Unobstructed Views

My favorite musical artist/band of all time has to be Death Cab for Cutie. I could go on and on about how much I love their work–from the ever-popular Plans (containing the hit I Will Follow You Into the Dark) to the underrated The Open Door EP. But nothing compares to their magnum opus, Transatlanticism. It’s a concept album, with songs flowing into each other and telling a story (basically, you have to listen to them in order). Transatlanticism means the world to me, and it’s always a lovely affair popping in my earbuds for forty-five minutes and soaking it in. But no listening experience will ever compare to the night of October 7, 2018.

On that night I was attending a Death Cab show in Chicago. I had been in the city to watch my dad finish the marathon (shoutout to him–I never thought he would do something so cool), and hopped over to the theater afterwards to watch them perform their newest album: Thank You For Today (also an excellent piece). What followed was the best shock of my life: Ben Gibbard, the frontman, announced that they would be holding a surprise 15th birthday party for Transatlanticism, which first dropped on October 7, 2003. They then proceeded to play the entire album through, some of which they hadn’t performed live since the original tour fifteen years prior. Nothing has ever come close to the happiness I felt that night. If I were to produce a Patronus, I’d use that memory. There was such a difference between listening to the album on my iPhone and listening to it live–a difference not to dissimilar to how Hume thinks we react and interpret the world.

Hume lines up across from Descartes, who says we learn about the world through logical thought and drawing conclusions, step by step. He states that nothing in the world can be trusted but out own thoughts, since the fact that we think is irrefutable. The Scottish philosopher, however, conjectures that we learn about the world though stringing experiences together and using them. For example, we can’t be sure a ball on an inclined plane will roll down it–but by accessing memories and experiences we have already, we can recall a similar or identical situation and determine that the ball will in fact roll down. I like Hume’s process quite a bit, especially when it comes to problem-solving. By looking at puzzles and riddles and thinking about things we already know, we can often draw correct conclusions.

Another idea Hume presents is that which relates to aforementioned experiences. I’ll specifically bring up a quote that I love. He writes, “The most lively thought is still inferior to the dullest sensation.” There’s a surface-level interpretation of this that has to do with emotion and sensation, like my Death Cab concert. Absolutely nothing compares to hearing them live. But there’s a deeper meaning to this too. We can think and plan all we want–but nothing will prepare and help us quite like throwing ourselves in. It’s quite like going to college. No matter how much prep-work you do, it’s the experience that will truly teach you, not the thoughts that happen before.

There is a lot of value to what Hume writes about, but I don’t think we should be forced to choose between him and Descartes. Deconstructing a situation a-la Descartes has just as much value as drawing from experience and real-world stimuli. I think the biggest danger when reading these methods would be to solely subscribe to one–just relying on our minds can make us ignorant and pompous, while trying to draw everything from the world may leave us empty-handed at times.

Bonus: Here is a picture from the show, of Ben performing an acoustic I Will Follow You Into the Dark.