Has music become a replacement for conscious thought in today's youth?

[DanDanikov]

I don't know about other people, but depending on the type of music and when it is listened to, I'd say it's actually a sign of intelligence. I'm a fairly smart guy and I listen to music most of my day while I'm working (pausing to chat to colleagues). Personally, I find music engages certain areas of my brain, allowing other aspects to perform better undistracted.

An interesting criteria to the music is it must be instrumental- music with lyrics, or at least, english lyrics, engages the verbal center of my brain, which distracts me from coding, which fits the engaging inactive parts of the brain theory.

 

[Korolev]

What about podcasts? Ever think about that? When I listen to my iPod, it is almost always for listening to podcasts, educational podcasts at that. People also have radios with their iPods now too.

 

[skeliton112]

Well you dont go to nightclubs to listen to their great music, u go there to socialise. Its just there for filler.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

I usually just listen to instrumental music from my computer, since I'm at home a fair bit of my time. I have an Ipod, though.. I'm not.. entirely sure where it is right now.. But~!

Mostly, just to drown out other, unwanted noises. For me, I can never listen to music and work at the same time. I prefer listening to thoughts develop during the work, rather than drowning them out. But for some, it seems to be the opposite.

 

[Adventurer2626]

Well I've spent 22 years living with myself, talking to myself, eating with myself, traveling with myself, studying with myself, brushing my teeth with myself and watching TV with myself; I think I deserve a break from thinking with myself every now and then. Seriously, I get F*ing boring after a while.

 

[Latinidiot]

I do not listen to music in company. I find it simply rude to be in a conversation while only half paying attention. but I do listen a lot of music. you saying that it replaces thinking is, simply said stupid, or misinformed, or *GASP* BOTH.

 

[AMMO Kid]

not really

 

[Kasawd]

Well you dont go to nightclubs to listen to their great music, u go there to socialise. Its just there for filler.

Ahh, man, the music is why I stay away. XD

Anyway, Pimp, you may have a point, in some cases. I know a few people who are genuinely afraid of silence and they use their music to allay what they don't like.

I'm not someone who listens to music constantly, though, so I'm not sure of the input I have for the thread. I listen to music whilst doing chores and browsing forums.

 

[Mortons4ck]

If you ever have the misfortune of working as a dishwasher, you will realize how necessary music is. While you body is engaged in washing the dishes, and some lesser part of your brain is counting seconds and scrubs, the rest of your mind begins to wander (I imagine much like solitary confinement or a sensory deprivation chamber). You become painfully aware of each and every second that goes by, 8 hours becomes an eternity. Music/News programs are helpful because they keep the rest of your mind blissfully occupied and away from the fact that you are preforming mind-numbing, soul-crushing menial labor. It makes it MUCH more tolerable.

Ah, I can't begin to express how sorry I am for you! Oh yeah, if you have a monotonous job, I bet it totally takes the boredom away!!

How come you ended up as a dishwasher? Is this, in part, due to the recession? I know how hard it is to get jobs in the UK, so it'll be a damn sight harder to get them in the US, I bet...?

Long story, but suffice to say it was the only job available and I need the money for college. The colleges keep jacking up the rates so my savings/financial aid just doesn't cut it anymore. The recessions supposedly been disappearing, but since I live in city whose main industry is tourism, it is doing so at an alarmingly slow pace.

OT: I submit to you, Pimppeter and Escapist Readers, that music as you have described it, is not the problem but rather a symptom to a larger problem. Our generation lacks the patience of previous ones. Read this article [http://www.cracked.com/article_15231_7-reasons-21st-century-making-you-miserable.html], it is a Cracked Magazine List, but it's quite good. In the Information Age, knowledge is no longer hard won. A simple Google search and a hop over to Wikipedia can reveal what used to 5 hours of hiking it to our libraries and pouring over books, periodicals, and microfilm. In the workplace, people are trained to fit 36 hours of work in a 24 hour time period. We are taught to move fast and work faster. Music is nice because it can facilitate this process and keep you on task. If your listening to music, your mind is wandering, and it's staying on the task at hand. It's not a drug, per-se, it's more like the big burly man steadily pounding his drum in a prison barge to keep the slaves rowing in tempo.

I?ll be walking down the hall talking to a friend, who?s eager for us to stop talking so that he can plug in his headphones.

I don't believe it's the music, your friend is just rude.

 

[halfeclipse]

<snip_

Fair enough. I've been described as a very black and white person. (You're either with me, or against me. Cowboy style)

I just cannot understand the desire to fill every waking second with noise. Hence my problem with Ipods and headphones, because they send the noise directly to you distracting you of your surroundings and capability to think.

I think if I was forced to do this I'd probably end up in an asylum in California or something. I'm just a man who cherishes quiet and thought.

