One thing which I've been thinking about lately is the idea of limitation, commitment, and creativity. It's a common prejudice that limitations are a bad thing and that they stifle creativity or achievement. It's something that runs counter to freedom, which in the popular mind is just self-evidently a good thing. One should be able to do what they want when they want in whatever way they see fit. One hears something like, "endless possibilities are good". One is supposed to have the world open and the horizon clear in every direction, and then this fosters creativity. Or if not that, then the idea that if you have possibilities open, then this is how things are accomplished. It's a common thought that it would be bad if possibilities were limited. One hears it about consumer goods: "how horrible if only there were one or two brands of flour! What if one couldn't choose between sony or yamaha stereos!" One often hears this as a justification to move to a city: "There is so little to do here! I'll finally find contentment or success or even enlightenment if I can move to the city, and get away from the middle of nowhere where everyone is just a nobody and there's nothing to do!" Or one can think of foolish people who remain in unhappy relations and attempt to offer themselves consolation by saying, "yes, this is miserable, but I could change this all at any time! I don't have to stay with this person I can't stand, I could go do something completely different than the mess I have made! The possibilities are open!" There are countless examples if one thinks about it.
There are passages where Hegel talks about the necessity and importance of limitation. One has to make a choice about a matter, stick with it, and narrow the field of possibilities. If one doesn't, if one just remains unhappy about the narrowing, then by necessity the choices of which path to follow become fewer and fewer. Not making a choice about what kind of life to live is itself unwittingly a choice. If one just throws one's hands up in exasperation, goes with the flow, then one remains stuck in "abstract possibility." There's the famous critique of the beautiful soul that is so obsessed with endless possibility and the ideal that it only ever remains stuck on the sidelines and has no real effect on anything. Another example:
Hegel says this in the Encyclopedia Logic, "The more uneducated a person is, the less he knows about the determinate relations in which the objects that he is considering stand and the more inclined he tends to be to indulge in all manner of empty possibilities; we see this, for example, with so-called pub politicians in the political domain.
Moreover, it happens not infrequently in practical matters that evil will and inertia hide behind the category of possibility, in order to avoid definite obligations in that way; [...] Rational, practical people do not let themselves be impressed by what is possible, precisely because it is only possible; instead they hold onto what is actual -- and, of course, it is not just what is immediately there that should be understood as actual. For that matter, there is no shortage of all manner of proverbs in common life in which the justly low estimation of abstract possibility is expressed. For instance, we say that, "a bird in hand is worth two in the bush."
And, furthermore, just as everything can be considered possible, so we can say with equal right that everything can be considered impossible, since any content (which, as such, is always something concrete) contains not only diverse but also opposite determinations. ..." (pg 216)
Sometimes as a musician, I find myself lusting after new pieces of gear. There's something fun about searching for old and weird pieces of equipment. It seems like getting this or that would spark inspiration or improve ones engineering or musicianship, and sometimes this is true. Sometimes a bad piece of gear can make progressing further impossible. One might have an amp that sounds horrible and no matter how well one plays, it's going to ruin the song and performance. If one's guitar won't stay in tune at all, then that makes playing well an impossibility. But it's also most often the case that getting a new piece of gear doesn't make one a better musician at all. I've come to realize that long-term creativity and accomplishment requires limitations. This means sticking with a thing and working with the limits it imposes. Yes, the $3,000 drum machine seems like it would really take one's music to the next level, but so could taking 3 hours to learn several beats in a different time signature. More tools does not necessarily equal better achievements or improvement of skills. What makes one better as a musician is commitment to learning skills and techniques. Maybe that means focusing on improving one's timing or learning the logic behind melodies. Maybe it means improving one's sight reading or learning scales. It all depends on where one is and where one needs to go. What makes one a better musician could be something as simple as exercising the discipline to show up on time, making time to practice the song, or improving one's chops.
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