Ask Battista Minola 1616 Anything - Five

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

I think I wanted to bring this back for my birthday about three weeks ago but I forgot. At any rate now I've remembered that and I am bored. Shoot.

[Zinneke]

How would you fix Italian higher education?

[Vice President Christian Man]

Who is your favorite Italian PM of all time?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Do you agree with my theorem that people who attend emo and hardcore shows in Italy are exponentially more likely to be Protestant than Italians in general?

Also does it blow your mind there are straight edge bands from Italy? Like have trouble comprehending that as much as I do?

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

How would you fix Italian higher education?

No courses that expect you to be following almost as many hours of lectures as in high school and more flexibility with exams and in general (or we could go down the opposite route and make everything work exactly like grade school, but I think that would be good for my social awkwardness and bad for everything else). Avoid Teams, Meet, Zoom and all non-university platforms for online teaching like the plague. Also avoid putting online teaching first, although loading material online for everyone to access at any time is important. Normalize university housing - probably not something I would use myself and not strictly related to "education" but the fact that almost everyone who moves away from home for university just goes to the private rental market is odd. Maybe other things but they don't come to mind.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Who is your favorite Italian PM of all time?

I think I have already answered this, probably multiple times.

[kaoras]

Of all the currently legal parties in Chile which one would you vote for in the council elections?

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partidos_pol%C3%ADticos_de_Chile

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Do you agree with my theorem that people who attend emo and hardcore shows in Italy are exponentially more likely to be Protestant than Italians in general?

Also does it blow your mind there are straight edge bands from Italy? Like have trouble comprehending that as much as I do?

1) I have no way of proving or disproving it but I am definitely going to disagree. I would in fact be surprised to find anyone there who identifies as a Protestant. Wikipedia also informs me that the original hardcore "scene" in the 1980s was very much linked to the extraparliamentary far-left, not exactly where I would search for theists of any kind.

2) No and I don't know why it should. The existence of straight edge bands from Italy is a little funny but no more than the existence of punk bands from Italy in general, or of members of countless other cultural trends that originated elsewhere.

[wnwnwn]

Opinion of Gustavo Gutiérrez and Liberation Theology in general?

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Of all the currently legal parties in Chile which one would you vote for in the council elections?

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partidos_pol%C3%ADticos_de_Chile

Payasos a mi izquierda, a mi derecha bromistas / estoy aquí, atrapado en el medio con el Partido Socialista

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Opinion of Gustavo Gutiérrez and Liberation Theology in general?

I don't know much about liberation theology beyond a general overview. The best answer I have is that it takes a lot of ideas I like but I'm not so sure about the final product.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Do you agree with my theorem that people who attend emo and hardcore shows in Italy are exponentially more likely to be Protestant than Italians in general?

Also does it blow your mind there are straight edge bands from Italy? Like have trouble comprehending that as much as I do?

1) I have no way of proving or disproving it but I am definitely going to disagree. I would in fact be surprised to find anyone there who identifies as a Protestant. Wikipedia also informs me that the original hardcore "scene" in the 1980s was very much linked to the extraparliamentary far-left, not exactly where I would search for theists of any kind.

2) No and I don't know why it should. The existence of straight edge bands from Italy is a little funny but no more than the existence of punk bands from Italy in general, or of members of countless other cultural trends that originated elsewhere.

The theory is based on how many people I've met online who are "American-style" Protestants and into emo and hardcore which is supposedly rare in Europe, although mostly northern Europeans...but this seems to be due to conversion influenced by spirit-filled hardcore influence. So it stands that would be a thing in Italy too, even if the overall theist percentage is lower than the overall population, those that exist are far more likely to convert to Protestant.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Do you agree with my theorem that people who attend emo and hardcore shows in Italy are exponentially more likely to be Protestant than Italians in general?

Also does it blow your mind there are straight edge bands from Italy? Like have trouble comprehending that as much as I do?

1) I have no way of proving or disproving it but I am definitely going to disagree. I would in fact be surprised to find anyone there who identifies as a Protestant. Wikipedia also informs me that the original hardcore "scene" in the 1980s was very much linked to the extraparliamentary far-left, not exactly where I would search for theists of any kind.

2) No and I don't know why it should. The existence of straight edge bands from Italy is a little funny but no more than the existence of punk bands from Italy in general, or of members of countless other cultural trends that originated elsewhere.

The theory is based on how many people I've met online who are "American-style" Protestants and into emo and hardcore which is supposedly rare in Europe, although mostly northern Europeans...but this seems to be due to conversion influenced by spirit-filled hardcore influence. So it stands that would be a thing in Italy too, even if the overall theist percentage is lower than the overall population, those that exist are far more likely to convert to Protestant.

I don't know what "American-style" Protestantism means here (presumably they don't drive every Sunday to pseudo-Baptist conservative megachurches in the suburbs). I was going to say that I could see a disproportionate number of people who believe in the Christian God but are churchless, but I don't think they would identify as Protestant or coordinated terms like Evangelical in this country. Also your last sentence changes everything, since "audience disproportionately Protestant" and "theist part of the audience disproportionately Protestant" are two very different things.

In any case I think we are talking of many different tiny niches inside a small niche, because to make an example I doubt there is much overlap between the fanbase of La Quiete and that of Raw Power.

[Zinneke]

Do you have an e-ink reader? What do you think of my idea to have every school in Europe use e-ink and heavily subsidise it at university level so kids don't get destroyed by screen addiction?

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Do you have an e-ink reader? What do you think of my idea to have every school in Europe use e-ink and heavily subsidise it at university level so kids don't get destroyed by screen addiction?

