There’s been a good bit of coverage of and interest in a study
published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
with the provocative title “Evolution of Music by Public
Choice.” I’m always on the lookout for research like this
because I’m fascinated with what music is and how people’s
tastes are shaped, but the more I looked into this effort by
scientists from the Life Sciences department at Imperial College
London, the more upset I became – with its premise, its methods
and its sloppy use of language. The authors are enjoying their
moment in the media, but they’re spreading a conception of music
that’s inimical to creativity, artistry and human connectivity.
In other words, to music itself. The basic facts are HERE and
the study itself HERE. In brief, computers generated random
sounds in 8-second loops. Thousands of on-line volunteers voted
for the more appealing of pairs of loops in A/B listening
comparisons. The nicer loops were “mated” so that the appealing
qualities were passed on generat