Non-Zero-Sum Games
The sum is greater than the parts, if in fact you let the parts contribute to the sum.
Lately I have been enjoying talks by Marianne Williamson. She is spiritual but not religious, yet has a 80s newage-y vibe I sometimes don't care for. But I can select the parts I like and enjoy the experience holistically.
We can sometimes be too tribal, and miss the essence of things. In music we can't say "I like this chord but not those other ones" and simply don't play the ones we don't like or understand. Music is made of parts that have to function in sum.
It is remarkable how much good music came out of bands where all the players contributed to the songs in real-time in the studio, and ultimately became embedded in pop music history. Sometimes a group of mediocre writers can create a series of individual parts that ride on serendipity in the studio. Even for the autocratic composer and/or conductor that controls every part of the music, s/he still has to surrender to the moment, and design for the possibility of randomness arising from the individual human elements.
Music is a perfect allegory of how democracy can work. The amazing thing is that while the music is being played, the myriad conflicts are defused. This is why peaceful protests are effective. It is a temporary reprieve preventing a cacophony of parts interfering with a non-zero outcome.
***
[2/1/2025: There have been very few bands that were democratic. Rush was the exemplar of the democratic band, but the results were mixed to many fans. If using a musical analogy, then composers are autocrats, but that system worked for centuries, and players and listeners didn’t question it. Allowing questioning and debate is what a democratic situation is all about. If it doesn’t work for you you can always do a “solo record”, which is typically what artists do when they want more control, and technology has allowed them to do that. It allowed anyone to do the “solo album” in politics, but fans typically want to see the reunions where they’ve been made great again, mostly an illusion after all the solo album and projects].
