Zaadz: Science+Music+Reflexion=The World Changes

Introduce yourself to our net!

Mon, 17 Apr 2006 22:16:51 -0000

Hello!

I'm going to star with my two sentences. My "life-leading" sentences have changed and they may change in the future, but it doesn't make them less important now, because I think we need a reference to guide us, while we're walking. About my ideology sentence, I haven't come up yet, with a sentence which describes my present thinking. I just don't manage to write it down. Maybe among any of your sentences, I'll find a helping hand. I'll post it, when I get it ;).

Living phylosophy: Life is always changing by itself. Take the reins! Change your life!

About me....hehe. I was born about 20 easters ago. At the moment, I'm studying chemistry at the university, which I'm enjoying a lot and hope I'll someday become a researcher in the biochemistry area and I'm teaching saxophon. I've been studying music, since I was a child, and I specialized in classic/contemporaneous saxophon. I love traveling and I've spent wonderful times with a book.
I think that's mostly what I have to say by now. If you want to know more about me, take a look at my profile and I encourage you to contact me via email elfenthor(at)gmail(dot)com

Re: Introduce yourself to our net!

Thu, 22 Jun 2006 16:20:58 -0000

Greetings and Salutations! I have a theory about how humanity evolved from a bunch of clever apes into the super-clever uber-apes we are today. This involves music and what I call 'hoot-jazz'. It started with the co-observations that when a boy becomes a man, his voice drops (making it a signal for reproductive viability) and a rich baritone can make women swoon. Now, primatologists will tell you the most dangerous type of infection for gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans are the respiratory ones. What better way to show off a healthy immune system than a controlled, sustained musical note? How did we develop the ability to say things? By already being able to control diaphragm, larynx, tongue and lips, which could have developed to sing the best songs.

And then there's the whole notion of harmony, and awareness of the Other and knowledge of affect and all kinds of fun stuff. And why can we do math anyway? Square roots don't help forage for roots and we don't really calculate the parabola when we throw a rock at a rabbit. Maybe mathematical ability is a side effect of musical ability.

Re: Introduce yourself to our net!

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 01:44:52 -0000

First of all, let me say that I really enjoyed reading your post. You made me think in quite a few things and I've recalled some ideas I didn't think about for a long time. Let's get to it:

I agree with you in the fact that the change of the voice (especially for a man) was really important in primitive cultures. It's one of the first and I think the most noticeable fact of becoming a man and acquiring the reproductive viability (as you already pointed) and it was the cause of a change of role in the tribe (through a ceremony, which is believed in most cases involved music).

I really didn't know which are the most dangerous type of infection for gorillas, but I think the main "reason" our predecessors began to make sounds is because they discovered they had the ability to communicate between them in a more reliable and clear way than making hand-symbols. The most "gifted", could make a major variety of sounds, which means could express themselves more and better. They adapted themselves better and so they lived-longer and had more sons... I think you see what I mean :)

About harmony, we didn't invent it at all :). Our harmony is our way of making sure that what we write sounds nice, but in fact, what we find nice is nature's sound. Most Bird's songs fit in hour classical harmony, or did we hear the bird's singing, found it nice (I'm not going to dive in the reason why we find it nice now) and played something similar? As a result of playing something similar a lot of times, we made our rules (our safe playground) and decided to play according to them.

Music and Mathematics are indeed closely related. Reflexion lead me to think, the main reason is because they both were born as a way to emulate nature or as our way of understanding it. They are two ways of understanding the nature which have evolved far beyond its borning limits; To my understading square roots and imaginary numbers are to Mathematics as Jazz and contemporanean music are to music.

With the ability of talking, we have gained the ability to abstract and thanks to it, we have gone far beyond the limits of nature in multiple subjects. From my point of view, in some we have gone too far, it's our responability to think about it.

Re: Introduce yourself to our net!

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 14:38:59 -0000

I'm glad you enjoyed it, because I occassionally worry I'm coming off as either completely pretentious or like I'm blowing air out of one of the less pleasant orifices.

Undeniably, once our ancestors reached something recognizable as a 'tribe', music played a vital roll in social cohesion, whether through the rhythm of dance or the group chants that passed the time. I'm pretty sure ceremony came later in the timeline, but the ones that didn't involve complete silence (which probably had a subconscious cadence) must have made a glorious sound.

I appreciate that you put "reason" in the quotes; I make the air-quotes a lot 8). When it comes to evolution, there wasn't "reason" until we evolved the necessary higher brain functions (pointing this out evokes completely different debate, but doing so is a knee-jerk reaction on my part). Sounds are better than hand gestures because they carry across the water (if you're not familiar with the Aquatic Ape theory, we can get into that some other time, but it also explains how we develped control of our diaphragm for singing 8).

If I'm right (and I have no proof), then we did, in a way, invent harmony. The pairs that literally made beautiful music together are the ones that had children. Hoot-jazz isn't about one male seducing one female; rather, the future mother selects from a bunch of displaying males (ideally...in reality, more brutal, male-based choices also occur, but they select other, darker aspects of humanity, but the future mother has to be away from her community). Humans are most inclined to mate for life (there is variation, but of course there is) and why mate with someone unless you can pass the cold nights together, singing around the campfire? And so, harmony (and the love of birdsong, but where to birds "learn" harmony?).

Now, Reflexion seems to be an important idea for you. If it's something more than simple introspection, can you please describe? (Describe, too, if it's simple introspection and you wish to describe 8).

So, yeah, let me know.

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 03:52:10 -0000

I've decided that in order to get anything done with the rest of my life, I must keep my pods to a minimum. For now, the deciding factor is activity, and this is one of three pods due for pruning. I'll say bye when I go, and please let me know if activity perks up and I'll re-evaluate.

Harmony to you.

The Etceterist.

Re: So, yeah, let me know.

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 05:18:05 -0000

I understand what you mean. I admit that at the moment I've got a lot of things to do and I haven't grown it a lot, so there's actually no real activity.

Be sure that I'll notify it to you (and everyone else, who demonstrates some interest for this pod), when I decide to bring this pod to life.

Keep moving,

Science of music?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:02:05 -0000

The best book I've seen so far on the science of music is "Your Brain on Music" - it explains what's happening as we listen and perform - very cool!

Re: Science of music?

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:16:09 -0000

Hey Julie! Welcome to the group and to Gaia.

I've never heard of this book. Is it all explained from a scientific point of view?
What else can you tell us about it?

Re: Science of music?

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:49:27 -0000

It's about the effect music has on people, and on the brain, but you don't have to be a brain surgeon to understand it. It's ISBN-13: 9780452288522, by Daniel Levitin.
It's hard to describe... but it's a new way to examine music.
Of course, the other music geeks are reading it too!

Re: Science of music?

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:44:38 -0000

Thanks, Julie. It's on my wishlist now :).