Eurovision

This weekend is the Eurovision song contest. This annual event was once taken very seriously and to win was an accolade that led to fame and stardom. The modern version is a joke, nothing is taken seriously and a once trivial event has become even less than it once was. The presenters have always been capable of sending it up, but now even the performers do. Everything in the media seems to be going the same way. Some people refer to this change as "inclusivity" but it could more accurately be referred to as "dumbing down".

Patrick Moore, the aging denizen of Astronomy has this week complained that the BBC is now being run by women, and as a result, is biassed in favour of that gender. He goes on to suggest that this has led to the lowering of standards-a brave man indeed.

I agree in principle to "inclusivity" but how far should it go? Should physics have the maths removed to make it accessible to the innumerate? Should books be replaced by audio to accommodate the illiterate? and should the utterly incompetant be allowed free access to medical training, on the basis that they enjoyed playing doctors and nurses with their siblings?

There is a real danger that "inclusivity" by it's very existence, is creating an excluded elite. Some people don't want "War and Peace" in comic format, or abbreviated versions of Mahler symphonies for those with short attention spans.

Those who watch the Eurovision contest, and read the Sun or the Mail, take heed. Being dumb is ok, but it's not clever and it's not funny!