Does making music make you smarter?

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Last week, at a concert in which I performed, a children’s choir sang two selections. Someone commented backstage how blessed these children were because ‘making music makes you smarter’.

Is this true?

There are findings that seem to support and refute the idea. Many people are aware of the “Mozart effect” study which claims listening to classical music, especially Mozart, can boost intelligence. For refutations of this popular idea, check out this article from Time magazine, as well as boston.com.

I lean toward the opinion that making music does not make you smarter. However, in any case, I think it better to focus on music’s intrinsic benefits and leave the possibility of it upping your math and science scores for academics to worry about.

I believe music’s real benefit is twofold.

  1. Music calls us to embrace the present. It creates a mood, a setting, an environment that allows us to reflect on deeper realities, to express who we really are, and to dream big.
  2. Music helps us connect our left brain to our right brain. Playing a musical instrument forces one to have great technical mastery as well as great depth of expression in order to really create something meaningful.

While these benefits may not make you the next Einstein, I firmly believe you are missing out in life without making music – at the very least the performances of others – part of your schedule.

Cold Showers

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Recently, the place I was staying at lost hot water. Thus, I was compelled to take a cold shower. Horrors! From this experience I learned several fascinating things:

  1. It was difficult. I almost decided to just take a spritz bath at the sink after turning the water on and testing the temperature with my hand.
  2. I wasted much less time in the shower. Indeed, I don’t think I have ever been as productive in this regard
  3. I felt so much more motivated and ready to take on the day. Usually, right after I get out of the shower, I don’t feel like moving that fast and am not quite ready to focus my mind on the start of the day’s activities.
  4. I like the rewards that come from doing hard things. There is an awesome psychological energy that comes when we face our fears, even of small things, and break our comfort zone.

After this experience, I decided to look up online to see if anyone purposefully took cold showers. What I found is that there is even some purported health benefits to this activity. Check out this article for some more info on this.

So, I’ve decided to take cold showers regularly. I still take hot ones here and there, but most of the time I turn the water to cold or at best lukewarm-cold.

If you feel inspired to try this out for yourself, please share your sensations. I would love to hear from you.

Dispensing with a False Dichotomy

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A dichotomy is a strict division between two positions that are looked at as mutually exclusive. A false dichotomy occurs when only two positions are presented when there are actually more options to consider.

Such a condition exists today in the battle between conventional and alternative medicine.

In her article Integrating Alternative Medicine and Conventional Medicine, Evelyn Lim provided good definitions of the two general categories:

Conventional medicine is used to describe the services that treat the symptoms of a disease or illness with prescribed medications and surgeries. Conventional medicine treats the ailing part of the body but may not address the underlying causes of the illness or disease. This area of medicine is what is practiced in hospitals and most doctor’s offices in the Western world. Backed by the FDA and multiple scientific studies, conventional medicine is highly regulated for the benefit of the patient.

An alternative form of treatment to conventional medicine, alternative medicine attempts to treat the patient as a whole – the mind, spirit, and body — to prevent diseases and illnesses from occurring and creating a better overall quality of life rather than just a body free of symptoms. Because it acknowledges that the patient’s physical health is directly affected by state of mind and spiritual health, alternative medicine offers preventative treatments that are often relaxing and non-invasive.

This description in Wikipedia rounds out the second definition:

Alternative medicine is any practice that is put forward as having the healing effects of medicine but is not based on evidence gathered using the scientific method.[1] It consists of a wide range of health care practices, products and therapies,[2] using alternative medical diagnoses and treatments which typically have not been included in the degree courses of established medical schools or used in conventional medicine. Examples of alternative medicine include homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic, energy medicine and acupuncture.

These definitions reflect what I said in a previous post about the multiple levels of health and how each is important. Conventional medicine deals with symptoms, while alternative medicine deals with prevention. Obviously, this is a major generalization. There are many practices in conventional medicine that target prevention, such as vaccinations and treatments given in response to the patient’s blood work. Many of the practices in alternative medicine also target symptoms, but this is done by attempting to fix the alleged cause of the problem.

