I was reading a persuasive essay written by one of my classmates about the impact music has on our society and on the individual, and there were quite a few things that interested me that I would like to share.
The main point of her essay was to convince the reader of the array of benefits that exist for those who actively listen to constructive, rather than destructive, music. She stated that almost fifty percent of music student who apply for medical school get accepted. Another statistic states that the average GPA of high school students who study music is around 3.5, as opposed to the average GPA of everyone else, which is only at about 2.9. She claimed that music stimulates brain development, and helps reestablish connections in the brain that may have been lost due to brain damage. Hospitals are starting to play classical music to patients, finding that they heal faster when it’s played to them on a regular basis. The best part was when she told us of a study some scientists did to analyze the effects that different forms of music have on people. They created a small, lab rat-sized maze, then let a small group of rats try their luck at traversing the labyrinth. During the first attempt with music the group of vermin completed the maze far faster than they had without being accompanied on their journey by Bach and Mozart. However, during another run-through when the scientists played metal tunes at a loud volume, the rats never completed the maze but instead worked themselves into a sort of berserk, eventually killing each other off entirely.
I think this says a lot about how the media we consume does affect us, whether or not we notice it. As sentient beings we can resist being affected in such a drastic manner, yet even our superior resistance will wear over time. I’m not saying that we’ll go and cannibalize our neighbor one day after listening to a Slipknot album, but I do think that music affects the more subtle attributes of our personalities. The important ones, especially.
3 comments:
i am a firm believer of this whether it's been proven or not. when i was working at my last job in denver, paul bought me a little cd player and mozart cds to play when i got busy at work. without fail, whenever i was listening to mozart my mind seemed to work quicker and i was able to get my work done efficiently. as opposed to when my deskmate was playing her hip hop music and i felt like i kept having to re-do things.
No scientific study here, just my own experience and feelings. I whole heartedly agree. Music set the tone and atmosphere. Can you imagine general conference prelude by a rap band?
A time and place for everything.
I use music as my own personal soundtrack. I listen to aggressive music when I'm at the gym or when I need to "wake up", classical when I need to be studious, and church tunes when I need to be pious. Many more moods and music in between, but you get the idea.
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