteristic of realists, especially in my studies of conflict resolution here at Mason. I have no previous knowledge of music and digital technology, so I wasn’t aware of the generational shift to compressed music. However, once I heard the difference in class, I couldn’t stop hearing it. I hear it now whenever i’m listening to music; I now notice the artist never actually getting louder.   I also reflected on whether there is a such thing as good music, or whether its just good at the time; in our current time. Or going even deeper, can “good music” be measured or is it all relative to our generational ties?  Although I don’t know the answer to these questions, I do believe that we have adapted to compressed music because the world forces convenience. We’re listening to music on our way to class, work, etc. so we aren’t as prompted to focus on one task at a time.

Sometimes when I really sit down and listen to the lyrics of half of the songs that I listen to in passing, I wonder what the hell they are really talking about. Especially in hip hop music today. Its definitely not music that I’d enjoy if i weren’t doing something in addition, like working out or driving. Im not sure if that is sad or not; still debating.