Now, it is nice to say that you are working on fixing the root cause of a disease, but often this is not easy to determine. It is relatively easy to determine if some treatment minimizes the symptoms. It is very difficult to say some treatment fixed the root problem. I believe this is why conventional medicine tends to focus more on treating the symptom, because that is something that can be definitely tested.

In my estimation, misunderstandings exist on both sides. Here is what some think of alternative medicine:

  1. “It has not been scientifically proven yet.” Neither was the benefits of hand-washing a couple hundred of years ago. While I would be very hesitant to advocate something as a main treatment for a problem that had shady scientific credentials, I would definitely recommend trying it out on the side if others had good experiences with it and it did not pose any risks.
  2. “It is too ‘mystical’ to be valid.” Even if some practice or alternative treatment does have some seeming clinical support, many conventional practitioners would still avoid it if it just seems too “mystical” or “new-agey.” This is more of a worldview problem than anything else.

Here are some common critiques of conventional medicine:

  1. “They just treat the symptom.” As if this is a bad thing! Treating symptoms is half of what medicine is about. Also, this is untrue, as conventional medicine does also try to prevent diseases and treat root causes, such as removing tumors.
  2. “Drugs, surgery, and radiation are ‘unnatural’ and therefore bad.” Pharmaceutical drugs are synthesized in a lab, so they must be bad, right? No, they are chemicals just like everything else around us. Some might contain substances that will not be good for our health in the long run, though they certainly can help out in the moment of need. Certain words just mean ‘bad’ to some people. Radiation! Oh, no! (sarcasm)

If these misconceptions can be cleared up, and people start realizing the value that both sides of this false dichotomy can bring to their lives, this will be good for everyone involved.

Not Judging the Judger

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Ever since I have been focused more on not judging other people’s beliefs or lifestyles, I have developed a habit of judging those who judge others. That is, I criticize and tear down those who criticize and tear down others.

This, I feel, is not consistent. If I am truly focused on being less judgmental, this needs to also apply to those who are judgmental. This is similar to the principle of tolerance. If you want to really practice tolerance, you must also be tolerant of the intolerant, even those who don’t tolerate your position to be tolerant!

This requires a great deal of humility. However, it also brings the most true freedom from being affected by what other people do and believe. Here are some things I’ve learned in attempting to integrate this attitude of acceptance and understanding into my life:

  1. Stop trying to solve the world’s problems, and just focus on fixing your own. When I run out of things to work on in my life, then I might try to help the world out some more. Until then, it is probably better for me to focus on getting my own house together.
  2. Realize that love is stronger than argument for the intolerant. Instead of mimicking the intolerance of others, be different. Allow them to speak their minds. Don’t correct them. Remember, you have been there before yourself, when you just needed someone to let you rant. Sometimes the best way to fight people’s intolerance, if that is your goal, is to just accept their intolerance, that their opinions matter, that they are important. Once they realize this, they might have the motivation to focus on something more productive than tearing down the beliefs and lifestyles of others.
  3. Seek to learn from those who are judgmental. First, realize the tendencies you have to be the same way, and let these people be a reminder of what you don’t want to be like. Second, realize that these people have a lot of knowledge and truth; they just choose to apply it destructively rather than productively. Acquire the wisdom they have without picking up their attitude of intolerance.

Ultimately, judging other people’s beliefs and lifestyles is not wrong. In fact, it is almost impossible to avoid in a lot of cases. However, what I want is to be able to judge rationally and justly, and this requires purposely withholding judgment for the time being to discover how to do this.

“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” ~ John 7:24

Why every person should learn a musical instrument

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Back when I was thinking about making a career out of teaching music, I often wondered if it was a valuable career choice. That is, did it fill a meaningful need in society. Being the scientific realist that I was, I found this hard to justify, especially as I have always been opposed to government grants supporting the arts.

Now, I realize music’s value is intrinsic not extrinsic. I don’t believe people need to learn a musical instrument so they can play in a symphony to earn money, or fulfill functions at a wedding, though these are both noble ways to use your gifts.

I am still opposed to government grants for music or arts institutions, as I am to almost all government aid, seeing I am a libertarian. However, I believe every person misses out in fully developing themselves and experiencing life if they don’t learn a musical instrument at least to some degree.

