[ExI] Objective standards?

[Dan TheBookMan]

> On Sep 29, 2558 BE, at 6:12 AM, Mike Dougherty <msd001 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 8:31 AM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
>>>> On Sat, Sep 26, 2015 at 2:18 AM, Giulio Prisco <giulio at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Why do we need "objective standards" at all? What's wrong with
>>>> subjective standards?
>> 
>> We already have excellent objective standards in literature: sales receipts.
> 
> I would not consider sales receipts to be literature... though I guess
> your accountant can tell quite a story when all those moments are
> reviewed for a year. :)

I didn't read that as Spike calling sales receipts literature, but as him saying they indicated a piece of literature's quality. Ditto for other arts. I'm not saying I agree, but were it true than Shakespeare definitely sells. And so does Beethoven. (Not sure what William has against either since both are far more popular outside the cultural elites and professorial class than, say, Brecht (in drama) and Schoenberg (in music), though those two are not lacking in the sales department.)

Regards,

Dan