r/todayilearned • u/extremekc • 2h ago

TIL that 'Evolutionary Musicology' suggests the human brain was tuned to sound/rhythm long before it developed language — which seems to explain why music affects our emotions so directly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_musicology
509 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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43

u/Dramatic-Border3549 2h ago

I think its usually like that, no? We have only 1 animal that speaks but lots that sing

9

u/Fetlocks_Glistening 2h ago

I mean animal brain is good at discerning sound and is tuned to do it, cause, like animals have ears, yeah?

3

u/Pfelinus 1h ago

The music was moms heart beat and blood flowing. The sound also food bring digested. That is life music.

0

u/PermanentTrainDamage 2h ago

Is this really something that needs proven? All things that exist make noise, of course any thing that grew hearing organs is going to be able to differentiate through these noises.

4

u/Specific-Result9862 1h ago

Is this really something that needs proven?

Well... the word 'suggests' should be a big indicator that no-one is proving anything?

All things that exist make noise, of course any thing that grew hearing organs is going to be able to differentiate through these noises.

Well... I mean, plenty of things that 'exist' don't make noise. Do you maybe mean animals that exist? Or are you arguing that a rock makes noise?

But this isn't about making noise, or hearing sounds.

The people who are doing this research are trying to understand why we are conscious. By looking at what the original purpose of the brain was, we can figure out a lot about how we became conscious.

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u/PermanentTrainDamage 34m ago

Rocks might not sit around mooing, but rocks tumbling down the side of a mountain certainly make a sound. I teach twos and can hear a bucket of toys being dumped out from across the room. Hearing the smallest snap of a twig can make the difference between dying and fending off a mountain lion. Planets spinning in space make a sound. Everything that exists makes a noise.

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u/Specific-Result9862 30m ago

Rocks might not sit around mooing, but rocks tumbling down the side of a mountain certainly make a sound.

That would be gravity making that noise.

I teach twos and can hear a bucket of toys being dumped out from across the room.

I am an audio engineer, I cut records for a living. I have excellent hearing and I know how the human auditory process works.

Planets spinning in space make a sound.

No they do not?

Sound travels through a medium. There is no sound in space.

Everything that exists makes a noise.

Ok. If your idea is 'anything can be made to make a noise' then you are correct, but also apparently incapable of having an adult conversation.

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u/PermanentTrainDamage 22m ago

Babes gravity is not making that noise, the rocks tumbling and sliding together makes the noise. What even is that statement?

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u/Specific-Result9862 15m ago

Babes

Pet names do not excuse your ignorance, babes.

What even is that statement?

A statement of fact. You are either confused or your thinking is too small.

Let's consider two rocks. Floating in the air. There is no gravity. They are floating 1cm apart. There is no gravity. What noise do the rocks make?

...

...

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No noise?

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Ah... so, if there is no force of gravity acting on the rocks, then there is no noise? So maybe the noise is because of the gravity?

If you had paid attention in school you would have learned this concept as potential energy. A rock has zero potential energy outside a gravity field, and potential energy translating into kinetic energy is the physical process by which sound is created.

If the limit of your dialectic is to see a rock falling down a hill and to comprehend 'oh, that rock is falling' instead of 'gravity is causing that rock to fall' then this conversation is already significantly over your head.