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Thread: Sick morbid human curiosity

  1. #1
    Member AncientChord's Avatar
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    Sick morbid human curiosity

    Maybe this should have been posted on the way-off topic page, but this refers to the now thankfully closed thread on Keith Emerson's coroner's report. I will never understand why people have a sick fascination with other people's pain and misfortunes and violate privacy? This especially goes with celebrity, but it doesn't end there. I live in the L.A. basin with millions of people and drive 60 miles round trip to work five days a week. And usually the freeways are jammed due to accidents that occur all over the place most of the day. But it wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have look-e-lou's. Cars sometimes crawl for miles before reaching the accident scene until they approach it and butt-heads crane there necks out their windows in the hopes of seeing death and/or dismemberment. Why? Why can't people just mind their own business? After these idiots pass the accident scene, then the freeway opens wide up. One time I got really annoyed by a moron in the car ahead of me who actually slowed down even more in the hopes of seeing blood and guts. I was lucky enough to be able to change lanes and pull right next to him. I smiled and motioned to roll down his window and I then proceeded to read him the riot act saying "Look I'm going to be late to work because of jackasses like you, so if you wanna see gore, pull the fuck over!" I then put my pedal to the metal and cut the jerk off with his dumb look of shock. What are these selfish people thinking? That the world surrounds only them? Devo was right, de-evoultion! Sorry but I'm so sick and tired of the media also concentrating on this type of garbage and people not really knowing what's really going on in the world. Had to vent!!!
    Day dawns dark...it now numbers infinity.

  2. #2
    ALL ACCESS Gruno's Avatar
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    I would guess part of the problem is with the celebrities themselves. Many put their personal life out there. In a musician's case, some write their lyrics from experience, then give interviews detailing their story. Factor in autobiographies and bios sanctioned by the celeb, and you have the main ingredients to push some to want to find out more. So, while I agree with your general sentiment of "Why can't people just mind their own business", the celeb carries a good portion of this blame by inviting us in to see a glimpse of their life. It's a very narrow line to balance on. Social media (Twitter, FaceBook, Instagram, message boards, etc.) only add fuel to that fire when a celeb gets involved with those.

  3. #3
    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    Morbid, yes, and quite unnecessary--and unnecessary also to call more attention to it with a thread like this--but I wouldn't call it sick. Keith was a titan in the field that unites us here on PE, and his passing so unexpectedly and tragically leaves many of us feeling helpless and hurt. It's only natural that people may look for any information they can find, just to try to make sense of the tragedy. It won't do any good, it doesn't really make us feel any better in the end, but it's natural to try. Of course the best thing to do is to forget any scandals or scapegoats, and let Keith rest in peace while we celebrate his life and music.

    Two relevant quotes...from Phil Ochs:

    But you know, I predicted, I knew he had to fall
    How did it happen? I hope his suffering was small.
    Tell me every detail, for I've got to know it all--
    And do you have a picture of the pain?


    ...and the Dead:

    He's gone, he's gone,
    And nothing's gonna bring him back.

  4. #4
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    Not quite on the subject, but not quite off it, either:

    David Brooks recently wrote an op-ed in the NY Times about how we were changing from a "guilt culture", in which the most undesirable behavior was to have done something wrong, to a "shame culture", in which the most undesirable behavior was to be unpopular. (Brooks is a decent and rather old-fashioned guy, who is occasionally clueless but also occasionally has worthwhile insights, and I think he catches a lot more flak than he deserves.) He posits this as an explanation for why there seems to be little sense of right and wrong anymore, why lying has become so prevalent and liars tend to double down when caught, and for the enormous expansion of the cult of celebrity. I've noticed the same thing, but described it as that there are few or no real adults left and the whole world seems to have become High School.

    So thus the behavior at accidents, where some unfortunate is suddenly in the spotlight. Thus the ubiquitousness of the Kardashian/Jenner clan, most of whom are just famous for being famous and DONT. DO. ANYTHING. Thus the inexplicable rise of one particular massively unqualified, grotesque caricature of a political candidate, telling the most transparent of lies, talking complete balderdash with impunity, and incompetent at everything except marketing himself as the new word for success and telling frightened people what they want to hear.* And thus the almost daily mass shootings, wherein miserably ordinary people, with no hope of making their mark any other way, make it in the worst way possible - because then, at least, they did make it.

