Musicians Are Probably Smarter!

[Ptarmigan]

Check out this report, posted yesterday on the AOL Healthy Living website.

 

"A new study found that musicians might have brains that function better than their peers well into old age."

 

Well, of course we all knew that already, didn't we!

 

"Engaging in musical activity for most of one’s lifetime significantly helps remember names, and enhances nonverbal memory, the ability to work based on what one sees, and mental agility during old age."

 

Sounds good to me but the trouble is, my memory for names is so bad, I have to stick name tags inside my clothes, so's I don't forget who I am!

 

"This finding supports another recent study that reported people who walk regularly maintain healthier brains."

 

That's also good news for me, cause I love going for long walks with my dogs.

 

Anyway, please read the whole thing & judge for yourself.

 

Musicians Are Probably Smarter than the rest of us.

 

Well, are you feeling smug now, after reading that?

 

Sadly, I can't remember if it made me feel smug or not, cause I read it way back yesterday!

 

Cheers,

Dick

[Anglo-Irishman]

Anyway, please read the whole thing & judge for yourself.

 

Musicians Are Probably Smarter than the rest of us.

 

Well, are you feeling smug now, after reading that?

 

 

DIck,

I wouldn't say it makes me feel smug. More the feeling of having got away by the skin of my teeth. Considering how poor my memory for names has become, I dread to think what it would be like if I hadn't been making music continuously at different levels since the age of about 6.

 

When I read about studies like this, I always think of the chicken and the egg.

Have you ever noticed, for instance, that mannequins, male and female, are more handsome/beautiful than most of the rest of us? This would make it seem logical that you can improve your appearance by learning to change clothes quickly, and parading up and down catwalks regularly.

 

I'm still not convinced that music makes you intelligent. It could be (as, to be fair, the study hints) that intelligence makes you a musician.

Certainly, if you have the gift of being able to make music, you'd be stupid not to use it. You'd miss out on so much pleasure!

 

Cheers,

John

[RAc]

well, i can think of a few (in particular Rock) musicians in whose context the term "smart" makes sense only if you also grant single cell organisms a smartness option...

[Anglo-Irishman]

well, i can think of a few (in particular Rock) musicians in whose context the term "smart" makes sense only if you also grant single cell organisms a smartness option...

 

 

On the other hand, there's a saying in the North of Ireland: "It takes a wise man to act the fool." People who make music for zombies probably aren't zombies themselves.

 

Cheers,

John

[JimLucas]

Musicians Are Probably Smarter than the rest of us.

I tried clicking on that link and I got this message:

"

An error (500 Internal Server Error) has occured in response to this request.

"

Not sure that that tells anything about either music or intelligence, though.

 

Besides, I tried a second time, and it worked just fine.

 

 

Well, are you feeling smug now, after reading that?

Well, yeah, but I was already feeling smug before I read it, and that had nothing to do with the contents of the article.

[Ptarmigan]

Well after all Jim, all musicians know, only too well, that if we don't get it right the first time, we just have to try, try, try agin!

Cheers,

Dick