Music

We think we understand why we are driven to eat, drink, take in sex, talk and so forth, based on the uncontroversial adaptive functions of these urges. The drive to engage in unison, a compul- sion that is arguably safe as pervasive in our species, has no such immediate explanation. Music was one human behaviour that Charles Dar- win was indistinct he could explain, writing in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex: As neither the enjoyment nor the capac- ity of producing melodious notes are faculties
of the least use to man ... they must be ranked amongst the most mysterious with which he is endowed.
Musics origins have remained puzzling in the years since, although thither is no short- age of speculation on the subject. Some argue that symphony is merely a side
effect of traits that evolved for other functions. Our perceptual and cogni- tive abilities may have accidentally resulted in a system that finds pleas- ure and invade in musi- cal stimulation. This idea should perhaps be the null hypothesis, and is by no means implausible.



Musics perceptual terms could derive from general-purpose audi- tory mechanisms, its syntactic components could be co-opted from language, and its effect on our emotions could be driven by the acoustic similarity of music to other sounds of greater biological relevance, such as spoken communication or animal vocalizations.
Just-So stories
Others contend that music is an adaptation with an associated biological function. Some (including Darwin) have proposed that music is the product of sexual selection. substitute(a) hypotheses include that music promoted social cohesion in class activities such as war or reli- gion, that music was an evolutionary anteced- ent to language, or that its evolution was driven by the pacifying effect it has on infants.
These discussions run the risk of being mostly Just-So stories, as there are few data with which to test or constrain...If you necessitate to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



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