    - JH

    * What I find most astounding is how so many people say, "He's just saying what we're all thinking," and how they see that as something wonderful. I'm not astounded that they're thinking that - everybody has thoughts of that sort. But most of us over the age of eight, I would hope, recognize those thoughts as wrong or at least unacceptable, and don't say them out loud or act on them. And I can't see how some professional blowhard bellowing them out loud could possibly make them any less wrong.
    Last edited by Baribrotzer; 03-17-2016 at 05:02 PM.

  5. #5
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    If that thread was "morbid", why you opened a new one?

  6. #6
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    Curiosity towards the morbid is a part of our nature. We are attracted to what frightens us. Just look at the movies produced, most of them is about drama & death.

    What irritates me is the lack of ordinary politeness, respect if you like, in the traffic, hindering the ambulance, the firesquad, the police, etc. in doing their job.

  7. #7
    Surely, AC, you understand that humans are very social creatures with a large amount of curiosity?

    What amuses me is that while you talk of privacy, you start a thread with a salacious title so you can broadcast to the world what grinds your gears.

    How about next time you keep it to yourself?

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Baribrotzer View Post

    ...Thus the inexplicable rise of one particular massively unqualified, grotesque caricature of a political candidate, telling the most transparent of lies, talking complete balderdash with impunity, and incompetent at everything except marketing himself as the new word for success and telling frightened people what they want to hear.....
    While reading the above, I was convinced you were talking about Hillary until I got to the word "himself"...oh well.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Supersonic Scientist View Post
    While reading the above, I was convinced you were talking about Hillary until I got to the word "himself"...oh well.
    Could still be Hillary. She's a handsome woman .

  10. #10
    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
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    Since I know that no one here ever makes any attempt to inject their politics into discourse having absolutely nothing to do with politics, and that political discourse or innuendo has absolutely no place on a music forum, everyone's talking about Hillary Duff, right?
    "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"

    President Harry S. Truman

  11. #11
    Speculation in the case of Emerson's death is not at all surprising. He committed suicide, and most of us just don't understand why. With Chris Squire, there was no reason to speculate (or Bowie for that matter) because it was quite plain what caused his death. Personally, I really didn't have any need to see the actual coroners report and thought that was a bit much. However, I do still wonder what made a guy with so much to live for (from my perspective only, of course) want to off himself. Ultimately though, it's always better to just celebrate their lives and not dwell on how they ended.

  12. #12
    as someone said about digital/social media and press etc. the problem is these days if you want to get noticed and particularly if you arent "yet" noticed in a big way, digital/social can be one of the most cost effective and "instant" and accessible to anyone ways of doing this. When the radio dont want to play you because you "arent known", magazines arent interested until you "are known" --the "how do you get known" factor comes in.

    The basic fact is a great many people are just "nosey" and like to know the ins and outs of everything. If this wasnt the case then hello and OK magazine wouldnt sell in the quantities they do. I think this kind of stuff is maybe more of a "female" thing but when it comes down to sportsmen and musicians etc, then men get in on the game too. I certainly think social media has made many men, more this way. In the past i dont think most guys were remotely interested in other peoples lives unless they knew them. With regards to accidents etc, that one just beggars belief, and it may be its more of an involuntary action that somehow makes you check out "whats happened" --I couldnt say

  13. #13
    Studmuffin Scott Bails's Avatar
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    I can certainly understand how someone could be curious as to the root cause of a suicide. It's an often misunderstood act, and the mental illnesses that are associated with it have long been swept under the rug, sadly. It's especially of interest when someone you love or admire has reached that point of committing such an ultimate act. If it's someone close, you wonder if there's something you could have done to help, or if you missed some sign or red flag. If it's someone successful or famous, we wonder how someone who seemingly had everything going for them could just end their life while we toil away in our relatively meaningless existences. Either way, there are many questions and very few answers, even if the deceased left a note.

    Very few of us on this forum actually know one another, but we've become familiar with each other through personal anecdotes and various comments over the years. It's become clear that many of us have suffered from various forms of depression, sadness, or grief, and we all express and cope with that in different ways. And so, we all react differently when one of our heroes is taken so tragically, especially when they seem to be leaving us at such a rapid rate recently.

