music

Philosophy Forums Psychology and Mind
1

do you agree with this thesis?

  • yes
  • no
0 voters

I believe that music controls the mind. I can say this because of the following…

Let’s take punk music for instance… punk lyrics give out the message of not caring, anarchy and such things. Who else agrees the majority of punk kids actually do not care what others think of them and their actions?

Then we have emo music… emo lyrics give out the message of love lost, depression and some times happy themes. Alot of the kids who listen to emo music are always depressed over things, I know it’s normal to get depressed, but it isn’t normal to be depressed constantly 24/7. But they aren’t depressed constantly, it’s just an act because they think they are obligated to act in this way because of the lyrics they are hearing.

I think those can qualify to help me out with explaining that music can control the minds of not just kids and teenagers but adults as well.

2

Sure music impact the listener, but in the end, the listener has choices to make. I listened to much of the Doors as a teen, loved the melodies, disliked the words and never wanted to “Break on through to the other side” Love much of Stings works, but again never really believe “Murder is as easy as one, two three.”

However, there are those emotionally unbalanced, with little support who will take these words to heart. Very sad.

3

Yeah and have you ever noticed how people who watch Romantic films or chick flicks are usualy feminine? Gee, I watched one of them once… I must be a woman. :unamused: .

4

Hum, chick flick?? A small, chirping ball of feathers with no brain. :wink:

Hum, besides what is wrong with a sensitive male?

I do understand your intent. Would Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet be on the list? How about Ghost and A Midsummer’s Night Dream? ???

My other half enjoys Ghost, purchased it years ago.

Hum, I do not go to the movies often, perhaps once every ten years.

Just asking. :confused:

5

You have it backwards. People choose music that fits their mood and beliefs, or in some cases, what they want to be/how they percieve themselves.

6

A stimulant by all means, but it doesnt CONTROL
Music being one of many non-physical interventions which can influence our state of mind, louder/faster music makes you drive faster; christmas music makes you buy more useless crap in shops etc. However, don’t use the word CONTROL. That’s a scary thought…

7

A stimulant by all means, but it doesnt CONTROL
Music being one of many non-physical interventions which can influence our state of mind, louder/faster music makes you drive faster; christmas music makes you buy more useless crap in shops etc. However, don’t use the word CONTROL. That’s a scary thought…

8

jebd

I’ll let Schop take this one.

9

Music doesn’t control the mind. It short-circuits thinking and appeals directly to emotion. Of course, I’m speaking of the sound, the arrangement of different tones. Lyrics are of the mind and can accentuate the emotional response to the sound, but lyrics are performed poetry, and while they may be a component of music, they aren’t music in itself.

Listen to music that contains no lyrics and the response is all about emotional connection.

JT

10

The music doesn’t control the mind. The mind chooses the music that it can best connect with. The punk kids do not become punk and lose all care, they turn to that music because it deals with the issues they feel or believe. Just like country music doesn’t make a person country, it just deals with things that someone country could associate with or they believe.

11

Music for some is just to take their mind off of what is really going on. Music never really affects my mood that much.

12

Music is the healer and the killer.

13

Music culture may be a social control in many real senses but it does not control the mind per se, that is, it does not brain wash it, take over it and then manipulate every subsequent faculty.

Perhaps you should look at this these more from a sociological perspective of ‘youth culture’ ‘forms of social control’ ‘you rebellion: as confroming non-confomrmity’.

Without music life would have been a mistake - Nietzsche.

14

Not to bring out my dusty old tomes again, but Xunzi said,

“Music is joy, and emotion which man cannot help but feel at times. Since man cannot help feeling joy, his joy must find an outlet in voice and expression in movement.
(. . .)
Music enters deeply into men and transforms them rapidly. … When music is moderate and tranquil, the people become harmonious and shun excess. When music is stern and majestic, the people become well behaved and shun disorder.
(. . .)
But if music is seductive and depraved, then the people will become abandoned and mean mannered.
(. . .)
Music embodies an unchanging harmony, while rites represent unalterable reason. Music unites that which is the same; rites distinguish that which is different; and through the combination of rites and music the human heart-and-mind are giverned.”

15

you cant honestly say this as a fact… alot of these punk kids listen to the sex pistols, crass and other anarchist/political bands and start believing in anarchism because they feel like they are obligated. alot of these kids dont pay attention to politics or even know much about current issues. how come 90% of these kids look the same… when did clothing become an issue or belief?

16

music and the media are an influencing factor but certainly not a causal factor