My favorite thing to do is listen to music and Socrates' arguments concerning music in the city in speech unnerve me greatly. So I want to pose a question that I don't even conceptually have an answer to.
Does music shape our experience of the world or does the world shape our experience of music? (or some combination of the two.) This is meant to flesh out the ideas put forward of what kind of music or art can be within the city in speech, because it is argued that certain types of artful expression would corrupt the guardian class.
I think some of both. There are studies I've seen that suggest a correlation between heavy metal and suicide rates, but it's difficult to prove which comes first. I think this is the sort of thing that Socrates might be trying to address: if he can eliminate heavy metal, it's no longer a question. We're neither indulging the suicidal, nor contributing to their suicidal tendencies (depending on which way the question flows).
ReplyDeleteIt's been shown that chamber music and other forms of structured classical music have aided students in math understanding. (not that listening to Beethoven in the womb will birth you a genius. that's false.) I think it has something to do with the strong, steady, predictable structure that mimics many of math's undercurrents. Music helps us structure our world in tangible ways, which may be why it's such a powerful medium among older teens -- they're just learning how to sort and control strong emotions, and music can be an outlet for that activity.
I'm curious to see what other people say. I know I've been through several iterations in my music library, and I would put them in the shape-and-be-shaped category. I was raised on only classical for "moral reasons." As a ballet teacher (years later), I discovered U2 like it was my new best friend and added it to a list that included new age trance and Jamiroquai's Canned Heat. Right now I haven't found anything worth listening to, so I don't have music around me very much... and it makes me a little sad.
To add to that, I have lately found that actually making music myself greatly magnifies its power to affect my mood and outlook. Genre doesn't matter much, but then I'm not young and impressionable -- already geezerly and corrupt.
ReplyDeleteAlso, check out Leviton's This is Your Brain on Music about the unique neurological connectivity of music.
I'd like to point out the all-important phrase that correlation does not equate to causation. I first thought this in defense of heavy metal.I find its doubtful that heavy metal provokes suicide. Instead, I would lean towards the thought that in times of depression, heavy metal can provide a catharsis that some genres may not be able to.
ReplyDeleteBut, the phrase helps us in other ways. We should always be mindful of the differences of correlation and causation.
I think Sharon's post was sensitive to the correlation/causation problem. Her argument, if I understood it, is that since they do correlate, probably either HM causes suicides, or it attracts those prone to suicide. Either way, we want to be careful with it.
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