Music is the ultimate connection between the right brain and the left brain, between art and science, between reason and emotion. Music allows us to express ourselves when words are inadequate. Music can cross over language and cultural barriers. 

In medieval times there were considered to be seven liberal arts and sciences broken up into two groups. One concerned language and the other mathematics. The first group contained grammar, logic, and rhetoric. This was called the trivium. The second group contained arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. From one of my music history professors, I learned that although music was eventually placed in the second group, called the Quadrivium, initially it was sometimes placed in the language group and sometimes in the mathematics group. It really is the ultimate connection between the two.

In addition, let me say that the musical instrument you learn could be your voice. I currently have the privilege of taking voice lessons and developing the strength of my voice. There are not many things as liberating as releasing the sound of your voice in all its power. This is what we did frequently and effortlessly when we were babies. One of the voice majors I knew in college said that the whole goal of developing your voice is to relearn what you could do instinctively as a child.

I hope this post inspires you to include some music involvement in your life and in the lives of your children.

Challenge Bridge

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Challenge Bridge is a variation of a historic card game. The point of the game is not to win the hand or score the most tricks, but rather to do the best you can with the cards you have been dealt. You compare your score on a hand with experts who played the same hand.

Living the conscious life is a lot like Challenge Bridge. We are not trying to be the best or the greatest; we are simply trying to do the absolute best we can with the cards we’ve been dealt.

Therefore, there is no reason to be upset if we cannot lift as much weight as someone else, or don’t know as much, or can’t speak as well. Our goal, as conscious individuals is not to be better than someone else, but rather to reach our full potential. This may look very different from someone’s else’s potential.

So perhaps you were dealt some raunchy cards. Maybe you have a genetic health problem, or grew up in a bad environment, or have become disabled in some respect.

Instead of becoming bitter at the Almighty, the world, your parents, or yourself, accept the cards you have been dealt and play them well. Who knows, you may surpass your wildest expectations. For unlike Challenge Bridge, the cards you are dealt in life do have the possibility of changing.

Perhaps you are overweight. Instead of making excuses for it or just being depressed about it, just start doing the best you can to combat the problem. This may be as simple as cutting out one desert a week or exercising for 5 minutes a day. Then just keep loving yourself and developing yourself. Where you end up is not all that important; the journey is what matters.

However, be prepared to astonish yourself. When you start living consciously, amazing things happen!

Scriptural Command Paradigm – Part 2

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My first post on how I make sense of all the various commands, instructions, and principles in Scripture focused firstly on following the commands of Christ to the disciples and multitudes interpreted in the light of the Torah. This was discovered through 3 key realizations.

First, our hope of salvation is built upon Y’shua (Jesus) the Christ and His resurrection, so it makes sense to me that we should focus on His commands first as the framework for living our lives.

Second, in Matthew 28:19-20 the Christ told His disciples to teach all nations all the things He had commanded them. We are the result of their evangelistic efforts.

Third, in Matthew 5:17 Y’shua (Jesus) said that He came to fulfill the law. This is a challenging verse to exegete, but I think most would agree that during His life the Christ had to obey and teach according to the Torah; otherwise, He would not have fulfilled it.

However, as we start to follow the Christ’s commands, how should we apply them in our lives and are they all on the same importance level?

Here is where the second aspect of my Scriptural command paradigm comes into play:

  1. Try to do something with every command. Don’t try to follow exactly what the command is saying or worry about whether you are doing it correctly. For example, suppose you read the command in Matthew 28:19 to “Go and teach all nations…”. Instead of worrying about where you should go, what you should be teaching, and how much time you should spend doing this, just think of one way to do something with this command. You could start a Bible Study at your school or church, go to the mall occasionally and pass out gospel tracts, or pray for a lost person every week.
  2. Pick 1-3 commands to really focus on, study, and try to follow every aspect of them. Let’s say you choose to focus on honoring your parents. Then, study all the commands and instructions in the Bible relating to that topic. Make that very high on your list of priorities. Have a conversation with them to get feedback on how best to do that. Include them as a major part of your prayers. Keep thinking about other ways you could honor them. Be willing to alter some of your lifestyle choices to keep this command. Try to always speak positively about them and look for the good character qualities they exemplify.
  3. Change your focus when you feel it is time for a new one. Don’t choose one commandment and then just camp on it. Keep shuffling your attention between different commandments based on what you feel would be the most meaningful for your life at this point or what you feel the spirit is possibly prompting you to do.
  4. Keep recycling through the other commands that are not part of your focus. Change the way you apply them periodically. Don’t always think about the command in the exact same way.

