[iDC] Michael Jackson and the death of macrofame

[Armin B. Wagner]

Am 26.06.2009 um 17:15 schrieb Mechthild Schmidt:

> Is this an inappropriate response of a lurker who enjoys the  
> conversations but never finds the time herself to contribute? The  
> thought crossed my mind. But here is my 'Twitter' comment on play- 
> labour (The footnote alone exceeded Twitter - apology for the trim)
>
> Go dance. Empty your mind. Read Schiller[1] on Play and Truth. Go  
> dance.
>
> [1] Friedrich Schiller: Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen.  
> Reclam Nr.8994 [2] 1977, 14. Brief

 From the 15th letter:

"But perhaps the objection has for some time occurred to you, Is not  
the beautiful degraded by this, that it is made a mere play? and is it  
not reduced to the level of frivolous objects which have for ages  
passed under that name?"
[...]
"...we must not indeed think of the plays that are in vogue in real  
life, and which commonly refer only to his material state. But in real  
life we should also seek in vain for the beauty of which we are here  
speaking."
[...]
"Reason also utters the decision that man shall *only play* with  
beauty, and he shall *only play with beauty*."

Schiller's argument is complex and ambiguous, but I am pretty sure he  
didn't imagined a Taylorization of leisure masking labour as play.
And he wouldn't have liked TopCoder.