[ph0rk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoomzDayz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not directly. It has to do with the type of person they are, and there are tons of psychological studies to determine how much of that is intrinsic or nurtured. No one I know around me is as explorative as I am in any area, and no one I really know listens to such a variety of music as I do. However, I did meet this one guy last year, but he didn't have an influence on my desire to explore, just let me explore more.

Tomayto, tomahto.

Is not the "type of person" someone is in part culturally determined?

As far as the "tons" of studies about the determinants of what psychology might term personality, the jury is still very much out on that one, and other social and behavioral sciences have a thing to say about it too, not that the armchair psychologists will listen.

That isn't to say I'm not fascinated by the newer behavior genetic models for personality traits - I am. But there are zero behavioral traits that have a direct genetic cause. Any behavior geneticist (who is both competent and honest) will tell you that a complex multilevel interaction between both genes and environment determines behaviors or personality traits - there is no "rock and roll" gene, just as there is no premarital sex gene, no smoking crack gene, etc.

The cultural/social environment an individual grows up in is a significant portion of those environmental factors. It is that environment that supplies the meaning certain genres have (or don't have) for the individual.

I suppose a shorter, sweeter way of explaining this would be to say that different musics mean different things to different people. It is the meanings invoked by listening to (and by being the sort of person that listens to) those musics that result in taste differences.

 

[z50j]

How come nobody posted "Personality"!
becuse people are sarcastic or because people have longer answers

 

[ph0rk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by z50j /img/forum/go_quote.gif How come nobody posted "Personality"! becuse people are sarcastic or because people have longer answers

Because without any way to get at the causal mechanism for why personalities differ, you would be reduced to saying that people listen to different music because they have different personalities - people act different because they are different.

Sounds like tautology to me.

 

[melomaniac]

well, I suppose people saw the article in the current issue of The Economist on 'why we like music' coming after a few books (some better than others) on neuro-musicology (oliver sacks and cohorts), but ultimately IMHO the debate over taste, likes, preference, judgements is a few centuries old, and as controversial now as it was before the enlightenment (a few hundred pages of Immanuel Kant anyone?

 

[z50j]

OH....

Thanks for the explanation

 

[cegras]

I listen to anything that sounds good. Good, in my opinion, is a certain arrangement of the score that has pleasing sets of chords laid out one after another. Good examples are things like plagal (IV) to dominant (V) back to root (I).

Wow, I actually remembered my terminology.

Thus I'm always discovering new music to listen to. I'll listen to any genre that sounds good, and have no particular preference anyway.

 

[Hans Dorn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riordan /img/forum/go_quote.gif hint: those people like to PLAY different music. do they ever. they also have different hairstyles and shoes, but that's beside the point here. actually, they all have the same hairstyle and shoes. just different from everybody else.

 

[brotherlen]

Life is a buffet, grab a plate and dig in.

 

[Taikero]

It was recently proven that from birth we all have the capacity to feel and recognize a beat (even though some of us may never be able to move our body in a rhythmic manner to one). Baby Got Beat: Music May Be Inborn | Wired Science from Wired.com

I think from there it's a matter of exposure. The more beats your brain can get a grasp on and comfortably predict while the rest of the melody and harmony doesn't go out of whack (sibilance, distortion, nasality, you name it), the broader your musical taste will likely end up being. I think good audio equipment or real musical instruments in proper tune in a home also help to keep a young person's mind open to a broader range of musical enjoyment.

Final thought, a person's general everyday mood can drastically affect the music they want to/like to listen to. As they say, "Misery loves company." (Although sometimes it's just for social attention. I'm looking at you, emo/goth/skater/punk posers. You all make me sick.)

YMMV, but this is my personal experience growing up (and I can still remember because I'm not quite that old just yet).

 

[melomaniac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've often wondered that myself - in fact, quite often. So the other day I decided to thin out my music collection quite a bit. What remains is a nice Frankie Yankovic 'Polka Classics' LP (so appropriately named), plus my 3 all time favorite 45's ('Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head', 'Danny Boy' and 'Sea of Love') all of which I'll need to replace soon considering the wear they're now getting, and finally (the best of the best), a homemade cassette recording of my Grandma's metronome which reminds me of the good ole days. Click clock click clock click clock... I'm now enjoying my system more than ever. People who listen to different music are being much too fussy. It's like shoes. Why do you need more than one recording? I've got 5 and that keeps me insanely busy!

why do people give different answers to this question? especially when there's this one - so lucid, so obvious?