Reaction to Convocation
Reaction to Dr. David Callahan
I was prepared to be interested in hearing this person speak, but when he started to list some “facts”, I started to tune out. The one that stood out for me was that, “billions of dollars have been lost for the music industry because of illegal downloading.” If people who downloaded the illegal music actually purchased it, yes- that would be more money in the big wigs pockets. However, many studies have shown (and I read another one on Techcruch right before seeing the speaker) that illegal downloading of music has no effect on the music industry. The real fact is: people who pirate music wouldn’t purchase it to begin with.
He also compared Julia Roberts’ pay per film to Marilyn Monroe’s. Aside from inflation of the last 50 – 60 years, these actresses would never be on the same playing field. During Monroe’s time, Elizabeth Taylor was getting 1 million per film. It’s another case of faulty facts on the speaker’s behalf.
He calls nepotism a form of cheating. I call it catching a break. I think of cheating as doing something that hurts someone else, to put oneself ahead. If he considers nepotism cheating, I wonder what else is on his radar. If a storeowner rounds the dollar down, so he doesn’t have to hand you a fistful of change; is that cheating? It’s not fair to all the other customers that purchase the same product and don’t get the same discount. What is his definition of cheating?
He is more of an idealist than a realist. He has an idea that if we all police ourselves and sign an arbitrary contract to uphold honesty and integrity, the world would be much better. This will NEVER happen. The fact is, we do police ourselves and make our own choices. It’s why we cheat in the first place. It’s what makes us human. It’s much easier to be apathetic and accept the world we live in, than to continuously be disappointed by people not living up to one’s lofty ideals.
I was prepared to be interested in hearing this person speak, but when he started to list some “facts”, I started to tune out. The one that stood out for me was that, “billions of dollars have been lost for the music industry because of illegal downloading.” If people who downloaded the illegal music actually purchased it, yes- that would be more money in the big wigs pockets. However, many studies have shown (and I read another one on Techcruch right before seeing the speaker) that illegal downloading of music has no effect on the music industry. The real fact is: people who pirate music wouldn’t purchase it to begin with.
He also compared Julia Roberts’ pay per film to Marilyn Monroe’s. Aside from inflation of the last 50 – 60 years, these actresses would never be on the same playing field. During Monroe’s time, Elizabeth Taylor was getting 1 million per film. It’s another case of faulty facts on the speaker’s behalf.
He calls nepotism a form of cheating. I call it catching a break. I think of cheating as doing something that hurts someone else, to put oneself ahead. If he considers nepotism cheating, I wonder what else is on his radar. If a storeowner rounds the dollar down, so he doesn’t have to hand you a fistful of change; is that cheating? It’s not fair to all the other customers that purchase the same product and don’t get the same discount. What is his definition of cheating?
He is more of an idealist than a realist. He has an idea that if we all police ourselves and sign an arbitrary contract to uphold honesty and integrity, the world would be much better. This will NEVER happen. The fact is, we do police ourselves and make our own choices. It’s why we cheat in the first place. It’s what makes us human. It’s much easier to be apathetic and accept the world we live in, than to continuously be disappointed by people not living up to one’s lofty ideals.