I'm glad you linked to that piece about how we relate, because the whole "generous posture" that we adopt when a friend recommends something leads to a really interesting difference in how we (or at least I) engage with the recommendation. When an algorithm recommends a song, I will decide in the first 30 seconds whether I'm listening to the whole thing (sometimes it's more like 10 seconds). When you tell me I should check out an artist, if it doesn't immediately strike me as up my alley, I will often still listen to a whole album or selections from several albums, trying to find a path to appreciating it, because of our relationship. Figuring out how to hear what you hear or feel what you feel in the experience of a piece of music is always a worthwhile journey. This has been a big part of how I expand my consciousness, not in the discovery of things that are already form-fit for my configured appreciation, but in the discovery of how to appreciate things that aren't.
I really liked that you highlighted this. I've been thinking about what it means to like something when much technology equates "what you like" with more of the same. The times I really tried things that were "out there" for me were, to your point, when they were recommendations from a friend.
I'm glad you linked to that piece about how we relate, because the whole "generous posture" that we adopt when a friend recommends something leads to a really interesting difference in how we (or at least I) engage with the recommendation. When an algorithm recommends a song, I will decide in the first 30 seconds whether I'm listening to the whole thing (sometimes it's more like 10 seconds). When you tell me I should check out an artist, if it doesn't immediately strike me as up my alley, I will often still listen to a whole album or selections from several albums, trying to find a path to appreciating it, because of our relationship. Figuring out how to hear what you hear or feel what you feel in the experience of a piece of music is always a worthwhile journey. This has been a big part of how I expand my consciousness, not in the discovery of things that are already form-fit for my configured appreciation, but in the discovery of how to appreciate things that aren't.
I really liked that you highlighted this. I've been thinking about what it means to like something when much technology equates "what you like" with more of the same. The times I really tried things that were "out there" for me were, to your point, when they were recommendations from a friend.