sound project

"another popular greeting i heard in the us was "how are you"

although when people would ask me it was hard to answer quickly

i then began to wonder if people were asking because they really cared to know or was it just another greeting?"

this is from John Henry Blatter's sound piece, Language Lab.

It gave me an idea:

i could revisit an idea i had in the past about cordialities. i made something for a class touching on this idea but i don't feel it was well articulated. i think a sound piece would be a better investigation.

the quote from the john henry blatter piece basically sums up the problem only the person who said this quote is a norwegian commenting on greetings in the united states. Which lends a new perspective on the phrase we say automatically.

sometimes i ask someone how they are and they don't even reply. or you have already passed by and there is no time to reply, i wouldn't have heard it anyways.

sometimes people say "whats up" or "whats going on" as i try to think of a reply i have already walked past them (and they have walked past me) so we wouldn't be able to hear each other. the longer the questions, also, the less time each person can reply...

sometimes somebody will say whats going and i will say good how are you?

it makes me feel like theres no point to saying anything, that i would be more sincere if i just smiled. but to not say anything is rude as well. to even think that cordialities are just automatic responses leaves a shallow robotic feeling. sometimes i really mean it but theres just no time to really talk about how the person is doing or what is going on.

is it better to feign interest or give the impression that you intend interest when neither person really has time to be truly interested?