Why Are We Wired This Way?

Why does a driving bass line send me over the moon?
I can play them over and over until it drives those around me to flee.

The Perry Mason theme makes me sway to & fro involuntarily.

When Jimi Hendrix hits a particularly high note with an almost screechy quality to it, or Santana eliciting a cry of sorrow.

There is some thing that is hardwired within me. Similar to the need to be loved. It is something I was born with.
Some people get the same thrill when looking at art, or reading a book or working with their hands.

What evolutionary purpose does it serve?
I suspect it is twofold.

On one hand it is symbolic language allowing for sharing, communicating. And this furthers movement of the species.
On the other it is the exploratory arm of evolution, looking for the next big thing.

In my heart though where I feel it the most acutely, it just feels right.

Sometimes the satisfaction is by myself. I write something particularly good...a tasty lick. I play a piece well. Sometimes it is in front of an audience. An audience also adds to the mix the energy that people bring. The back and forth sharing between the stage and the crowd can be electric; almost as good as sex.

We also know that songs with a beat that mimics the human heartbeat makes us dance involuntarily.
So there are physiological as well as mental considerations. But there seems to be something from the ether that connects us to music.

There is pattern matching, complete this sequence sort of puzzles throughout a musical piece. Our brains look for conclusion, closure. So we anticipate endings or phrases. And then when a new song is heard we look for familiar themes or use of dynamics. And we attempt to learn this new pattern as quickly as possible. Some of us focus on the lyrics, others the music.

Whatever the cause, I am wired this way.

Family Matters: Murder New York Style

Auntie Anita's Blog

Family Matters: Murder New York Style, edited by Anita Page


Read the book, see the movie...tell your friends!

Play Time - The Active Mind NEEDS Play Time

I play computer games.
Not all of them. I do not buy every iteration of NHL that Electronic Arts releases - heh,
(Bruins on the cover for 2015)

But I have owned a computer since 1980 and one of the things I do for distraction is play games.
Since the days when Sublogic made the first flight sim, I have been there.

That is a Piper 172 banking to the left (port). See the pretty mountains on the horizon? It was a 6 x 6 grid which if you flew in one direction continuously would lead you back to the starting point. The world depicted was 36 square miles and spherical.

I have not been really involved with any game since Legions in 2007. When it petered out I basically stopped playing games. Mistake.

Besides the social aspect (I play in a clan of over 200 members) there is a therapeutic feature in playing these games. They are causing the other side of the brain to fire up.

Last May I found a game called Insurgency. I have been playing it ever since.

And then I get asked to write a guide for the game?
And one respondent says,
"+1 on this, I may have it framed and hung on the loo wall."
Proud papa, indeed.
A Touch of Etiquette