Unless your head is incased in an air tight box you're still not getting silence. Around me right now the TV is going, there the hum of the refrigerator doing its thing, and the stove light is clicking on and off. If I step outside theres the sound of the highway, the wind, birds chirping and some squirrel is probably going on about something. Walk up the road and get on a bus there's people talking, the noise of the engine, the bus system telling you what the next stop is and probably some idiot playing music on there cell phone. Get off and say head into a mall, you'll find the sound of yet more people talking,the sound of a few hundred people all walking, if your near the food court there's the sound of kitchen timers and food cooking and so on.

Every waking second is already filled with noise, and a lot of it isn't pleasing to the ear. Is it really so shocking that some people will choose something they wish to hear over that when given the choice?

Edit: Grammar stuffs is gud.

 

[Pimppeter2]

<snip_

Fair enough. I've been described as a very black and white person. (You're either with me, or against me. Cowboy style)

I just cannot understand the desire to fill every waking second with noise. Hence my problem with Ipods and headphones, because they send the noise directly to you distracting you of your surroundings and capability to think.

I think if I was forced to do this I'd probably end up in an asylum in California or something. I'm just a man who cherishes quiet and thought.

Unless your head is in cased in an air tight box you're still not getting silence. Around me right now the TV is going, there the hum of the refrigerator doing its thing, the stove light is clicking on and off. If I step outside theres the sound of the highway, the wind, birds chirping and some squirrel is probably going on about something. walk up the road and get on a bus there's people talking, the engine, the stop information system telling you what the next stop is and probably some idiot playing music on there cell phone. Get off and say head into a mall, theres yet more people talking, the sound of a few hundred people all walking. If your near the food court there's the sound of kitchen timers and food cooking and so on. Every waking second is already filled with noise, and a lot of it isn't pleasing to the ear.

Is it really so shocking that a person will choose something they wish to hear over that when given the choice?

There's a difference because that kind of background noise isn't being shot straight into your brain.

 

[halfeclipse]

<snip_

Fair enough. I've been described as a very black and white person. (You're either with me, or against me. Cowboy style)

I just cannot understand the desire to fill every waking second with noise. Hence my problem with Ipods and headphones, because they send the noise directly to you distracting you of your surroundings and capability to think.

I think if I was forced to do this I'd probably end up in an asylum in California or something. I'm just a man who cherishes quiet and thought.

Unless your head is in cased in an air tight box you're still not getting silence. Around me right now the TV is going, there the hum of the refrigerator doing its thing, the stove light is clicking on and off. If I step outside theres the sound of the highway, the wind, birds chirping and some squirrel is probably going on about something. walk up the road and get on a bus there's people talking, the engine, the stop information system telling you what the next stop is and probably some idiot playing music on there cell phone. Get off and say head into a mall, theres yet more people talking, the sound of a few hundred people all walking. If your near the food court there's the sound of kitchen timers and food cooking and so on. Every waking second is already filled with noise, and a lot of it isn't pleasing to the ear.

Is it really so shocking that a person will choose something they wish to hear over that when given the choice?

There's a difference because that kind of background noise isn't being shot straight into your brain.

Provided it's kept at a sane volume it's not being shot straight into your head though. Sure it's there but a lot of other every day noise can be much much louder then that even when heard at a distance. Conversation is around 60 DB, traffic is around 80, riding in a subway car is around 90, I'll usually have my music at around 30-40 DB unless I'm actively listening to it(In fact right now its a fair bit under that.) The people who listen to there music turned all the way up the whole time are a different case but that's more likely a symptom of stupidity then anything else.

There is probably people that as you say treat it like a drug but they'll be a very small minority. In most cases it's more likely a combination of the general boredom that is life then anything else, and that having your to your iThing, or other mp3 player on hand has become fashionable.



Edit: I will spell check before clicking post, I will spell check before clicking post, I will spell check before clicking post....

 

[TyrantGanado]

I find music helps concious thought. At least for me. Music often spurns my imagination into far-off places. It can proves useful when writing and you're looking to shake things up.

Alternatively, I can shut off my concious brain and focus solely on music, in a kind of trance. Doing so greatly aids in passing boring journeys.

 

[skeliton112]

Well you dont go to nightclubs to listen to their great music, u go there to socialise. Its just there for filler.

Ahh, man, the music is why I stay away. XD

Anyway, Pimp, you may have a point, in some cases. I know a few people who are genuinely afraid of silence and they use their music to allay what they don't like.

I'm not someone who listens to music constantly, though, so I'm not sure of the input I have for the thread. I listen to music whilst doing chores and browsing forums.

In case u didnt notice that was sarcasm

 

[Blights]

Well, I listen to music all the time. (Brianstorm - Arctic Monkeys is what I'm listening to right now.)

It's simple, before, being able to listen to music wherever you want was a pain in the arse, you can't go around with a wierd CD player. But now MP3/4's and iPod's are out, and they are extremely cheap. Downloading music is simple and easy, and actually cheaper than buying the CD's. It's a trend that will probably stay, people listen to music because it is really easy to do and they like music, simple.

I mean, if you could, you would want to be able to play TF2 with a console the size of your palm, wouldn't you? It's the same concept.