Why we enjoy music

-

Originally published in https://ideafair.bearblog.dev/why-we-enjoy-music/


Why we enjoy music

10 Jan, 2021

Music and ML

I think the reason why we enjoy music can be explained in terms of Machine Learning (ML). Music can be seen as an audio signal that has multiple levels of patterns in it. When we listen to music our brain is trying to learn and predict this pattern. We enjoy music when the brain is finally successful at this task. There must be some innate reward function for being able to learn and predict patterns successfully in our brain.

Confidence and Accuracy

To go bit deeper into when exactly we enjoy music the most, we can look at our brain's confidence & accuracy of the music prediction. At first both the confidence and accuracy are low, but after listening to the tune several times our accuracy increases. At this point we are able to predict with higher accuracy, but the confidence is still low. This is my guess when the enjoyment is highest as we are building confidence by being able to predict accurately. After sometime though the confidence is fully built up, so listening to the tune too many times is not enjoyable.

Levels of complexity

When we listen to the same music multiple times, we can start appreciating the finer details. Thus music or any other data source that has multiple levels of complexity is more interesting. One can read about this further in the (Godel Escher Bach book)[https://www.amazon.com/G%C3%B6del-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0465026567]. Thus it is not enough to have a regular pattern, the patterns should slowly increase in complexity. Creating new combinations from existing patterns adds more flavor to the music.

Ultimate music

Based on this we can imagine how one could create music that would give us the greatest enjoyment. One day perhaps someone could use ML to create an algorithm that would create a personalized music that keeps increasing in complexity. The music would start simple and whenever we start feeling it is repetitive it adds new complexity by mixing older tunes. This can be seen as a form of Curriculum learning. This concept need not be limited to music, we can apply the same principle to visual arts, games etc. Humans are pattern seeking machine and we enjoy learning new patterns.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2 million $ to the person you love or 1$ anonymously to 200 million poor?

-
Here is an ethics thought experiment that explores personal connection in altruism, similar to Peter Singer's thought experiments. Suppose you were given these two choices Choice A: You can give any single person you know (other than yourself) 2 million $ openly. Choice B: You can give 200 million of the poorest people on the earth 1 $ each, anonymously.  If one were a sensing and feeling type of person, then the choice would be obviously A. You could give your loved one 2 million dollars and that would be enough to make them financially independent for the rest of their life (assuming they use the money judiciously). You would be interacting with them regularly, you know them well for a long time and will continue seeing them be happy for the rest of your life. This is similar to the ending in The Last of Us. If one were logical, intuitive and truly selfless then choice B is clearly the better choice. Poor people across the globe would benefit many orders of magnitude more than in...
Read more

Autofunctions

-
Autofunctions: Exploring Recursive Utility in Everyday Objects Introduction In a world teeming with multifaceted objects and tools, a curious phenomenon often goes unnoticed: the ability of some objects to perform their primary function on others of their kind. I've coined a term for this fascinating concept: "Autofunctions." This blog post delves into the realm of autofunctions, exploring their presence in our daily lives and their implications in various fields. Defining Autofunctions An autofunction is when an object or tool applies its primary function to another of its kind. Think of a bag carrying other bags, a crane lifting another crane, or a software debugging tool debugging itself. This phenomenon transcends simple utility, reflecting a self-referential or recursive nature in the design and function of these objects. Everyday Examples To truly grasp the concept of autofunctions, let's look at some commonplace examples: Containers Holding Containers: This inc...
Read more

Media franchise lifecycle in a capitalistic world

-
One pattern I see in the western world is that if any media franchise/IP becomes popular, then it is milked till people stop liking it. e.g. Star wars, Game of Thrones TV series, Simpsons, Spongebob etc. Big corporations are hesitant to create new IPs, rather they try to play it safe by continuing with existing franchises or formulae. However if a new IP is created and it does become popular then it is extremely valuable as now the studios can start milking it till it dies. Thus a pattern we see is that every franchise will always end in a flop. Because in a capitalistic world otherwise it would be like leaving money on the table.  Only in cases where the franchise is owned by non-greedy entity who appreciates the art more than the money does the franchise not end in a flop. It takes generosity and respect for the creation for the owner to say "I know I can make some more money if I make a new movie from this, but I don't have any novel ideas, so I'm not going to make it....
Read more