Musicking as Emergent Ecological Behavior: Linking Cognition, Culture and Neuroscience.
Author(s):
Michael Golden
Publication Year:
2018
Type:
conference paper
Journal/Book Title
Proceedings of ICMPC15/ESCOM10
Publisher
Centre for systematic musicology, University of Graz
Editor(s):
Richard Parncutt
Sabrina Sattmann
Pages:
168-171
Volume:
Issue:
Abstract:
For musicians and students of human musicking, advances in scientific and philosophical research and scholarship in recent years offer an opportunity to address some enduring questions about this universal human behavior and its role in our daily lives and the development of our species. This paper will suggest an integrated perspective on musicking, specifically by exploring and linking together insights from a range of disciplines. While ethnomusicology has demonstrated the diversity of specific functions attributed to music around the world, a meta-analysis of this work reveals a common thread across diverse cultures; we express the sense that musicking connects us to our environments – social, physical, and/or metaphysical. To explore the significance of this seemingly abstract sense, I will draw on work in neuroscience and cognition, beginning with the Santiago theory of Maturana and Varela. One of the several components of the Santiago theory important to this paper is the idea that with a sufficiently complex nervous system, we “bring forth” both inner and outer worlds, and connect them through structural coupling. Put another way, we have as a foundation a biological correlate for the discourse concerning the value of music found in cultures around the world. Musicking can be understood as essentially an emergent connective or ecological behavior, a view consonant with current work in evolutionary musicology, “4E cognition” and auditory neuroscience. In turn, this view suggests areas for further research, including the potential of musical activities aimed at improving the state of our relationships with our various environments. These might include, for example, education, peace-building, or fostering ecological awareness. The text that follows is a synopsis of the paper presented at the conference.
Citation (Chicago Author-Date):
Golden, Michael. 2018. “Musicking as Emergent Ecological Behavior: Linking Cognition, Culture and Neuroscience.” In Proceedings of ICMPC15/ESCOM10, edited by Richard Parncutt and Sabrina Sattmann, 168–71. Graz: Centre for systematic musicology, University of Graz. https://static.uni-graz.at/fileadmin/veranstaltungen/music-psychology-conference2018/documents/ICMPC15_ESCOM10%20Proceedings.pdf.