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I think it goes further than just music. There is something that I have noticed in my life, when it comes to the people I'm drawn to and the people that are dr

I think it goes further than just music. There is something that I have noticed in my life, when it comes to the people I'm drawn to and the people that are drawn to me. We all tend to share a particular similarity, in that we end up being 'darker' people in one way or another. When I say 'dark' I dont really mean like 'emo' or 'goth', but in the way that our humors are usually darker, and we all have either dealt with or are dealing with some kind of despair. I think it's a feeling of 'not being alone' when you are with someone who 'gets it', and it's a sort of warmth that you dont come across much in the day to day. I dont think dark people just like dark music, I think dark people like other dark people.

fragsworth 8y ago
Misery loves company.
- randcraw 8y ago
  In my experience, misery prefers solitude.
misterman0 8y ago
I can relate to this but I would never call myself "dark" even though I've been depressed more often than my peers. Instead I think I have experienced first hand more of the emotional spectrum than others might have and I consider this one of my strengths, that I have felt many things close to or within the realms of despair, without dying. I believe in and adhere to "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger".
okmokmz 8y ago
Agreed, I quickly found I didn't fit into the FAANG or California startup culture as it seemed to attract lots of, what I would consider, very preppy, overly positive, outgoing people. Definitely nothing wrong with that, but those aren't the kind of people I generally form strong bonds with. I've found Seattle to be a much better fit
_jal 8y ago
That's generally been my experience, too. I have had depressive stretches and pulled out of them, but have always been consistently a "dark" person. Dark doesn't mean unhappy. It isn't that I "only see negatives", as I've been told endlessly, or just have a dark sense of humor. It is also related being relatively good at security analysis, architecture and troubleshooting - I tend to naturally focus on faults and limits, and reach for a systemic view first. And any time you look at human systems, that's depressing. (That was a joke, there.) Musically, I used to be more exclusively "dark". That's changed as I've gotten older, but I still find most pop grating. The last few months I've been more on an active listening jag, after thinking I noticed Erik Satie-ish influences on Brian Eno, and then Laurie Anderson and Robert Fripp. (Eno acknowledged this in something I read, I'm less sure about Anderson. Fripp may have just been responding to Eno.)
- opportune 8y ago
  I think seeing negatives vs. positives might make sense from an evolutionary psych perspective. Pessimistic and cynical people can be good at pointing out flaws in ideas/plans/practices while optimistic people can be good at rationalizing beneficial practices and plans. This applies in both prehistoric tribal society and now in the corporate sphere. Not sure if there is a genetic basis to pessimism vs. optimism but I don't think any is more or less valid than the other
- randcraw 8y ago
  I think the emphasis on faults and limits rather than on the peak of the bell curve (where 'normal' people reside) is the hallmark of critical thinking in general. Circumspection isn't a 'dark' perspective per se, but one that deliberately resists 'going with the flow', which is assumed by all promotional efforts like PR and advertising. The conventional 'embracing of the light' is inseparable from groupthink, IMHO. Any excess of optimism or advocacy raises my inner defenses and sets off alarm bells. In this, The Age Of The Internet, that thinking isn't 'dark'; it should be common sense. But it's all too uncommon, I fear.
sudosteph 8y ago
I think most people are dark people in a way. There are people like you and I who recognize ourselves as such, others who try to hide it, and others who are still oblivious until they experience it first-hand. Each group prefers their own type, but I do think everyone trends towards darkness eventually. It's just a truth of the reality we inhabit - some of us experiece the harshness early on, others later on through pain or death of a loved one. But it does bring us all weirdly closer when we do.

fragsworth 8y ago

Misery loves company.

randcraw 8y ago
In my experience, misery prefers solitude.

misterman0 8y ago

I can relate to this but I would never call myself "dark" even though I've been depressed more often than my peers. Instead I think I have experienced first hand more of the emotional spectrum than others might have and I consider this one of my strengths, that I have felt many things close to or within the realms of despair, without dying. I believe in and adhere to "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger".

okmokmz 8y ago

Agreed, I quickly found I didn't fit into the FAANG or California startup culture as it seemed to attract lots of, what I would consider, very preppy, overly positive, outgoing people. Definitely nothing wrong with that, but those aren't the kind of people I generally form strong bonds with. I've found Seattle to be a much better fit

_jal 8y ago

That's generally been my experience, too. I have had depressive stretches and pulled out of them, but have always been consistently a "dark" person. Dark doesn't mean unhappy. It isn't that I "only see negatives", as I've been told endlessly, or just have a dark sense of humor. It is also related being relatively good at security analysis, architecture and troubleshooting - I tend to naturally focus on faults and limits, and reach for a systemic view first. And any time you look at human systems, that's depressing. (That was a joke, there.) Musically, I used to be more exclusively "dark". That's changed as I've gotten older, but I still find most pop grating. The last few months I've been more on an active listening jag, after thinking I noticed Erik Satie-ish influences on Brian Eno, and then Laurie Anderson and Robert Fripp. (Eno acknowledged this in something I read, I'm less sure about Anderson. Fripp may have just been responding to Eno.)

opportune 8y ago
I think seeing negatives vs. positives might make sense from an evolutionary psych perspective. Pessimistic and cynical people can be good at pointing out flaws in ideas/plans/practices while optimistic people can be good at rationalizing beneficial practices and plans. This applies in both prehistoric tribal society and now in the corporate sphere. Not sure if there is a genetic basis to pessimism vs. optimism but I don't think any is more or less valid than the other
randcraw 8y ago
I think the emphasis on faults and limits rather than on the peak of the bell curve (where 'normal' people reside) is the hallmark of critical thinking in general. Circumspection isn't a 'dark' perspective per se, but one that deliberately resists 'going with the flow', which is assumed by all promotional efforts like PR and advertising. The conventional 'embracing of the light' is inseparable from groupthink, IMHO. Any excess of optimism or advocacy raises my inner defenses and sets off alarm bells. In this, The Age Of The Internet, that thinking isn't 'dark'; it should be common sense. But it's all too uncommon, I fear.

sudosteph 8y ago

I think most people are dark people in a way. There are people like you and I who recognize ourselves as such, others who try to hide it, and others who are still oblivious until they experience it first-hand. Each group prefers their own type, but I do think everyone trends towards darkness eventually. It's just a truth of the reality we inhabit - some of us experiece the harshness early on, others later on through pain or death of a loved one. But it does bring us all weirdly closer when we do.