Opening Pandora's Box

[drwex]

Question for the assembled readership:
You step out your front door one day and find a box, labeled "for Pandora". Do you open it?

That said, Pandora by the Music Genome Project has totally captured my Web radio listening. My station is "Wex Eclectic Radio." What's yours?

I blogged about Pandora last week, for Copyfight. Since then the station has given me a lot of new artists to buy from and inferred a number of things about my musical tastes.

I'm still offering interview questions to anyone who wants me to ask them things. I friends-locked the original posting containing my answers because some of the info there was personal and I'm not sure it was OK to publish it generally. Fair being fair, if you want to ask me questions, go ahead.

Comments

[xthread.livejournal.com]

Midgard Radio
Although I need to train it a bunch more.
At the moment, I just put in a dozen tracks that represented the edges of my taste space.
It has made a bunch of good recommendations and hit on a few guilty pleasures.
But does occasionally proffer something genuinely awful.

[bridgetminerva.livejournal.com]

If it is from the usmail no I don't open it. Federal crime and all
If it is a mystic-y and and cryptic writing on it. I wonder "why did thast entity think Pandora lived here?" I'd hold it for a while to see if she came to claim it.

But no I would because Karmatically speaking it aint mine.

If the label read Pandora's Box for Bridget. I would open it.

[ariesd.livejournal.com]

Open Pandora's Box, hell I haven't even seen her box. BAZING!!!!!

[taura-g.livejournal.com]

Given the notoriety of "Pandora", no, no I wouldn't...I am fairly superstitious sometimes.

Now if it said "for Katie" or "for Pam" than maybe I would...

[drwex]

I'm missing the references, sorry :(

[aelf.livejournal.com]

Do we live in Eden?

[drwex]

Clearly not, both from literal and religious points of view. Literally - here on Earth, with all the flaws and fabulousness of a real actual world. From an ethical/religious point of view Eden describes a state of blissfull ignorance, lacking the knowledge of good and evil. Where we all live today? Not so much on the lacking.

[aelf.livejournal.com]

I guess my question is more ... from what's in the box perspective. Could Pandora's box hold other things in it that, when released, would bring home to us how we *are* in Eden, now?

Do I think Pandora's box could hold things that make our current world seem like a garden of endless delights? Yes.

Do I think the "hope" that would follow if we opened the box long enough would make it worth opening? Dithering. Probably not.

[drwex]

Right, I see. That's sort of the key point to the question. In the fable Pandora opens the box and lets out all sorts of ills into the world, but in the end Hope also emerges. The question is whether you think it's worth the tradeoff.