Listening to Benjamin Zander in class the other day, I realized how important music is to some people. Music is a form of art, as Rhys Southan has explained, and it can be so incredibly captivating. Throughout the Ted talk Benjamin Zander tells us how much influence music can have on people “I consider music to be a transformational experience”. Zander believes “music is a much more precise language than words” , however just like literature, music is often misunderstood. Zander also talks about how music speaks directly to the heart, the reason why it is sometimes irresistible.

Southan has similar views as Zander, as they both believe music and art have a higher power. They both believe a world without music or even art would crumble. Eventually, Zander realized his job was to “awaken possibility in other people”, to give them wisdom and insight on this incredible thing called music. Southan has similar views when talking about art and especially EA, as Southan is trying to do the most good for the most people while spreading his love of art.  Both Southan and Zander have an incredible affection for art and music, and they are trying to spread that affection they have to people all over the world.

After reading Ryhs Southan’s  Is Art A Waste of time? for a second time, I have found more clarity on the topic of Art and the psychology around it. Artists are portrayed as they are in their own world and recognizes the bad within our culture but yet does nothing about it. Art is more of an entertainment. Artists ignore the fact that everything around them is going bad but they just paid what seems “good” to them “Artists, meanwhile, paint the beautiful landscape in front of them while the rest of the world burns.” Artists are able to inspire people with their impressive artwork, but they are not able to end world hunger with one stroke of the brush. Rhys sees this and he is having a crisis because he thinks he is doing all of this good, but in actuality he really isn’t helping anyone at all. That’s where the EA comes in, Rhys sees the EA as a way to do as much good as possible, to help as many people who need to be helped around the world. Art is about more than beautiful creations, but what else can Art do?

https://www.effectivealtruism.org/

After reading Rhys Southan’s  Is Art a Waste of TIme?, It is clear how important art is to him.  He does not believe art is a waste of time as he states “I think the world would be unlivable without art.” Rhys respects anyone who spends a part of their day creating, no matter what form of art it is he believes it is essential to everyday life.

Rhys also explains Effective Altruism (using reason and evidence to do the most good) as it relates to art.  He wanted to learn as much of EA as he could because he realized if he could do the most good as possible, and continue to pursue art, his life would almost be complete. He references a piece called “Famine, Affluence, and Morality” relating to Effective Altruism. The piece explains how most capable human beings would save a life if they had the chance. However, “most of us manage to ignore those dying of poverty and preventable disease all over the world.” Rhys Southan references this piece because he realizes there are people all over the world in need of EA. Rhys Southan is trying to change the world with EA, and spreading his love for art.

Born in Darien CT,  Brian is 19 years old and he has an affection for writing.  He graduated from Darien High School in 2017 and he has always had an interest in creating his very own blog!

Growing up, Brian always had more of an interest in playing sports than writing, but as he grew older he started to read more interesting literature. He admired reading books like the Great Gatsby, and Catcher in the Rye. He later said that these were some of the books that sparked his interest in literature. When he got to the University of New England in the fall of 2017, he began to write more in his down time. All  of his free writing sparked his interest for creating a blog. This blog portrays Brian’s skills as a writer.

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