Originally Posted by
ppruined
On the other hand to describe music and books as dreary, and thus to condemn two of the greatest art forms in the history of humanity, is surely unforgivable...
Indeed it would be unforgivable. But of course I did not describe books and music as dreary, I said that 'reading books and listening to music' is a dreary entry on a cv. I see this on many applications, occasionally I ask people what book they are currently reading and am usually met with startled silence. If a
cv that said I enjoy the music of Bach, or I have interest in the magical realism genre, that would have sounded meaningful and might have led to an interesting conversation.
I once interviewed someone in Liverpool whose address was Whitworth Street. I asked them if they knew who Whitworth was and they had no idea. I made a brief attempt to engage them about the importance of a standard thread in enabling the industrial revolution. They showed not a flicker of interest or understanding and, after being rejected, complained to HR about being asked irrelevant questions. I always think that I dodged a bullet by not employing that person, in part because of their lack of awareness of their city's industrial history.