| BCoF Aug 22, 2025 Prompt: Discuss this quote in your entry today- āAnd those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.ā ā Friedrich Nietzsche I didnāt get this at first so I Googled the quote. Turns out most authoritative sites claim Nietzsche never said this. But itās the quote, not the author, thatās important here. Once I understood the quote, two memories came quickly to mind. The first is a scene Iād bet many people have experienced. At a friendās birthday party we were in the backyard gyrating to rock and roll from the record player on the back porch. When I took a break to grab some lemonade I heard birthday boy Martinās grandfather muttering about his grim outlook for the future based on our failure to distinguish between good music and ear-splitting noise. Perhaps an hour later I noticed him smiling as his head gently bobbed along with the beat. I canāt remember the song playing, but I know now he was finally able to āhear the music.ā The second recollection is more humbling. The day after a geometry test, Mr. Lind was handing back the graded papers. He made a special point of singling me out as the only student to get the final question, a proof, correct. I was proud of myself for getting the answer, but I was very confused by the fact that no one else had. I remembered that when I read the question, and thought about it, the basics of the answer became obvious in a minute or two. As I looked around the room, I started wondering how the other kids couldnāt see this. A week or so later, I was feeling embarrassed in art class as my attempt at painting a simple farm scene was met with laughter and ridicule. My good friend Susan leaned over and said, āWell, you can see numbers and shapes in your head in ways I just canāt. But I can see pictures and colors in ways you canāt. So letās only laugh with each other, not at each other.ā Susan was really the smart one of us. I miss her. |