I only know what an e-ink reader is because you've mentioned it here. Your idea seems fine but also would not apply to me because I've never taken notes in school on a tablet or something else with a screen.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Last year I visited Italy and went to Montepulciano.  While I was there they said that every July(?) the town has this big weeks-long music festival where there's live music all over the old medieval village every night.  I had this romantic vision of, once my girlfriend and I have some children, taking a summer holiday there every year during the music festival and enjoying the music and culture while the kids run around town in a relatively safe and enclosed, but also pretty bustling and eventful environment with plenty to do and learn.

Is this at all realistic, either for that particular music festival or any in Italy, or is it just a dream?

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Last year I visited Italy and went to Montepulciano.  While I was there they said that every July(?) the town has this big weeks-long music festival where there's live music all over the old medieval village every night.  I had this romantic vision of, once my girlfriend and I have some children, taking a summer holiday there every year during the music festival and enjoying the music and culture while the kids run around town in a relatively safe and enclosed, but also pretty bustling and eventful environment with plenty to do and learn.

Is this at all realistic, either for that particular music festival or any in Italy, or is it just a dream?

I haven't been to Montepulciano and I haven't heard of this festival, although there are similar events in the summer in all sorts of places in Italy (Montepulciano is more famous for its wine, which I assume you tasted). I guess your vision is not unrealistic but I'm not sure what your standards are or how you deal with the complexities of the world and culture shock; I am a naturally optimistic person myself.

[Wikipedia delenda est]

How have you been? Still a papist?

But seriously, how are you doing? I'm glad to hear you at least rate yourself a natural optimist (still working on that myself).

Bonus: do you think the Housemartins might have had it All Figured Out with their mixture of compassionate Christianity, openhearted humanism, unfashionable socialism, and perfect pop songs?

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

How have you been? Still a papist?

But seriously, how are you doing? I'm glad to hear you at least rate yourself a natural optimist (still working on that myself).

Bonus: do you think the Housemartins might have had it All Figured Out with their mixture of compassionate Christianity, openhearted humanism, unfashionable socialism, and perfect pop songs?

Better, but also feeling stuck. Still a papist but increasingly directionless. Still a Moravian?

I only know the Housemartins exist because of a different (former) member of the forum and the only thing about them I know that is not included in your post is that Fatboy Slim was their bassist - quite the musical journey his. Wait, actually I've listened to "Happy Hour" but it didn't catch my attention much... I suppose I should explore them more thoroughly. You should also explore popular music that is not at best one degree of separation from 1980s British post-punk/new wave/indie.

[Boobs]

Do you remember the place where the white willow bends backwards? Where one long stalk of bells swings in the wind with a lulling sound? In a field, near the house of Pietro the hermit. Behind the old willow grow great oaks, where a large family of hawks once lived; all with names in which the consonants were soft as in French, the vowels clear as if in English; all with bright eyes that did not flinch from gazing at G-d's sun. The oak trees are there yet, though their birds have been snared, caught and carried far away. A white willow stands there still also, but her great bow, I'm sorry to say, is now an empty nest in which her young ones have hatched many a generation, some of whom are gone, as she can see, and some gone too, as she feels in her soul... and her branches are bare and her voice is still.

How it is to stand in a great empty place? A place where once they sang, where once their voices and feathers were the wind, where once their eyes gazed at G-d’s face! How it is to know a place so silent of your song, so dead in its soul, when all you ever wanted was to swing the bells, to feel the sun on your face?

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Do you remember the place where the white willow bends backwards? Where one long stalk of bells swings in the wind with a lulling sound? In a field, near the house of Pietro the hermit. Behind the old willow grow great oaks, where a large family of hawks once lived; all with names in which the consonants were soft as in French, the vowels clear as if in English; all with bright eyes that did not flinch from gazing at G-d's sun. The oak trees are there yet, though their birds have been snared, caught and carried far away. A white willow stands there still also, but her great bow, I'm sorry to say, is now an empty nest in which her young ones have hatched many a generation, some of whom are gone, as she can see, and some gone too, as she feels in her soul... and her branches are bare and her voice is still.

How it is to stand in a great empty place? A place where once they sang, where once their voices and feathers were the wind, where once their eyes gazed at G-d’s face! How it is to know a place so silent of your song, so dead in its soul, when all you ever wanted was to swing the bells, to feel the sun on your face?

Ricordi il luogo dove il salice bianco si piega all'indietro? Dove un solo lungo stelo di campane oscilla al vento con un suono cullante? Nel campo, vicino alla casa di Pietro l'eremita. Dietro al vecchio salice crescono grosse querce, dove una grande famiglia di falchi un tempo viveva; tutti con nomi in cui le consonanti erano morbide come in francese, le vocali chiare come in inglese; tutti con occhi brillanti che non arretravano al guardare il sole di Dio. Gli alberi di quercia sono ancora là, anche se i loro uccelli sono stati intrappolati, catturati e trascinati via lontano. Un salice bianco sta ancora là inoltre, ma il suo grande arco, mi dispiace dirlo, è adesso un nido vuoto in cui i suoi giovani hanno covato molte generazioni, alcune delle quali sono passate, come esso può vedere, e altre anche passate, come sente nell'anima... e i suoi rami sono nudi e la sua voce è immobile.

Com'è stare in un grande luogo vuoto? Un luogo dove un tempo cantavano, dove un tempo le loro voci e piume erano il vento, dove un tempo i loro occhi osservavano il volto di Dio! Com'è conoscere un luogo così silenzioso privo della tua musica, così morto nella sua anima, quando tutto ciò che mai volesti era tirare le campane, sentire il sole sulla tua faccia?