Musicians' brains keep time--With one another: Scientific American Blog: "Ever wonder how musicians manage to play in unison? Credit their brain waves: they synchronize before and while musicians play a composition, according to new research."
And people say ESP is a myth. If randomly selected musicians, that is unrelated, can synchronize brain waves just to play a random piece of music, in a lab yet, with no audience to play to or play off of, what can be said of the brain waves of a chorus or orchestra in a hall full of people wanting to participate in the experience. Or. hold on to your God beliefs here, pro or anti, what about a church full of people singing hymns and praying to God. Can it be that the synchrony creates God, or perhaps recreates the God of the previous meetings back as far a the religion can trace its roots? Oh yeah, I forgot, they could be synchronizing with their supernatural omnipotent alpha humanoid in the sky, or more likely with the little tinhorn in the fancy dress in the overdecorated balcony.
In any event if synchronizing brain waves isn't ESP, just what is it? I think the skeptics need to examine the evidence and take a closer look at some of the phenomena they love to debunk.
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Just back from the first rehearsal of the Mozart Requiem and Mendelssohn chorals after reading the article. Sorry, Bob, watching the stick is just a focusing mechanism, concentrating on the entrance works just as well. The brain waves get the trill on the R in requiem just in the right place to get the e right on the beat whether or not I look at the "stick." I have always wondered how that worked since the visual cue of the down beat must be anticipated in a case like that.
The real question in the case of a chorus or orchestra is where do the brain waves come from that we sync to. My guess and I would like to see a conductor hooked up during a rehearsal is that the difference between a great conductor and an ordinary one is that their brain waves are "syncable" and that once synced convey a lot more information than just the beat. Obviously the beat is basic, all group synchrony comes from the rhythm of the leader, which is why the cadence of a preacher is so important in generating the synchrony of thought in the congregation. But I am thinking that there is so much more than the rhythm that is carried by the brain waves. That would explain those rare performances when the audience and performers are in sync and feeding back to create an incredible performance.
This may explain the cognitive dissonance when Bob mentioned how good Elena Sharkova was and the really sloppy entrances on the Faure requiem. I mean how hard can it be to get the K on the beat in Kyrie when the conductor is waving a big stick for the orchestra chorus and orchestra. Also may be why I have never liked Vance George. If the chorus can't sync with the conductor, how can the audience sync with the chorus.
Thanks for the good brain waves Bob, I don't think you can do anything about it. "Either you got it or you don't."
Good grief! You really have fallen hook, line and sinker for this ESP shit, haven't you?
"A touchstone to determine the actual worth of an "intellectual" - find out how he feels about ESP."
Gee, "Anonymous" don't dare use a recognizable user name? Don't worry no ROC here. Controversy is welcome here. Intelligent controversy preferred, but any kind is OK.
But never mind. I haven't fallen for ESP. I just know how to recognize it when it happens, and use it when ethical. The touchstone of a pseudo-intellectual is how hesh cannot get past herm cognitive biases to consider new information.
Incidentally, if you are going to sling Heinlein quotes on this blog you have to get them right. It is Astrology not ESP. ESP was a given between the twins in Time Enough For Love, and Rolling Stones and assumed in several other books. Explicitly discussed in Stranger.
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