Linked to the post: https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540mpepe/2022/07/10/8-2-golden-record-curation/

Written like a true musician. I purposely  chose  Mark’s Golden Record Curation task to link to because I remember his musical background from another course that we took together. Given his expertise and talents in this field,  I wanted to know about his  reasoning for the song selections. As one might expect from his music  background, Mark’s trained ears warranted a theoretical approach to this task as he analyzed the elements of each piece and found the universal components. As I listened to the excerpts again, I was drawn to distinct aspects that Mark drew attention to in his analysis such as the contrast in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”. 

In terms of comparisons, we shared four of the same top 10 picks but for different reasons.  While Mark was able to identify the details of the instruments and specific elements, I listened to the song as a whole, placing an emphasis on the emotions that were brought to surface. Our personal preferences and appreciation of certain musical genres were dictated by our context. Now translate this to space. Given the purpose of the Golden Record was to share a glimpse of humanity with extraterrestrial life forms, would they be able to make meaning of our message through music? In the Scientific American article aptly titled “Voyager Golden Records 40 Years Later: Real Audience Was Always Here on Earth”, the significance of the record is, in actuality, for us humans to “inspire us to broaden our minds about what it means to be human; what we value as humans; and about our place and role in the cosmos.” (Wright, 2017). Fast forward to 2022, in a time where we are even more connected by the internet and the wealth of information through digitization,  we have the opportunity to learn from one another and from our past. The question becomes, how are we going to use this power to join humanity and appreciate our differences?  So I am left with the quote “Music makes the world go around” It is through this simple music curation task that we can find ways to relate to one another and connect to people and cultures globally. 

Wright, J (2017, August 14)  “Voyager Golden Records 40 Years Later: Real Audience Was ALways Here on Earth”. Scientific American. Retrieved from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/voyager-golden-records-40-years-later-real-audience-was-always-here-on-earth/#:~:text=The%20Golden%20Records%20mark%20our,flag%20of%20exploration%20in%20space.