Has music become a replacement for conscious thought in today's youth?
- Thread starter Pimppeter2
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I think it makes life less dull because if you listen to for example Heart of Courage by Two Steps From Hell it will make things more epic then they really are and that's a good thing right? :]
The thing about music is that it only requires one sense to use: the sense of hearing. It's not something you can see or feel (except very very extreme situations with the latter of those two) and it isn't even using the most necessary sense for us (the sense of sight). Because of this, music isn't something that requires as much dedication, so it can be heard whilst multi-tasking. This is the idea of background music -- this isn't a rarity either, there are whole [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_music] genres [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furniture_music] dedicated to background music played at a low volume so you can do other stuff over it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQLh3WanSfg&playnext_from=TL&videos=m2tWVhlzhk0]. Music can be used to fill a void without reducing the current actions considerately.
This is why people are able to hold conversations/ listen to other people (to an extent) whilst listening to music, it's why they can do work whilst listening to music, it's why they can drive whilst listening to music: whilst it may be a bit of a distraction it doesn't require enough attention to be an issue. I rarely do it myself as I find it too distracting as a whole (with exceptions such as the track by Brian Eno I linked to earlier and other pieces of Ambient, since that's their purpose), but I'm really into music and listening to it critically (concentrating hard on the seperate instruments and textures); it's why I took GCSE Music and why I'm currently doing AS Level Music Technology. If people don't want to listen to music that way and just want something to fill the silence, fair enough I used to do that too.
Only point I will agree with is the point about one-ear in headphones and one ear listening; not because of how it is anti-social, but because it doesn't give as good a representation of the music than otherwise (not because you're distracted). Being a Music Tech student, one phrase that is essential for me to know is the 'stereo image'. This is where the instruments sound they are coming from, and is a bit hard to describe, so just follow the instructions on this video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA] if you're interested in witnessing the effect of stereo image.
Cutting out the stereo image by only using one speaker potentially cuts out half the sound. Think of it as like seeing only half of Bruegel's painting of The Tower of Babel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tower_of_Babel_%28Brueghel%29].
This is why people are able to hold conversations/ listen to other people (to an extent) whilst listening to music, it's why they can do work whilst listening to music, it's why they can drive whilst listening to music: whilst it may be a bit of a distraction it doesn't require enough attention to be an issue. I rarely do it myself as I find it too distracting as a whole (with exceptions such as the track by Brian Eno I linked to earlier and other pieces of Ambient, since that's their purpose), but I'm really into music and listening to it critically (concentrating hard on the seperate instruments and textures); it's why I took GCSE Music and why I'm currently doing AS Level Music Technology. If people don't want to listen to music that way and just want something to fill the silence, fair enough I used to do that too.
This is coming from someone who has just admitted that they're not that into music, so such a result from a comparison is almost inevitable.
That's why you have that many songs, so that you can change it depending on your mood. If I'm on the bus and feel like listening to Fall Out Boy, guess what I'll do [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgS4mLnk98A&playnext_from=TL&videos=rWrgaUn-3GQ]. However, if I want something even softer, I always have that option to do so [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P6buGd5dBA].
Once again, the fact that you're not 'much of a fan of music' makes this comparison a bit predictable. But this also depends on how long he's had the iPod and how long he's had iTunes, as listening to stuff on your computer counts as a play on the iPod as well.
If anything I find it does this a lot less than gaming or watcing TV due to how little dedication it needs, it's just that the other two can't be done as often in public for that very reason, so music seems more antisocial when done in groups.
Only point I will agree with is the point about one-ear in headphones and one ear listening; not because of how it is anti-social, but because it doesn't give as good a representation of the music than otherwise (not because you're distracted). Being a Music Tech student, one phrase that is essential for me to know is the 'stereo image'. This is where the instruments sound they are coming from, and is a bit hard to describe, so just follow the instructions on this video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA] if you're interested in witnessing the effect of stereo image.
