The Thoughts of We

The origin of music is disputed. Charles Darwin believed that music was a kind of mating call. However, this theory has many flaws. First of all, lullabies and play songs were not acquired for mating purposes. Second, it has not been proven that humans had any evolutionary benefits from learning to play musical instruments. And third, one famous scientist, Steven Pinker, believed that music was an auditory cheesecake and conferred no evolutionary benefit. These theories have now become known as the evolutionary null hypothesis of the evolution of music.

The pleasure of music is a result of communication between brain circuits that produce pleasure. While these two types of reward are derived from the same area of the brain, music may activate different brain regions. Auditory regions of the brain process sounds and connect to reward centers. While other rewards activate similar regions of the brain, people often respond differently to music. And there is a high chance that humans may develop an addiction to music.

Music is also beneficial to human health. Research shows that people who listen to music are happier, healthier, and more tolerant of other people’s feelings. This may be due to the fact that the dynamic and sound variations of music are able to induce a shared emotional experience. As such, it works like language to motivate us. Therefore, the pleasure of listening to music can be a powerful motivational tool. There are many theories about this phenomenon.