> From: Mike Tintner [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > It's actually obvious if you care to listen, that music involves a > combination of pattern fitting/extrapolation and pattern BREAKING. The > whole > point of a pop song is that it involves a creative idea - a *twist* on > existing patterns. That's why people listen - to hear something NEW > and different as well as old and similar. Far from being dumbed down, > humans have never been so insatiable in their demand for novelty.
Music is algorithmically complex. If it were not, then it would be easy to write programs that could distinguish good music from bad, and it would be easy to write programs that could generate good music. The complexity of music is probably on the same order as language, about 10^9 bits. The number of people who can create good music is on the same order as the number of people who can write good books. It is unclear why humans evolved a taste for music. Desmond Morris (The Naked Ape) suggested that babies that like to listen to their mother's heartbeat are more likely to pass on their genes. -- Matt Mahoney, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=103754539-40ed26 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