Cutting out the stereo image by only using one speaker potentially cuts out half the sound. Think of it as like seeing only half of Bruegel's painting of The Tower of Babel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tower_of_Babel_%28Brueghel%29].
I use my iPod when I ride a bus, and when you ride a bus, especially a public one, you often do NOT want the people sitting near your to talk to you, iPods are a godsend in those situations.
Otherwise an iPod is a great way to distract your thoughts from what you are actually doing, such as homework or chores, or it relaxes them, doesnt mean their addicted, just that they may want to relax.
Otherwise an iPod is a great way to distract your thoughts from what you are actually doing, such as homework or chores, or it relaxes them, doesnt mean their addicted, just that they may want to relax.
my music play is just filled with stuff i like to play over and over again.. that and books on tape
You seem to be thinking into it too deeply.
I listen to music constantly and it doesn't impair anything i do, on the contrary it makes it more bearable and i find it easier to concentrate when i have something that i choose to listen to playing in my ears rather then the overheard conversations of the people around me.
As for 'not paying attention to the music while doing other activities' i use it more as a backing track to whatever it is im doing.
"I believe that people are listing to their Ipods all day to avoid conversations. Not just because they like music, its impossible to be so attached to music to do this all day, all year" As for this, its untrue, im extremely attatched to my music, id happily sit around listening to it all day (just have other things that need doing aswell, like college) If someone starts talking to me though, id take them out straight away
But yeah, that's just me, whatever you feel i guess.
I listen to music constantly and it doesn't impair anything i do, on the contrary it makes it more bearable and i find it easier to concentrate when i have something that i choose to listen to playing in my ears rather then the overheard conversations of the people around me.
As for 'not paying attention to the music while doing other activities' i use it more as a backing track to whatever it is im doing.
"I believe that people are listing to their Ipods all day to avoid conversations. Not just because they like music, its impossible to be so attached to music to do this all day, all year" As for this, its untrue, im extremely attatched to my music, id happily sit around listening to it all day (just have other things that need doing aswell, like college) If someone starts talking to me though, id take them out straight away
But yeah, that's just me, whatever you feel i guess.
I listen to music when i'm alone and for entertainment/motivational purposes, if someone's talking to me, headphones out.
wwwwhhhaaaaatttsss wwwrrroooonnngggg wwwwiiitthhh ttthhhaaaattt
wwwwhhhaaaaatttsss wwwrrroooonnngggg wwwwiiitthhh ttthhhaaaattt
Youth never thinks, look at any era and its mostly true and you can't compare today's music with yesterdays real artist's.......
What point are you trying to make? You've just named a random artist, I can't even tell if you like him or not.daltob said:
Where I live, this isn't so much a problem, but I can see your point.
Wow. You really hate music...
I listen to my iPod a fair bit when I'm out. Especially if I'm on my own. It's just much more entertaining. I like music. I can do things whilst listening to music. I find it better to have music in the background than silence. YEs, I may not be "listening" to it, but I can still hear it.
I listen to my iPod a fair bit when I'm out. Especially if I'm on my own. It's just much more entertaining. I like music. I can do things whilst listening to music. I find it better to have music in the background than silence. YEs, I may not be "listening" to it, but I can still hear it.
I wouldn't say worried, more "bewildered"Ekonk said:
And yes, if suddenly nearly everyone spent more than a reasonable amount of time gaming every single day, I would be "worried" as well. Then again, you have to consider that games are much longer than song.
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.Rachel317 said:
I just mean? You're going to go after MUSIC as the downfall of Western civilization? Music?Pimppeter2 said:
Plus if you WERE doing this as a kind of thought experiment, it's incredibly well put together. "What if you took the argument videogame-opponents take about videogames and used it against something patently innocuous, like music?"
So you're either doing a really good job applying bogus logic, or I'm just missing your point.
I listen too podcasts (mostly about warhammer and warhammer 40k) and alot of music and I am a teenager but I don't think that I am addicted, but I really like having something to listen too because my mind is over active and can quickly spiral out of control if I don't fill the space with something else. Something I learned to late in a few cases but nevermind that.
