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submitted 3 weeks ago by lena@gregtech.eu to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

I mean, it's just a specific collection of noises that somehow tingles our brains.

I assume it's because we are great at recognizing patterns, and music is just that - patterns.

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[-] remon@ani.social 3 points 3 weeks ago

I assume it’s because we are great at recognizing patterns, and music is just that - patterns.

I think you pretty much got it there. It's more like, music is specifically tailord to sound like something we do enjoy.

[-] AmidFuror@fedia.io 2 points 3 weeks ago

I'll be honest with you. I love Michael Bolton's music! I do. I'm a Michael Bolton fan. For my money, it doesn't get any better than when he sings "When a Man Loves a Woman."

[-] DioramaOfShit@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

I see you not only have great taste in music, but movies as well.

[-] seven_phone@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Four four common time replicates the heartbeat and natural bodily rhythms but that does not really explain why music can so successfully alter emotional state in the listener. I think it is not really known why other than music connects with and is readily understood by organic brains, not just human in a very intimate way. For example a five minute piece of classical music is informationally very complex but a person is often able to hum it back after a single hearing and do so again years later. Repeating verbatim a five minute speech listened to is beyond most people and so it might be suspected that music is more native to the brain than is language.

[-] seven_phone@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

One thing I meant to add but forgot is the best way I can think to explain the effects of music in our minds and our ability to recall long sequences of notes is that human composed music is telling us a story that our brains already know.

[-] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I think it's a "glitch". Our brains are wired towards pattern recognitions, and this often manifests itself in recognizing seemingly random shapes as faces because of a vague resemblance.

It is my belief that music is a similar trait where we recognize patterns in rhythm, sound, and motifs as something pleasant because we are built to recognize and categorize so many things to the point where a series of sounds can give a pleasant feeling once we're able to "parse" it.

Source: None, really. Just me having given this a lot of thought in the past, as I'm very musically interested myself.

[-] deathmetal27@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Not built, learned.

[-] nao@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 weeks ago

must be one of the most reliably reproducible glitches ever

[-] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Music seems to tap into something very primal and has a significant effect on my mood.

Music is one of my greatest joys in life.

[-] tdawg@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

The real answer is that no one knows. There's probably no single answer for something so complex and so intricately related to us as a species. It probably has multiple factors ranging from increased survival to just pure curiosity. It's personal, cultural, and yet still somehow universal. It's like any other form of artistic communication. We just do it bc we do

this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2025
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