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<v Speaker 1>The existence the physical universe is basically playful. There is

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<v Speaker 1>no necessity for it whatsoever. It isn't going anywhere. That

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<v Speaker 1>is to say it doesn't have some destination that it

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<v Speaker 1>ought to arrive at, but that it is best understood

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<v Speaker 1>by analogy with music, because music as an art form

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<v Speaker 1>is essentially playful. We say you play the piano, you

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<v Speaker 1>don't work the piano. Why music differs from say travel.

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<v Speaker 1>When you travel, you are trying to get somewhere. One

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't make the end of a composition the point of

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<v Speaker 1>the of the composition. If that were so, the best

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<v Speaker 1>conductors would be those who played fun and there would

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<v Speaker 1>be composers who wrote only finales. People go to concert

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<v Speaker 1>just to hear one crashing cord because that's the end.

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<v Speaker 1>Same way in dancing, you don't aim at a particular

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<v Speaker 1>spot in the room. That's where you should arrive. The

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<v Speaker 1>whole point of the dancing is the dance. Now, but

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<v Speaker 1>we don't see that as something brought by our education

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<v Speaker 1>into our everyday conduct. We've got a system of schooling

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<v Speaker 1>which gives a completely different impression. It's all graded, and

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<v Speaker 1>what we do is we put the child into the

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<v Speaker 1>corridor of this grade system with a kind of come on, kiddy, giddy, giddy,

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<v Speaker 1>And now you go to kindergarten, you know, and that's

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<v Speaker 1>a great thing because when you finish that, you'll get

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<v Speaker 1>into first grade and then come on, first grade leads

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<v Speaker 1>the second grade and so on. And then you get

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<v Speaker 1>out of grade school and you got high school, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's revving up. The thing is coming. Then you're going

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<v Speaker 1>to go to college, and by Joe, then you get

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<v Speaker 1>into graduate school. And when you're through with graduate school,

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<v Speaker 1>you go out to join the world. And then you

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<v Speaker 1>get into some racket where you're selling insurance and they've

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<v Speaker 1>got that quota to make and you're going to make that,

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<v Speaker 1>and all the time, the thing is coming, it's coming,

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<v Speaker 1>it's coming. That great thing, the success you're working for.

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<v Speaker 1>Then when you wake up one day about forty years old,

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<v Speaker 1>you say, my god, I've arrived. I'm there, and you

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<v Speaker 1>don't feel very different from what you've always felt by expectation.

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<v Speaker 1>Look at the people who live to retire and put

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<v Speaker 1>those savings away, and then when they sixty five, they

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<v Speaker 1>don't have any energy left. They're more or less impotent,

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<v Speaker 1>and they go and rotten. An old people's senior citizens

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<v Speaker 1>community because we simply cheated ourselves. The whole way down

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<v Speaker 1>the line. We thought of life by analogy with a journey,

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<v Speaker 1>with a pilgrimage, which had a serious purpose at the end,

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<v Speaker 1>and the thing was to get to that end success

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<v Speaker 1>or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you're dead.

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<v Speaker 1>But we missed the point the whole way along. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a musical thing, and you were supposed to sing

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<v Speaker 1>or to dance while the music was being played.