A Jumble of Old Sticks

The social dimension of music weaves itself in and out of conversations. Worlds are turned inside out and upside down. Soiled hand-me-downs are offered as new garments. Purposes turn to nostalgia. In another world long extended dialogues are sustained, aspects of science scrutinised. Models of evolutionary biology are pulled apart to reveal analogues of specialised practices of contemporary music. Consider speciation for example. From a particular perspective the complex behaviours of living beings under evolutionary or environmental pressures can help us understand or indeed create certain types of music. Literature, utopian worlds, worlds turned inside out, the weather here and the weather there, rarely politics, analogies drawn from linguistics, the art world, which comes out of most discussions smelling badly, the general stupidity of people, often artists as it happens and yes, ourselves. 

If I must be thrawn let it be about the scientific method, its history and its successful adoption by so many great minds. I choose to respect it, all the more so in a world where the louder you talk nonsense the more people listen to you and eventually believe you. Or a world where commercial pressures demand fast content in regular doses. This includes the world of art and artists, which comprises of course music and the sonic arts.

Ernst Mayr had a spat with some American scientists over their claims about Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence based on unscientific principles. He also acknowledges that 'the scientific method is a powerful tool for understanding the natural world, but it requires adaptation and interpretation when applied to different fields of science, particularly historical sciences like evolution.’ From time to time the study of music also benefits from a change of lens.

And finally in the interest of equipoise let’s not forget how Kafka would be rolling about the floor laughing so hard while reading The Trial aloud “that at times he was unable to continue reading”.