Response to The Danger of a Single Story
The first time I heard of "Single Story" was actually about 7 years ago, before I came to the United States. In Taiwan, I along with a group of students in my university were interested in how news medias influence people's perception on certain social political topics. A couple of years later I moved across the world to the land of free, thinking that I was going to be able to do whatever I want, be whoever I want, however I want. I felt like the United States had endless resources when I saw Americans on TV living in big houses, driving fancy cars and never have to worry about water shortage. I thought that the U.S. had some of the most progressive humanitarian policies in place, cared deeply about gender equality and human rights, basically that the U.S. had got it all figured out. Most ridiculously, I thought a typical, "neutral" American should be white-skin, blue-eyed, who's ancestor came from western Europe. And yes, there were some African Americans, but they only existed in sports, in Internet meme, and got killed first in movies.
The next few years, the other side of these "stories" were unveiled to me one by one. I could not fathom how much power Western medias had over me, my childhood, and my education. And I know that they still have so much power when my family in Taiwan comes to visit and is constantly amazed by how different their real experience is from what they see on TV. They still get told mostly that one version of the story, and with the language barrier, the stories are even cherry-picked and interpreted by Taiwan's news media that is, undoubtedly, biased.
I feel very privileged to have experienced American culture by living in the States. I have learned so many things by interacting with the people living here. However, I still don't know much about, let's say, people in Ohio, people in North Dakota, people in Alaska, etc. What the Danger of a Single Story tells me is when we hear a new story, to always be vigilant, be curious, and be humble.
Response to The difference between hearing and listening
Hearing is involuntary, listening is voluntary. This seemingly obvious difference has a much deeper meaning. After watching Pauline Oliveros' TED Talk I went on to look up Deep Listening. This concept is like meditation. A kind of meditation that brings you to pay attention to every single sonic details. The details can be not only external and present, but from your own thoughts and imagination.
Relocated from Los Angeles to New York, I can't help but notice an overwhelming amount of noises. Living in LA, I spent a lot of time in my car. The city's soundscape was muffled by my car's metal shield and glass windows, plus whatever NPR program that was being broadcasted. I barely really listened to my city. On the other hand, commuting in NYC on foot and by subways is an intense sensory experience that involves lots of unexpected sound. In addition to closer proximity to strangers, the commute experience can get overloaded for me that I choose to wear earbuds in public. I find the reason behind this overload is not just the level of noise but my emotional response to different sound. Kids playing on the streets, dogs barking, people yelling, cars honking, loud engines, ambulance and police sirens, etc. I make up stories behind every sound event, and I try to comprehend the hows and the whys of my neighborhood. In a way, I am always listening, but I am not finding peace.
My takeaways from the philosophy of Deep Listening is that when listening, I should try not passing judgement and be empathetic. I can practice listening even closer (and deeper) to find positive details of my surroundings. I hope at some point instead of a mental burden, I can listen to NYC as a fulfilling learning experience.
Response to FROM THE FOREST FLOOR
This is a three minutes long soundscape. At first, I hear high frequency sound notes of various qualities. Some notes are short, repetitively change their amplitude, and changing the rate of amplitude patterns over time; some notes are long or continuous, sustaining a pitch but changing their level over time. There's an undertone of low frequency sound throughout the entire piece. The high frequency notes sound more in the foreground because they come in much louder than others. In general, the piece starts out quiet, feels like it has a lot of empty spaces, and gradually get louder and fuller as different sound layering in. Without reading the description, this soundscape makes me feel like in an outer space, but also feel like I am listening in a different physical scale. Maybe I am as small as a drop of water. I just wake up - from becoming very small. I hear the sound of dew falling off of leaves. I hear insects climbing out of the holes from the soil. And I hear the air flowing through the cracks of pine straws. It's very magical and calm.