The Brain, the Ear, and the Sense of Hearing

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Music is so fascinating, it changes our emotions, stimulates our imagination, and relaxes us. But have you ever really thought about how sound and music in particular touches us physically?

The body is the conduit of perceptions and sensual experiences. A person’s body is in full contact with the physical universe, the essence of all sensory perception is the sense of touch.

Light waves touch our retinas, sound waves touch and vibrate against our ear drums, and odors reach our noses to touch our sinuses and taste buds.

The production of a sound wave from an instrument, singer’s voice, speaker system, or object colliding with another object forces a listener to experience something physically.

The brain, ear, the sense of hearing are the primary targets of the communications we receive from the songwriter, the speaker, the politician, the radio station and the television network who intends to reach an audience. Whether that audience consists of one person or millions of people the goal is the same - to reach the ear and influence the brain.

The process of hearing consists of internalizing a sound wave and its interpretation.

The human ear converts the vibrations it receives through the air by capturing the sound in the ear canal, channeling it through three tiny bones, and then passing it through a fluid-filled spiral shaped organ called the cochlea.

The sound then gets transmitted through exposed nerve endings that bundle into the auditory nerve finally sending the signal to the brain.

The brain then sorts out the signals into usable forms of perception and the mind organizes the perceptual data into their appropriate significance. With nothing but sound alone it is possible to perceive the rate of speed, distance, texture,  motion, loudness, emotion, and density.

 

In essence, our physical environment via sound triggers all of these mechanical actions with our bodies and has a direct influence on our brain's function. The emotions are stimulated the moment the mind begins interpreting the information it's received from the brain. 

Almost every form of entertainment, media, and system of belief competes to gain access into the tiny openings of the sides of our head. Some seek to gain a temporary influence for profit or to get validation from us, while others seek to dominate this process so as to control the functions of our minds and the direction of our bodies.

 

Because the nervous system is a closed system, the perception of sound works in a kind of looping process. Words and music become locked in the circuitry of our minds and bury themselves in our thoughts.

 

The full power of words and music to influence us comes in the way that one sense can activate any or all of the remaining senses.

 

The only antidote for excising words, music, or ideas from within is to channel those influences out of our minds through some form of expression (writing, discussion, art, dance, ritual) or to limit our exposure to those unwanted sources of information.

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Marc

http://stereothesis.com/