    Which is all a long-winded way of saying that my objection to the locked thread came not from the subject matter itself, but from the idea that this just isn't the place for it. It's natural to have questions, but in this age, just about any question can be answered via Google. I found it to be disrespectful to share such morbid details of such a tragedy in such a public forum. Others, I'm sure, would disagree, and maybe I was out of line in the way that I expressed it, but I just felt that this particular forum would be better served to celebrate a legend's music and legacy than to delve in to the dirty secrets of what must have been some terrible suffering. Leave that to the TMZs of the world.

    Just my two cents.
    Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally

  14. #14
    Estimated Prophet notallwhowander's Avatar
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    Death is the unknown but all too certain factor. It is the impenetrable night into which we cannot see, but all must go. So of course we have a morbid curiosity, to try and understand that inevitable day. Unnecessary? It's all too necessary to the human condition. You might as well rail against the sun for setting.

    As for celebrities, they, like those unfortunates who crash on the side of the road, are easily accessible to public view, so there is an opportunity for more people to be drawn in by their own morbid curiosity.
    Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.

  15. #15
    Worth every penny, Scott

    FWIW, I had to "drinking buddies" commit suicide over the holidays. It came as a big shock to the patrons of their respective establishments, as they were kinda fixtures; nice guys, affable, etc. Needless to say, when word spread, the conversation turned to how/why/etc. Not out of disrespect or morbid curiosity, but more of a way to understand how the guy you had a drink with the night before went home and...
    "Always ready with the ray of sunshine"

  16. #16
    Member AncientChord's Avatar
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    Ok everyone, all have good points. I guess I just have L.A. burnout and needed to vent. Jimi Hendrix once called the big city the cement beehive, and L.A. is certainly that. I also feel that I'm not one of the usual crowd that is attracted to what scares us. I'm not trying to single myself out in any way that I'm special because of that, but does anyone here ever feel like you are separate from the rest of the human race, and that you are in the company of primitive cavemen? I also work with the public, and my daily observations seems to have tainted me somewhat in the way I see human conduct. Didn't really mean to open a psychiatric thread here.
    Day dawns dark...it now numbers infinity.

  17. #17
    Member Jerjo's Avatar
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    Didn't really mean to open a psychiatric thread here
    Given the number of head cases here it might be good idea.

    Seriously though, I've got a pretty dark sense of humor but the fascination with morbidity you experience living in a big metropolitan area can get one really down about human nature. I can't count the number of gawker slowdowns on freeways I've experienced when I lived in the Twin Cities. Then there was the local media's fixation with murder and fires. There's a lot of downside to living in a very rural area but escaping that crap was a blessing.
    I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart

  18. #18
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    Sick Morbid Human Curiosity would make a good name for a rock band.
    Maybe one of Steven Wilson's collection of side projects.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave (in MA) View Post
    Sick Morbid Human Curiosity would make a good name for a rock band.
    Maybe one of Steven Wilson's collection of side projects.
    Ha!!!!!!!!!!!!.....+1 to that suggestion

  20. #20
    If you want the right to own and carry a gun then you have the right to know how someone died.
    NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!

  21. #21
    Member since March 2004 mozo-pg's Avatar
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    I agree with the original post. This report should only be the business of Keith's family and not every troller on PE.

  22. #22
    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mozo-pg View Post
    every troller on PE.

  23. #23
    ALL ACCESS Gruno's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mozo-pg View Post
    I agree with the original post. This report should only be the business of Keith's family and not every troller on PE.
    Well, to be fair, it is a public record. I don't know how it works in other states or counties within, but in Los Angeles you can obtain an official copy of a (redacted) death certificate by going to the county registrar's office and requesting one, for a fee. I've had to obtain a few celeb death certificates for film documentaries I have worked on. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that one should post the information online. I also think it is morally wrong to obtain a death certificate if you are simply a fan of a celeb.

  24. #24
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    Great band name.

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    Saw that thread listed and refused to click and browse it for exactly the thoughts of "How sick is this to follow?" I spent the time reflecting on how I'm never gonna be anywhere near the keyboard player Keith was.

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