"Music trains our theory of mind -our cognitive ability to infer and attribute mental states (beliefs, desires, emotions) to others. In a live performance, we are challenged to figure out the state of mind of the composer, his characters, the performers, and ourselves, the listeners. In this contemporary time of increasing censorship and decreasing funding, of processed news and embedded marketing, conscious listening to classical music is a way to revive our "theory of mind" defense."
"Literary scholar Lisa Zunshine writes that humans love figuring out the minds of fictional characters from their behavior and context. Similarly, we can decode characters in music through analyzing the composer's language-the harmony, phrasing, and silences that reveal intention and emotion. Sometimes, the more mystery and paradox there is, the more we want revelation. Other times, we realize the limits of what we can know."
Music trains theory of mind by enabling listeners to infer and attribute beliefs, desires, and emotions to others. Live performance challenges listeners to discern the minds of composers, characters, performers, and themselves. Conscious listening to classical music can counteract effects of censorship, declining arts funding, processed news, and embedded marketing by helping listeners perceive broader realities and maintain control of their mental states. Decoding compositional language—harmony, phrasing, and silences—reveals intention and emotion, while mystery and paradox can increase desire for revelation and expose epistemic limits. Classical music provides lenses for perceiving sincerity and drama, and these perceptual skills transfer to relationships, careers, and decisions. Familiarity bias and emotional blind spots can derail accurate inference.
Read at Psychology Today
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