I love Spotify. I happily pay their premium price in order to provide endless music to every member of my immediate family. I also love them because they’ve recently blessed us with a free Google Mini. Though I’m confident it’s an underhanded way to spy on our family and keep us further addicted to Spotify, I don’t care—I’m living for the moment, baby.
But there is one thing which Spotify lacks which at times provides a great deal of frustration to me. I’m a very eclectic music listener. I’ll listen to worship music one moment and heavy metal the next. I’ll go from Christian hip hop to bluegrass covers without much of a thought. So I’ll admit that Spotify likely has a difficult time truly pinning down my musical interests. But there is one thing their algorithm lacks which I think would be super helpful; namely, nuance.
Awhile back I had a random hankerin’ to listen to La Cucaracha. So I did. That’s what Spotify is for. But that one moment of weakness left me having to repeatedly tell Spotify “no” to a vast selection of Spanish tracks. I’m sure the Spanish music is wonderful but apart from an interpreter I’m like a Baptist at a charismatic tongue-speaking service—I’ve got no idea what is going on. Likewise, a moment of weakness had me listening to a song by Beck. Now Spotify thinks I love the guy. Nuance, people!
No, I Don’t Like Beck!
Now I’m not writing today to complain about Spotify. I’m writing today to compare Spotify with discernment bloggers. Just like Spotify they often say right things and do things well. They point out things that the casual reader/listener might not notice. They see connections which few others see. Discernment done well is a great enrichment to the body of Christ. But there can also be a penchant for doing something as silly as putting Beck on the top of a guys playlist just because he happened to search for a Beck song a year and a half ago.
I can see why my musical genie would think I like Beck. I listened to lots of 90s alternative. I go through phases where I’m listening to nothing but folk. And truth be told my musical tastes are about as eclectic as Beck’s music. So it’d seem like a match made in heaven. And when I finally did a search for a Beck song, I’m sure they assumed this was their moment to propel him to the top of my charts. But I cannot stand Beck. And a charitable reading of my history of musical tastes would have queued them to the fact that I don’t really like techno nonsense or music by guys who wear girly hats and overindulgent sunglasses.
It’s the same way when discernment goes wrong. Rather than interpret a quote, article, or tweet against their entire body of work those who are doing discernment wrong will flip the script. They will put far more weight on the most recent writing and assume this person has fallen off the deep end. It’d be great if Spotify would think, “Hmmm, Mike doesn’t usually search for Beck. There must be some weird reason he is doing this today. I’ll only weigh this about the size of a feather”. Instead they give it disproportionate weight.
Yes, There is a Difference Between Scott Bradlee and Three College Kids Playing an Oboe
Generally Spotify gets my musical taste pretty closely. Some of their suggestions for music I’ll like are spot on, and I’ll find a new band that I absolutely love. But on occasion it’s just sheer silliness. Their algorithm lacks the ability to detect the difference between Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox and a batch of three college students playing the oboe. It’s cute that they try to make those connections but they just don’t work. The thing which makes them great (helping me find new music) is also the thing which makes them incredibly head-scratching at times.
I suppose the same is true of discernment bloggers. Some of the connections which discernment bloggers make are suspect at best. It makes for great articles. Its wonderful when you are the guy to give latest scoop and expose the most recent false teacher. Such a thing plays really well in our culture of outrage. But it’s not patterned after biblical love. Love gives the benefit of the doubt.
So here is my solution for Spotify and discernment bloggers. Learn nuance. Don’t just assume you are right and chase down a story. Give the appropriate amount of weight to divergence. Really make sure that someone likes Beck before you pigeonhole a guy and make him have to keep listening to stuff that he doesn’t agree with. Spotify often has buttons which allows you to say “I like this song” or “I don’t like this song—stop playing it”. That’s helpful. It helps them to learn. Discernment bloggers should install one of those buttons somewhere. Because if I don’t agree with your representation of my position—it’s probably not that I’m a slippery snake of a heretic. It’s more likely that you haven’t pinned me down like you think you have.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
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