so this is goodbye - The Equalizer
One thing that let me enjoy Last Exit when I was first listening to it was the fact that I just didn’t have the same kind of access to music that I do today. I checked out the In The Morning single before I gave so this is goodbye a few listens and maybe it was this that focused my attention on the two singles on there but they shine far and away beyond the other tracks on the album, at least as far as catchiness. But would I still think that if I hadn’t been primed to them from the singles?
I am usually pretty methodical in making my decisions, at least when it comes to choosing things like what vacuum cleaner to buy. What I don’t want is analysis paralysis and often I would be best off just making a choice arbitrarily based on whatever my first impression was because it wouldn’t make a difference either way. If it is so terrible that it is unusable or unenjoyable then chalk it up to a loss and replace it with something else. Chances are you wouldn’t even have noticed if it were a success so why notice if it is a failure? Surely there is a utility equation around this.
There has been an ongoing experiment on reddit recently called the button. It is a typical subreddit but with a button and a spin-down clock at the top of the page that you can click exactly once based on your account. Depending on the time it says on the clock when you click it, you get a color flair next to your name that shows up to everyone else when you post on the page. The interesting part is that the clock resets whenever a person clicks it so the lower it gets the greater chance someone will click it. What adds to the complexity of the situation is that it is an entirely self contained system that only has an impact when someone posts in the sub which by nature of the forum would be about clicking the button or not clicking it. Basically it is one big celebration of decision making for its own sake or the choice to not make a decision, which can be the hardest choice of all.
My decision was to click it the second time it came around before knowing any of the rules based on some arbitrary numerology. I try to escape the decision cycle and any meaning that may be associated with it but avoiding meaning is its own type of meaning; there can never be nothing.