Sunday, January 21, 2007
We enjoy what everyone enjoys
C. L. R. James spends a fair amount of time describing the appeal of the sporting atmosphere, of the excitement that fills the air when large numbers of people gather with the anticipation of passionately enjoying what the are about to witness. It is the expectations that multiply themselves with each extra person that attends and allows the actual experience to be that much better. I was reminded of this just last night when I attended a concert at the Symphony Center. It was Wynton Marsalis, my childhood hero, performing with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and a full choir. I went expecting a quality performance by many quality musicians, but what I got was a whole lot more. It was because I experienced the concert in a massive hall filled with anxious spectators who were thrilled to be there, just as the Olympics were experienced in massive stadiums with large crowds of spectators ready for excitement, that the concert was absolutely mind-blowing. I realized that I not only enjoyed the music, but I enjoyed everyone else's enjoyment as well. It reminded me that we view sport for cultural enjoyment. That is, our love for sport is self-perpetuating because we crave not only sport itself, but everyone else's love for sport as well. We enjoy passion in sport, in music, in everything.
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Yes, it's a kind of ricochet or mirroring effect: we see or feel our own enjoyment in other people, and vice versa, and having that pleasure 'replayed' back to us is itself a pleasure, which in turn can be seen in others, etc. and there's this global, magnifying effect.
One of the biggest barriers, from the perspective of philosophy, is "the problem of other minds", ie the allegedly untraversable line between my consciousness and yours. But this seems to be the pleasure of events like you're describing: we see and know and are part of what everyone is feeling.
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