listen to this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJvucBDevyw there is an introduction. it is important to my point. notice how a simple repetitive sound is on its own is unsubstantiated but when mixed with free notes of the second hand makes an entrancing sound. neither sound on their own produces the outcome however when repetition and a different tune play they act in an odd way. what causes humans to be entranced by this form of music? why does it appeal to us? why does repetition have such a draw and have the ability to work so well with flowing melody? and most importantly why does it has this affect? especially in a uniform way? don't all people get drawn into a beat and have the ability to follow it and at time get encouraged to react in a certain way, i.e. the urge to move e.g. dance. it is not something that has been given by evolution it has no use or help to interact with the environment it is pleasure for the point of pleasure. is this a gift from god to be able to have pleasure in this way? what other reason can enable people to feel joy from something that benefits them in no way and offers them nothing but the sound in itself? i have no emotional attachment or memory when i hear it but it entertains me. what do you think?
an interesting observation. ive never realised that because i want to dance to a tune, or tap my foot, and my dog doesnt, that it is proof of God. i imagine it is. afterall, this response to music seems to me to be a fairly basic/primative reaction, yet is still unique to humans. as it is God given, it also proves the islamic fundamentalists wrong when they try and ban dancing and music. this simple observation of yours works on many levels.
also in the reaction in mood to the music, which can alter human behaviour and human action thus events. perhaps there is divine intervention in what music we hear and what our individual reaction is thus enabling god to act out will on earth on a subversive level. what do you think.
hmmm. i dont see dance as any other purpose than pleasure for the dancer, and for the observer, some form of pleasure - joy and admiration if it is professional ballerina, or howls of laughter if its me at a night club! it's similar perhaps to our sense of taste perhaps? God gave us the gift and we enjoy eating all kinds of different foods and drink - and some we dont enjoy so much. animals on the other hand dont seem to share this taste. herbivors eat the same grass every day with little preference for one patch or another, and carnivores tend to chose food /prey on opportunity over species. but our taste doesnt really serve us beyond that pleasure, other than of course to warn us (and animals) if what we are about to eat could do us harm. i think its these little tells that indicate intelligent design. we derive pleasure (gift) from some very 'simple' things, beyond the major gift of free will that animals lack.
morganist, you are kidding, right? Dance has a most significant use. Of course it has been "given by evolution". Many animals, birds and insects rythmically dance. Pattern and sound matching display is a natural and effective way to attract. It's part of the mating ritual . Even spiders do it. Pleasure is an evolved sense from those evolved practices that were successful and passed along through survival of the species , best to continue that line in reproduction. Even a simple evolved process can feel rewarding and be pleasurable too and avoid the effort of dance. The time honoured call of the redneckious trailerparkous " Do you wanna a shag?" - is often sufficient to tick all the boxes and get the evolutionary gene pool on its way once again. Even if there were any, there's no necessity for divine intervention, That's juju dude. But that evolved too. It's called superstition.
the animal dance may be to show off physical ability. i am talking about dancing to music do animals dance to sounds? regardless music does not just influence the body to dance it influences emotions. why do certain sounds especially a combination of sounds create a emotional reaction? is the reaction to that sound or combination of sounds something programmed in to us or developed and if it is developed why does it exist?
funny video. is it having an emotional reaction to the music or is it just moving to the beat. can that music influence its behaviour or just act like instructions. i think the original point i was making was more in the lines of this how come specific sounds or sounds together have certain affects that make people feel certain emotions. what is it that created this relationship is it a form of intervention or is there a reason certain sounds together sound good. why do some chords sound better than others and when mixed with others invoke human emotion. is the fact we feel emotion from those sounds a divine gift or something else.
Maybe it is something you feel first, and if the music match what you feel, then you like it. For example if you feel happy, then hear music, you want to dance. If you feel tired, or something like that, you hear the same song, but not want to dance. I do not know why.