“Now what is “music” – a sequence of vibrations in the air, or a succession of emotional responses in a brain?” – Hofstadter
We all know music when we hear it. It’s the soundtrack of our lives, the language of our emotions, the expression of our culture, and the source of our joy. Music can move us, inspire us, teach us, heal us, and connect us.
But what is music? Would aliens groove to Tansen’s Raag Bhairav if they stumbled upon it after human beings went extinct? Is music real or just our imagination?
Music can be defined as an arrangement of sounds in a specific pattern, creating harmony, form, expression and beauty. But it is not just about the pattern. It is also about the emotions that make us appreciate it. Without the emotional connection, there would be no music.
Music changes our heartbeat and breathing pattern to sync with the music we are listening to. Dopamine is released when we listen to music. Our brain is programmed to like music. But music is not for everyone.
Some people cannot enjoy music. It is not because they are weird. It’s just that their brain is not interested in giving meaning to such noisy abstract patterns. No dopamine, no pleasure. This condition is known as musical anhedonia. For such people, music is just boring and distracting.
But at least people with musical anhedonia can recognise music. There are people who do not even recognise music.
If a certain area of the brain is damaged because of stroke, tumour, infection, or trauma, the patient loses the ability to recognize or remember the music, despite having normal memory and hearing abilities. They can hear the sound but not the music. The pattern appears as noise because the brain is not able to simulate the narrative. This condition is known as music amnesia.
Music, like language, only exists inside our minds. We like it because our brain simulates it as something to be liked. Brain is not programmed to like music as I said earlier, it literally creates music out of thin air. Music does not exist outside our brains.
No one knows why we evolved to like music. Research shows that people fall in love with music, or hate it in just 5 sec. There is apparently no benefit to enjoying such abstract patterns of vibrations of air molecules. The noise can attract predators or other enemies. Not good if you live in the jungle like our ancestors did.
But then animals are known to take dangerous risks to woo their mates. The bright colours, and loud mating calls, are all things that animals evolved to stand out in the competition, that attract both mates and predators. Music is bold confidence on display. Things we do for love.
That might explain why we evolved to appreciate music. As humans got better at speaking, music also got better and more complex. Complex music skills might also have been a sign of intelligence, a skill potential mates would fall for.
Next time you do not like particular music, don’t blame the musician. Blame your brain for not allowing you to enjoy it.
Coming back to the aliens stumbling upon the great discovery of Bhairav Raag. Aliens who evolved differently from us would probably* have no idea how we can enjoy such noises because the noise, or the electromagnetic waves, exists, but music does not. Not in their brain, or an equivalent organ, if they have one.
* Birds and bats both evolved wings through convergent evolution, without a common winged ancestor. But they did inherit forelimbs from a common ancestor. Aliens and humans can have convergent evolution for music. But that needs organic aliens first.
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