Music+for+the+Soul

=Music for the Soul: An Introduction to the Discussion of Politics of Evidence=

Jana sat back, rested her eyes, and thought, “In this mess of a world, it’s nice to know some things don’t change.” She reached over and turned up the volume of the radio, letting the strains of Brahms wash over her. There was something so clean and ordered about the music. She was glad she had contributed so generously this year to keep such programming available on the local public radio station. She rested and let the music carry away the tensions of another long day. The sonata ended just as the clock began to chime. The announcer thanked those who were listening and began to tell of changes that would be occurring in WGTB’s programming. Jana, only half-awake, paid no attention until the harsh dissonance of the next piece shattered her tranquility. Harsh, discordant, atonal – the “music” (she hated to even use the word in reference to this din) ripped at her soul. Why would they do this; why would they give airtime to such apostasy? She rushed to the phone to register her complaint.

Two doors down, Simone also had turned on her radio. For Simone, it was more a habit than anything; she usually didn’t even pay attention. The radio was just background noise that kept her from feeling so alone in that big house. But today the program was different – not the staid, predictable pabulum that WGTB seemed to play day after day. No, today there was a fresh new sound – one filled with excitement and passion. Simone stopped what she was doing and listened. Suddenly she realized she was weeping, and though a little embarrassed to be feeling so exposed, she was grateful. She hadn’t felt moved like this in such a long time.

Weeks later, there they sat – Jana and Simone – neighbors, but now rivals, as they waited to express their opinions before the WGTB Program Board. This would be the critical day for deciding what kind of music the station would make available to the community. Common sense seemed to say that surely there is adequate airtime to play numerous types of music that would appeal to a variety of interests, but the board had made it clear that the station would play only that which was judged to be true music. The recent programming changes had created enough of a stir among the station’s benefactors to bring about this meeting, but the question remained both for Jana and Simone: In deciding what is truly music, who gets to be in the room?

So how do these arguments impact the decisions with which the WGBT programming board is faced?

To answer the question posed at the end of the vignette "In deciding what is truly music, who gets to be in the room?" We need to ask the question, Which group of benefactors has the most money?" I hate to sound cynical, but ultimately all such decisions are driven by funding. Public radio stations especially derive funding from contributers not commercial sponsors. Making the choice to exclusively play one one kind of "music" or the other will likely alienate the other group of benefactors and reduce contributions. Obviously, the station must then select for the group of benefactors that provides the greatest funding possiblility or the station will become financially insolvent. To address the second question, the arguments posed indicate that the programming board should not choose between one type or the other but should continue to play both types of music because both are just that, different styles of music, but still music. A decision to select one over the other would, according to Lincoln (pg. 19). . . silence an alternative voice.

Interest in the question of the politics of evidence yields to subjectivities regarding politics and money and takes up the differences between the kinds of knowledge that quantitative and qualitative research produces. In his article "Quality Criteria as Instruments for Political Control of Science" Uwe Laucken discusses the recent trend in Germany of developing standardized criteria for determining the quality of research conducted at Universities in Germany. These "Quality Criteria" will be used by German governmental bodies to determine who gets the funding and how much they get. Laucken, a psychologist, discusses the issue from the perspective of the different fields of psychology and from the different "modes of thinking" that he associates with the different fields of psychology. He identifies two modes of thinking, the "Physical mode" and the "Semantic mode." The physical mode of thinking in the field of psychology is associated with the neurosciences and the use of machines such as PET scanners to acquire data. The physical mode of thinking attempts to attribute all human behavior to electrochemical activity within the brain.The semantic mode of thinking is associated with the social science side of psychology and approaches human behavior from a perspective of interactions with other people which can be reduced to semantic units.

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