“If music be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken and so die” Twelfth Night, c.1601
“Observe due measure; moderation is best in all things,” Hesiod c.700 BC
It is sometimes difficult to discern progress. In nearly three millennia since the Greek poet Hesiod observed in c.700 BC that moderation is best in all things, we have not yet understood his message.
How many of us, for instance, would agree that we should exercise a degree of restraint in how much we try to learn? Algnernon, in The Importance of Being Earnest, apologises for being over-dressed but says he compensates by being immensely over-educated. It may be light banter but most of us indeed believe the more we try to learn, the better. We don’t give much thought to our capacity to assimilate information: in our culture, to question it is to appear feeble. M’Choakumchild, Dickens’ fictional teacher who would have taught infinitely better had he learned a little less, is not in vogue.
Or how many of us believe we should apply moderation to international travel? Or to music? These things we love, and, like Orsino or Othello, we love not wisely but too well.
Consider this. The typical CV of a professional pianist lists the number of countries in which he or she has given recitals. The more concert venues, the more miles covered, the better. How likely is it that you might read: “in the interests of the environment, so-and-so has decided to limit round-the-world tours to one per decade”? Or perhaps: “(s)he tours without flying, sailing across oceans as necessary”?
Of course we would retort: “but nothing compares with live performance!” Really? How different is the quality of the sound given live streaming technology? How much worse (or better!) is the audience’s view of the performer if it is projected on to a large screen? How likely are you to talk directly to the artist in a concert hall?
Which is not to say that live performance is not a great pleasure once in a while, but rather that we music lovers have perhaps got a little carried away with it. We are thus encouraged by producers and performers, for whom it is about money as well as prestige. Moderation means less money: somehow, we need to get our heads round that.
Moderation in all things, including travel
On 22 August 2019, the Science and Technology Select Committee issued a report on the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. People, it said, would need to get out of their cars; technology alone is helpful but not sufficient. The government needs to look at the demand side, not just rely on the supply side to come up with solutions.
This is a welcome conclusion indeed. It’s a pity that the BBC’s Roger Harrabin, in reporting the findings, chose to link them to another report that found tyre wear from electric vehicles (EVs) contributes to pollution. There is a difference between local air pollution, to which all traffic contributes in part through tyre wear, and global warming. It is unhelpful to conflate the two. Most European governments have, rightly, ambitious targets to electrify road transport in response to the threat from global warming. If we have to drive, it is better to do it in an EV (and longer term, perhaps, in a hydrogen vehicle if the necessary infrastructure is developed).
But the EVs still have to be made, and their batteries use rare-earth elements. So the Select Committee is also right that we should try to reduce the number of cars and the amount that we travel. Their report is a refreshing change from the normal brainwashing that car manufacturing is important for economic growth and, by implication, national prosperity.
Maybe there is still hope that we will take Hesiod seriously. After all, 2700 years late is better than never.