Thinky thoughts
Jun. 6th, 2012 07:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alliecat8I haven't posted since March. That's because music has become my life. Well, that and traveling but that was all about music, too, the Broadway shows...anyway, here goes:
Some cognitive scientists believe human response to music provides evidence that we are more than just flesh and blood - that we also have souls. Their thinking is as follows:
All reactions to external stimuli can be traced back to an evolutionary rational. You pull your hand away from fire to avoid physical harm. You get butterflies before an important speech because the adrenaline running through your veins has caused a physiological fight or flight response. But there is no evolutionary context within which people's response to music makes sense - the tapping of feet, the urge to sing along or to get up and dance, there's just no survival benefit to these activities. For this reason, some believe that our response to music is proof that there's more to us than just biological and physiological mechanics - that the only way to be moved by the spirit, so to speak, is to have one in the first place.
Thoughts?
Some cognitive scientists believe human response to music provides evidence that we are more than just flesh and blood - that we also have souls. Their thinking is as follows:
All reactions to external stimuli can be traced back to an evolutionary rational. You pull your hand away from fire to avoid physical harm. You get butterflies before an important speech because the adrenaline running through your veins has caused a physiological fight or flight response. But there is no evolutionary context within which people's response to music makes sense - the tapping of feet, the urge to sing along or to get up and dance, there's just no survival benefit to these activities. For this reason, some believe that our response to music is proof that there's more to us than just biological and physiological mechanics - that the only way to be moved by the spirit, so to speak, is to have one in the first place.
Thoughts?
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no subject
Date: 2012-06-14 07:32 am (UTC)Yes, I'm sure the pleasure centre must be there; it makes so much sense!
Hee, love the thought of you and your mother dancing around as you cleaned!!!
No worries! I'm completely hopeless at keeping up too. Plus Thing 1 needs you more right now! A WEDDING - woohoo! ♥