Music For Your Nerves
According to the Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, we live according to the "music of the spheres." Holding to this concept means seeing the universe as a complex, musical arrangement of cosmologies, geometries, and heavenly bodies-all of which are moving in harmonic relationships with one another. The concept is often poked fun of for being "new-agey" or "sci-fi."
But a team of Danish scientists has recently made the leap of suggesting that nerves in our body may communicate through sound waves, and not electricity. The discovery, if true, would lend itself quite handily to larger analogies. If it is music, not electricity, that transmits messages throughout the body/mind system, then it may not be far fetched to say that Pythagoras was correct.
Pictures courtesy of creative commons users:
http://flickr.com/photos/jahdakinebrah/
Tweet- 9-25-07
- Adam Elenbaas's blog
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science, art, experience
It is funny how the more "new age-y" thoughts of scientific fathers like Kepler and Newton are little-known. Newton enjoyed dabbling in theology, which is widely ignored despite the influence he has had in that field. I had a professor who emphasized very greatly the shift between a more zen-like approach to Christianity to one that emphasized a more mechanical 'Big Brother' type of God who is always watching and reigning over the cosmos. This shift, he claimed, was due to Newtonian physics and the idea of a clock-like universe that needed constant adjustment and monitoring from an outside force. Meanwhile, Kepler was very obsessed with the harmonic configurations of the planets, proposing all sorts pleasing geometries for things like their orbits and sizes. Even now, scientists and mathematicians constantly search for more 'elegant', simple, and aesthetically pleasing theories.
Finally, I think it is interesting how vision-centric humanity can be. A lot of the scientific research I can think of is concerned with the nature of light, it's speed, and it's usefulness in creating new technology. (I'm an astronomer, though, so take that into account.) Still, we carry such a bias towards our visual sense that we often overlook the more basic ones that make us human. (No one says "I'll believe it when I feel it.") Music and sound can send shivers up my spine even more than a picture. Touch can bring me more ease and comfort than a thousand good words or voices.
Namaste. --EB--