The World in Six Songs
How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature
1 of 1 copy available
Daniel Levitin follows up his acclaimed New York Times?bestselling first book, This Is Your Brain on Music, with The World in Six Songs, an audacious look at how the brain evolved to play and listen to music in six fundamental forms and gave rise to human culture.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
August 19, 2008 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781101928813
- File size: 179187 KB
- Duration: 06:13:18
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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How did the six kinds of songs make humans who we are? Author Levitin, a rock musician turned neuroscientist, examines these six musical archetypes--songs of friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion, and love. Levitin brings energy and enthusiasm to his narration as he shares his ideas through a blend of personal experience, observation, and research. With a dramatic touch, he sets scenes, such as a prehistoric camp under attack or a group of modern high school students smoking. The book is about more than music; it looks at human emotion, ritual, and the workings of the brain. While some passages are complex, Levitin's delivery makes the material accessible to listeners. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine -
June 2, 2008
Charles Darwin meets the Beatles in this attempt to blend neuroscience and evolutionary biology to explain why music is such a powerful force. In this rewarding though often repetitious study by bestselling author Levitin (This Is Your Brain on Music
), a rock musician turned neuroscientist, argues that music is a core element of human identity, paving the way for language, cooperative work projects and the recording of our lives and history. Through his studies, Levitin has identified six kinds of songs that help us achieve these goals: songs of friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion and love. He cites lyrics ranging from the songs of Johnny Cash to work songs, which, he says, promote feelings of togetherness. According to Levitin, evolution may have selected individuals who were able to use nonviolent means like dance and music to settle disputes. Songs also serve as “memory-aids,” as records of our lives and legends. Some may find Levitin’s evolutionary explanations reductionist, but he lightens the science with personal anecdotes and chats with Sting and others, offering an intriguing explanation for the power of music in our lives as individuals and as a society.
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