Any phenomena is relatively easy to explain. The average person has by definition, very average taste. There is a reason that Applebee's is always packed. Above average people do not suffer from group think and are much less likely to be "sheepish" in their opinion(s).
As GC once said, “Think of how stupid the average person is…and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
Chase is right in saying that a phenomena MUST apply to something emotional to elicit the response that it does. Emotions though, are a detriment to logic and reason. For instance, I know that McDonalds is not good food and obviously not good for you. However, there is an EMOTIONAL response triggered in my brain when I eat it. I irrationally like McDonalds though I know its trash. That's Taylor Swifts Music. She is the McDonalds of music right now. Someone like Lana Del Rey is objectively better than TS in most any traditional metric but could not sell out a huge arena. I don't even say that as someone who likes Lana. Its something more than talent, so using the argument that the average person who enjoys something that other average people also enjoys must mean its good/great, is a dumb argument.
Something being "mainstream" is very rarely the best of anything be that food/music/politics/movies ect.
As someone who is a music snob I can acknowledge that TS is a phenomena. However, she isn't exceptional in anything other than maybe lyrics. Her popularity shows the limits of the average persons taste. Music snobs are the way we are because music elicits STRONG emotions from us. It not just a beat or background to us. Great music and song writing can and will make tough men cry when done right. People that do not love music do not connect to it that way. Same for food or anything else.
TLDR/End Rant
As GC once said, “Think of how stupid the average person is…and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
Chase is right in saying that a phenomena MUST apply to something emotional to elicit the response that it does. Emotions though, are a detriment to logic and reason. For instance, I know that McDonalds is not good food and obviously not good for you. However, there is an EMOTIONAL response triggered in my brain when I eat it. I irrationally like McDonalds though I know its trash. That's Taylor Swifts Music. She is the McDonalds of music right now. Someone like Lana Del Rey is objectively better than TS in most any traditional metric but could not sell out a huge arena. I don't even say that as someone who likes Lana. Its something more than talent, so using the argument that the average person who enjoys something that other average people also enjoys must mean its good/great, is a dumb argument.
Something being "mainstream" is very rarely the best of anything be that food/music/politics/movies ect.
As someone who is a music snob I can acknowledge that TS is a phenomena. However, she isn't exceptional in anything other than maybe lyrics. Her popularity shows the limits of the average persons taste. Music snobs are the way we are because music elicits STRONG emotions from us. It not just a beat or background to us. Great music and song writing can and will make tough men cry when done right. People that do not love music do not connect to it that way. Same for food or anything else.
TLDR/End Rant
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