Are We Anti-Edgy?

A tiny post by Robin Hanson from Overcoming Bias, quoted in its entirety:

In the art world something is “edgy” if it might well shock ordinary folks, but of course not in-the-know folks. The idea seems to be that ordinary folks are shocked too easily by things that should not really be shocking.

The opposite concept, which I’ll call “anti-edgy”, is of something that does not shock ordinary folks, but should. In the know folks are shocked, but most others are not. Why does the world of art and fashion emphasize the edgy so much more than the anti-edgy?

Robin crystallizes an idea I’ve pondered in fuzzy-form for as long as I’ve been writing songs; how is it that I can find my stuff pretty weird (h&s’ “near and far”) and others find it pleasant background music?  How did we manage throw classic rock guitars and cheesy keyboard drums together (Sally Ride’s “It’s A Trap”) to nary a “meh…”?Maybe we’re anti-edgy?  Shocking only to those (musicians, mostly) who have the ears to parse out what’s going on?

Even if we’re not, anti-edgy is something I aim for.  Music that functions well enough on the surface to get a person into it (whether that’s through rocking out, or catchiness, etc.) but will warp your mind a bit if you start taking it apart.

You know, like Chicago.  Or Mastodon :-)

-h