If you would like additional framing: you have only 30 seconds to prepare and you can talk for 10-30 minutes.
I have a few stories, don’t we all?
I was fucking abducted and put on stage, I don’t owe these people anything. But, I can talk for 30 minutes about myself, that’s all they’re getting from me. Also, they’d better shut the fuck up and listen, I don’t want to be there, I’m doing them a favor.
The title of my talk is “Innovation as Rebellion against Complexity.”
I’ll start with my experience studying and teaching music history, and demonstrate how every major musical stylistic shift over the past 1500 years or so can be seen as a revolt against excessive complexity developing in the previous style. One example would be the shift from thick, complex polyphony that had become the norm in late Renaissance music, to the relatively simple and much-easier-on-the-ears style of early homophonic music. But I’d actually touch on all periods of music history.
I’d then challenge my audience to ask themselves and each other if this trend can be seen in other fields as well. Do we see such innovative rebellions in, say, art? Or literature? Or the sciences? And what about technology…
…and are we on the cusp of a new rebellion against the massively complex technology that’s thrust upon us today? What does that look like? What innovations await us at the conclusion of that revolution?
I mean I’d be winging the fuck out of it with only a few seconds to prep but wouldn’t that be great to talk about?
You can see I’ve done a lot of thinking about this lol.
I would happily sit through this TED talk!
Well said and a great point. I do feel, personally, I have already begun a small technological revolt. You should actually make a
TED talkvideo or blog post about this if you have more to say.“A fool admires complexity. A genius admires simplicity.”
-Terrence “Terry” Andrew Davis
Finally a worthy opponent!
Do we see such innovative rebellions in, say, art? Or literature? Architecture? The sciences?
I never thought that music went through a similar rebellion. At least not in the matters of complexity. But it makes sense. I’m very familiar with the art & architecture one. Modernism is one of the most revolutionary movements in human history.
I’m not homophonic. Some of my best beats are homophones.
So are Gregorian chants more musically complex than modern pop music? Or is it more of a pendulum?
A pendulum is a good way of looking at it. What you see in the Medieval period is, as an example, musicians writing more and more challenging lines to sing. Wider leaps, rapid-fire phrases…and this is how they show off their skills. You see this more in the secular music of the day, as the church is constantly pushing for sacred music that doesn’t call attention to itself. But, the backlash happens because while those complex, jagged lines might be lots of fun for the singer, not so much for the listener. And so begins a movement toward vocal lines that are easier on the ears - smoother, more melodic, easier to sing, which also lines up nicely with developments in counterpoint and polyphony that allow major forms like the motet to come into being.
And of course musicians, not being able to help themselves, start competing with each other to write more and more complex motets, which sparks another aesthetic backlash, and it all starts again.
This is a gross simplification of course but just to give you an idea how this all works.
Where would you say modern pop is on the swing?
Modern pop - which I define as what you typically hear on commercial radio, but you could also define as the trending artists on digital platforms - is very safe, very conservative, and very listener friendly.
But…to use an example that’s relevant to your question, you can look at the rise of punk rock in the 70’s. Punk was a reaction to the growing popularity of Progressive Rock artists like King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Rush, and similar artists that dabbled in complex harmony, polyrhythm, mixed/odd meters, and so on. Punk artists felt that these were becoming too elitist and exclusive and said, hey, how about we just play three chords and say fuck a lot? Let’s make music anyone can pick up a cheap guitar and learn in five minutes!
In 2026 I’d be hard pressed to identify a popular musical style that’s pushing the boundaries of listenability to the point of sparking a backlash. And we just had a couple of these not that long ago anyway: Minimalism in the 60’s and my aforementioned Punk movement. I’d say we’re in kind of a lull at the moment, though it’s not hard to look at all the styles and genres that sprang out of Punk and see where they’re going. But these patterns span decades, sometimes centuries. It may not happen again in our lifetime.
Thanks for the follow-up!
That’s very interesting
How to improvise, using this as an example.
Probably the fact how I just freaking teleported and somehow I’m still alive
What it’s like to 38 without getting to first base is the first thing that comes to mind
At the beginning of my talk, I would have everyone turn off their phones and any other electronics. Then for the rest of the 15 minutes, I would have us all just sit around and veg out.
No talking, no distractions, no demands. Just day dream about whatever. You can take a nap if you like. You probably need one if you do.
And then my “talk” would end with “Let’s try this every day.”
I love this.
I also add a walk into the mix. No phones, no TVs, no computers… nothing with a screen - I do this every day and it’s easy because I now live in Spain and that’s the life here after 7pm. But in the USA i was the weird one.
Speaking of, it’s 8am Saturday here. So I’m off to do nothing. See ya
“Nobody here is as smart as they think they are.“
drops mic
walks off stage
How insurance actually works, so dipshits can understand the real value of a single national health care plan.
Tsukomogami and Patina: In Praise of Old Things
It’s the concept that old mechanical things like typewriters and camera lenses (for example) all age individually. They develop their own quirks and foibles as they are used. They almost (as in Tsukomogami) develop a soul.
We are fundamentally losing that to a society that is about consumable mass-produced trash, and on a long enough timeline, it’s going to mean losing a fundamental piece of who we are as a society.
Oh lordy yes. My brother’s project car has been in his possession for most of his life (for most of which it has been immobile).
It has a name and is part of the family … I’m the only person besides him to have driven it anywhere successfully, thus I remain convinced that it likes me :-)
Captive audience you say? Time to go over magic the gathering combos in detail.
Sit down, we’re about to learn all about the black magic that is Carburetors
I immediately panic run off stage and cry to myself in embarrassment for hours.
How to write and test and deliver high quality software.
It’s… It’s what I do.
No hobbies, interests, or other passions?
“…you see, he turned himself into a pickle…”
Something on the subject of public transportation. Depending on the city and how much I spent in it before I was teleported (assuming the stage is in the same city), I could whip up a more or less localized talk.
