“Which do you think is the best symphony which you never have heard?”
It used to be the first two symphonies of Carl Nielsen, but yesterday I heard them. They are good, probably not great, but in any case I never had heard them before. I have heard more Haydn symphonies than you might think (all of them), so for me the answer is not one of those.
Perhaps now it is something by Lutoslawski? I only know two of them, and I like them. What else does this margin hold? And how long will I need to explore it?
This question gets at two issues. First, how do you assess matters you do not really know? What kinds of evidence do you bring to bear on answering this question?
Second, why do you stop at one margin rather than another? Why don’t you know whatever you think is the best symphony you have never heard? Was your last attempt in that direction such a miserable failure? Are symphonies really so bad? I think not. No matter who you are, there are still some good ones.
So what is stopping you?
The post Questions that are rarely asked appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