If I'm in the gym it helps me to have some of my metal playing because it gets me in that zone where I put a bit more energy into things, draining my stress and anger to push me through the last ten reps...
If I'm out running I often put on a podcast because it helps me feel like someone else is there and it covers up my huffing and puffing which I know would put me out of my zone as I get a bit self conscious at times. Especially the times when I am soaking with sweat.
And when I am writing I like to put on something different, right now I am really into metal remakes of pop songs and for some reason Ice Cube they take me away from the present and get me into a different mind set.
As you say yourself Pimppeter2 you aren't a music lover, so this is just something you don't "get", the same way I will never "get" World Of Warcraft.
And besides it could always be worse, at least they are just listening to music, can you imagine how annoying it would be if they were all singing?
If I'm in the gym it helps me to have some of my metal playing because it gets me in that zone where I put a bit more energy into things, draining my stress and anger to push me through the last ten reps...
If I'm out running I often put on a podcast because it helps me feel like someone else is there and it covers up my huffing and puffing which I know would put me out of my zone as I get a bit self conscious at times. Especially the times when I am soaking with sweat.
And when I am writing I like to put on something different, right now I am really into metal remakes of pop songs and for some reason Ice Cube they take me away from the present and get me into a different mind set.
As you say yourself Pimppeter2 you aren't a music lover, so this is just something you don't "get", the same way I will never "get" World Of Warcraft.
And besides it could always be worse, at least they are just listening to music, can you imagine how annoying it would be if they were all singing?
I think that music can be one of two things:
1) A form of entertainment/escapism
2) A form of artistic expression of intellectual ideas.
In the second sense, I believe that music stimulates the mental function of those who listen to it often.
1) A form of entertainment/escapism
2) A form of artistic expression of intellectual ideas.
In the second sense, I believe that music stimulates the mental function of those who listen to it often.
I both listen to and play music, so there are really two times when I listen:
A. Listening to music to help me work or concentrate
B. Listening to music to study it, to enjoy what the musicians are doing, and to apply it to my playing.
That aside, music is just entertainment. An entertainment form that these days is really easy to partake in (i.e ipods, small headphones), and really easy to do while doing other things.
Imagine if technology came out where you could do your bills and play video games at the same time. People would buy it.
You're right, it is a form of escapism if it inhibits your social interaction, and that can be compared to children watching cartoons for hours a day.
Interesting thread by the way, considering that I'm probably one of the people that you say are constantly plugged into their music.
A. Listening to music to help me work or concentrate
B. Listening to music to study it, to enjoy what the musicians are doing, and to apply it to my playing.
That aside, music is just entertainment. An entertainment form that these days is really easy to partake in (i.e ipods, small headphones), and really easy to do while doing other things.
Imagine if technology came out where you could do your bills and play video games at the same time. People would buy it.
You're right, it is a form of escapism if it inhibits your social interaction, and that can be compared to children watching cartoons for hours a day.
Interesting thread by the way, considering that I'm probably one of the people that you say are constantly plugged into their music.
You said it yourself: it's a matter of listening to music while doing other things. Some people would rather listen than talk to friends and such, and that's just wrong, but to blame music for that is like blaming video games for violence: correlation is not causation, and that's not a common thing.
But music is an artistic background for life. It makes everything entertaining, makes the impact for certain things much better. People like listening to music for a similar reason that we like music in our movies: everything's better with a soundtrack.
Beyond that, you don't really care for it in the first place. So you just don't get it, and that's fine. It's a matter of appreciation for an art form. But if I remember right, you don't really recognize most art forms either, so... I don't know what to tell you.
But music is an artistic background for life. It makes everything entertaining, makes the impact for certain things much better. People like listening to music for a similar reason that we like music in our movies: everything's better with a soundtrack.
Beyond that, you don't really care for it in the first place. So you just don't get it, and that's fine. It's a matter of appreciation for an art form. But if I remember right, you don't really recognize most art forms either, so... I don't know what to tell you.