So I have a book recommendation for y'all. At your earliest convenience, run down to the nearest book store and buy Musicophilia - Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks, author of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. The author is a neurologist whose fascination with the brain is immediately evident, as is his knack for making clinical studies accessible and enjoyable to read. This book is filled with tales of fascinating disorders, obsessions, and cures all related to music. Seriously folks, this is nearly 400 pages of incredible stories. I find it really interesting that the author, without any religious practice, makes all these incredible points about the wonders of the human brain, when there is so much evidence that this is all the workings of a creative God. If you're interested in the brain and music, this one will be a fascinating read.
On a related note, I've been thinking about the effect music has on my own life, especially when it comes to its ability to alter moods. I know of a lot of people who use music as a reflection of their mood: sad music for sad times, happy music for happy times, indifferent music for indifferent times (okay, maybe not that one... mostly because I'm trying to think of what would be considered indifferent music, and I can't.) I, on the other hand, use music like medication, especially when it comes to my own depression. Music has enough power in my life to change the way I think and react, to the point where if I play sad music for sad times, I think I would feel worse than before. However, I'm not sure I would play sad music all that often when I'm happy, so it's not an exact science. Anyway, I'm curious what you guys think. So I'm going to see if I can't get one of those polls put on the side of my page. We'll see if it works.
Cheers.
1 comment:
I am so glad you wrote this post. You see, I own both Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and I have only read tidbits from the second. Truth be told, I didn't even realize they were both by Oliver Sacks. I picked them up at completely different times, each looking very good in its own way. So now I know, and I am also inspired to read them, probably starting today. And then, conceivably, Tales of Music and the Brain, which sounds excellent.
By the way, I voted twice on the poll, because it is an absolute 50/50 thing for me - music always medicates, but sometimes I go for the allopathic approach (treatment whose effects are intentionally incompatible with the disease) and sometimes the homeopathic approach (literally meaning "like cures like"). Music never fails to do something to my innards.
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