I have listened to a rap battle style song yesterday (linked below) about all the low quality stuff you can find on the internet and how people have bad taste and low requirements on celebrities and art.
One bar stands out more than the others “Mine song is not complicated, you are just low IQ” (in original Czech “Můj track není složitej, jen ty máš málo IQ“). It is a battle rap song, so it is raw and offensive, but the core of the bar is very true.
To enjoy most of the good art, you first need to know something. For example, there are good stand-up comedians talking about relatable issues like weather or difference between men and women, and most people can understand the jokes and laugh, because most people have experience with such issues.
And then there are comedians who can make amazing jokes about politics, science or Russian literature. But you will most probably not laugh if you know nothing about the topic. If the comedian is very good, he will make you laugh even if you know nothing about the topic, but you won’t be able to really enjoy and understand the joke to the full extent until you learn more. And usually the more you learn, the more layers you find and the more funny the joke will become.
The same goes for great art in all forms – movies, music, paintings, literature and whatnot. It is easy to dismiss an art piece as bad if we do not understand the context. But if there is quite a lot of people really enjoying the art piece, you are probably missing something – some knowledge, a reference or an experience.
If you do not like the artist or the art, you do not have to investigate to understand it, but you should at least not dismiss an art piece without first trying to figure out, what are you missing about it.
The same could be said about business, products, processes and other stuff you encounter at work. Or in life. Don’t judge, be inquisitive.
And here is the song