Frank Kogan

Am embarking on a project of rereading Thomas Kuhn and so I'm starting a Thomas Kuhn reading group here in Denver. The group so far consists in its entirety of me and my friend David (the fellow who taught the intro to philosophy course I audited last semester) and isn't likely to grow, so I'm adding an online component. As always, I'm open to anyone posting here whether you've done the reading or not and whether you feel "qualified" or not. You'll likely stimulate my ideas even when your own aren't worked out. That said... well, see below.

Believe it or not I find this stuff real easy (about a hundred times easier than figuring out and articulating why I like Cassie's "Turn The Lights Off" and Heidi Montag's "No More"). And what's impressive about its easiness is that Kuhn is addressing himself to the hardest practical topic there is, how to go about understanding a mode of thought that you had not previously been acquainted with.

I'm going to experiment to see if these posts can function as a proto-Department Of Dilettante Research, which means I'll put thought into how to be a teacher, how to stimulate your ideas. So in some instances I'll be asking questions but temporarily holding back my own answers until you've had a chance to start on yours, my belief being that ideas you work out for yourself will stick with you better than ones you simply read or memorize. And this also means that if you want to learn much you're better off doing the reading and doing what I tell you.

( No, you must explain this in full, now! )

( reading list )

Robyn, Paula, Enrique, Beyoncé, Heidi Montag, Mira Craig, Beth Ditto, Yung Berg, Ashley Tisdale, and lots about Aly & A.J.

The Rules Of The Game #20: Fleshy Women, Slimy Men, Smart Teens

Two questions: (1) Of all the songs I've been championing, why is "Potential Breakup Song" the one that's struck the biggest chord with you folks, that's become our miniature cause célèbre? (2) Why do some of us care so much that it gets airplay and breaks through to the general pop audience? What does it represent? What's at stake?

I read this column to the people in my writers group last night, some of whom got excited when I quoted the line from "Potential Breakup Song," and thought the song was terrific when I played it for them (at least the women did). My friend Ken said that it's got elements that remind him of Del Shannon. (When I think about it I can hear a family resemblance between its opening riff and the opening to Runaway. And PBUS's bass line does have something of a rockabilly boogie in it.)

( Links to my other Rules Of The Game columns )