Can I Prove Rock Music is Better?
It's certainly hard to objectively judge music based on justifiable criteria because most people don't have any real standards for the music they listen to other than they like it. My friends and I are probably no different from other people. We listen to music we like because we like it. But this assignment asks me to give good reasons why we like what we like. I'm not sure I can, but I'll try.
I first wonder what would be a really good reason for liking any kind of music (other than it sounds good to you). Well, I suppose that one possible good reason for preferring one kind of music to another is that it expresses better the problems we face and what we can do to solve those problems.
Does this give me a good reason for preferring rock music to other kinds? Perhaps so. Certainly, rock music is often about problems that we have: problems of love and sex, school and parents, drugs and drink. I'm not sure, however, whether the "answers" in the songs actually are really good answers or just answers that appeal to us. They might even increase our prejudices about parents, teachers, school, and love. I'm not sure.
Another possible good reason for preferring one kind of music to another is that it is written better or more skillfully performed. Can I truthfully say that rock music is more skillfully written or performed than other kinds of music? In all honesty I cannot.
So what is my conclusion? It is this. I am unable to give any objective reason for liking rock music. My friends and I are like most people. We like the music we listen to just because we like it. For better or for worse, that's all the reason we have. What do you think? Can 15 million teenagers be wrong?
This sample is from Richard Paul and Linda Elder at The Center for Critical Thinking.