I'm not sure it's as bad as it seems. Or at least I'm not sure it's worse than it has been historically.
Take music. Yes, there's a lot of bad music out there, but think about how rare it was historically to hear great music. You had to have enough money to go to the symphony or the opera or to hire musicians, and even then it was a rare treat. Now those who care to can enjoy Bach or Mozart 24/7. Surely these great composers are enjoyed more often today than they were a hundred years ago. And inane music has always been with us, too. Folk songs are the historical equivalent of Brittney Spears, but we don't hear the historical bad stuff much because it's been forgotten.
How about books? There have been periods in history when people read more, but they had far fewer choices about what to read. Even after the printing press was invented, books were a luxury for people without much money, which was almost everybody. I have more books in my home today than most people would ever have been able to imagine at most times in history. And the historical periods when most people were literate were rare. Even as recently as Victorian times, literacy was for the middle and upper classes, and novels were generally looked on as a frivolity to be discouraged. Today books are not available based on your wealth, but on your interest in reading. I would bet that a higher percentage of people today read great works of literature than at any time in the past. I've worked in book stores, and I don't remember Danielle Steel selling any better than Charles Dickens. Mostly what sells is the latest Da Vinci Code, but even then, some best-sellers are quite profound. Off the top of my head, Isabelle Allende and Barbara Kingsolver are two contemporary best-selling authors who I have found to have real depth.
As for theater, it's true that people don't see live theater much these days, and the movies that have replaced theater are quite a different medium. However, the fact that we do have a whole new medium in film is a great boon to the humanities. Sure, much of it is mindless, but there is nothing inherent in movies, or even television, that is less valuable than theater. We tend to forget old plays like Ben Johnson's "Knight of the Burning Pestle," which is the Renaissance equivalent of Sex and the City. History won't judge our time period on the bad movies and shows, because they will be forgotten just like most of the plays that have ever been written.
Also regarding theater, keep in mind that there have been many historical periods with no theater at all. Throughout much of the dark ages, theater simply didn't exist in the Western world.
Great artists and thinkers stand out in history, but really they only come along pehaps once every hundred years or so. Think about how many periods in history didn't have a Shakespeare or an Aristotle. And plenty of great artists are not recognized for their greatness in their own time. We don't know what artists will be remembered from this moment in time, but I bet some will.
When we think of history, we remember Shakespeare or Da Vinci, we don't remember the drivel that was created only to appeal to the masses. Most people have always preferred low entertainment, and most people always will. The difference today is that people who are predisposed to prefer great works (if they are born in the developed world) will have the opportunity to pursue an education that will allow them to appreciate these great works, and they will have sufficient time and money to enjoy them.
I seem to have only touched on the arts in this post, haven't I? Well, it's long enough already.
Take music. Yes, there's a lot of bad music out there, but think about how rare it was historically to hear great music. You had to have enough money to go to the symphony or the opera or to hire musicians, and even then it was a rare treat. Now those who care to can enjoy Bach or Mozart 24/7. Surely these great composers are enjoyed more often today than they were a hundred years ago. And inane music has always been with us, too. Folk songs are the historical equivalent of Brittney Spears, but we don't hear the historical bad stuff much because it's been forgotten.
How about books? There have been periods in history when people read more, but they had far fewer choices about what to read. Even after the printing press was invented, books were a luxury for people without much money, which was almost everybody. I have more books in my home today than most people would ever have been able to imagine at most times in history. And the historical periods when most people were literate were rare. Even as recently as Victorian times, literacy was for the middle and upper classes, and novels were generally looked on as a frivolity to be discouraged. Today books are not available based on your wealth, but on your interest in reading. I would bet that a higher percentage of people today read great works of literature than at any time in the past. I've worked in book stores, and I don't remember Danielle Steel selling any better than Charles Dickens. Mostly what sells is the latest Da Vinci Code, but even then, some best-sellers are quite profound. Off the top of my head, Isabelle Allende and Barbara Kingsolver are two contemporary best-selling authors who I have found to have real depth.
As for theater, it's true that people don't see live theater much these days, and the movies that have replaced theater are quite a different medium. However, the fact that we do have a whole new medium in film is a great boon to the humanities. Sure, much of it is mindless, but there is nothing inherent in movies, or even television, that is less valuable than theater. We tend to forget old plays like Ben Johnson's "Knight of the Burning Pestle," which is the Renaissance equivalent of Sex and the City. History won't judge our time period on the bad movies and shows, because they will be forgotten just like most of the plays that have ever been written.
Also regarding theater, keep in mind that there have been many historical periods with no theater at all. Throughout much of the dark ages, theater simply didn't exist in the Western world.
Great artists and thinkers stand out in history, but really they only come along pehaps once every hundred years or so. Think about how many periods in history didn't have a Shakespeare or an Aristotle. And plenty of great artists are not recognized for their greatness in their own time. We don't know what artists will be remembered from this moment in time, but I bet some will.
When we think of history, we remember Shakespeare or Da Vinci, we don't remember the drivel that was created only to appeal to the masses. Most people have always preferred low entertainment, and most people always will. The difference today is that people who are predisposed to prefer great works (if they are born in the developed world) will have the opportunity to pursue an education that will allow them to appreciate these great works, and they will have sufficient time and money to enjoy them.
I seem to have only touched on the arts in this post, haven't I? Well, it's long enough already.
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