With this paradigm, you can expect your lifestyle choices to be different from other Christians around you. This is not because they are better or worse than you, but simply because you each have a different focus at this time.

Utilizing this paradigm can allow a tremendous amount of understanding and communication between Christians without them compromising convictions or beliefs. Without adopting this paradigm, you are forced to judge someone who lives differently than you do as ‘not following Scripture correctly.’ Or, you feel convicted when you are around this person, because you are not doing all that they are with a particular concept.

Now, you can enjoy interacting with people who believe and practice their faith differently than you and try understanding those differences without judging them or feeling convicted.

Motivation

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Where do you find the motivation or willpower to do something difficult?

For me, a large part of this comes from believing in my paradigm for this appointed time. As part of this, I have made it a habit of daily asking for the Holy Spirit’s filling, per Luke 11:13 and Ephesians 5:18.

However, there are times that despite my best attempts, I just seem muddled in distraction, depression, or the blahs. This doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I have an acronym I try to follow: NEW OP.

  1. Nap. Set an alarm for 1 to 2 minutes later and just let your mind and body take a brief rest. This can do wonders.
  2. Exercise. Nothing fancy here. Just something to get your blood flowing and your body more limber. Perhaps a minute of laying on a foam roller followed by a minute of planking would be good.
  3. Water. Drink some water. This always helps. Also consider bathing your hands, face, and perhaps your feet if this is not inconvenient.
  4. Organize. Take a moment and clean your surroundings a little. Also, sort through your thoughts by writing them down. Again, just a minute or so of this.
  5. Pray. Connect with a power outside of yourself. Realize the worth of who you are and what you are doing because of the creator that you worship.

All in all, the whole process should take under ten minutes. Ten minutes is still a sizeable block of time, which is why I don’t do this often. But when I need to, this is an incredible method for getting me back on track.

The  acronym also stands for ‘New Opportunity’ (NEW OP), and this is exactly what it provides for you when you need it.

3 Questions to Ask in Discovering Your Calling

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I recently heard something I thought was quite profound but also simple. It was about how to discover your true calling in life.

We have all heard the mantra of ‘do what you love.’ Most realize that this alone is inadequate in charting our way through life.

There is also the availability of work people look at when making career decisions. However, if this is all we care about, that is pretty shallow.

Others advocate following your skills, reasoning that the work will be there if you are competent and that you tend to grow to enjoy what you excel in.

An interview I watched a while back suggested to do all three. Ask yourself these questions:

  1. What do I love?
  2. What am I good at?
  3. What does the world need?

The intersection of the answers to these three questions is where your calling lies.

So, if you are just starting out in life, I hope you give these questions some serious thought. If you already have a career, perhaps ask yourself if it includes all of these components. Remember, it is never too late to follow your calling.

Believe in yourself. Live in the present. Enjoy life.

Defining Music

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According to the World English Dictionary, music is an art form consisting of sequences of sounds in time, especially tones of definite pitch organized melodically, rhythmically, and according to tone color.

I define music more broadly. Music is skillfully produced sounds that communicate.

There are three main components in my definition of music: skill, sound, and communication.

The most obvious of these is sound. Music is a unique art-form in that one does not need eyes to appreciate its beauty.

The question arises though, what types of sound constitute ‘music’? This is where skill and communication come in. Both of these terms are somewhat subjective. This is why what is music to one person may just be noise to another.

Some sounds we know are not produced skillfully, such as the creaking of a door, or the crinkling of paper. Some sounds we instinctively associate with a high level of skill, such as a classical symphony, or an opera solo. However, there is a lot of gray area in between.

One important aspect of skill is intentionality. Thus, sound that is not produced with intention cannot be music. It is impossible to accidentally produce music.

Communication is difficult to define, since all sounds communicate something. Also, I am not interested in lyrics. However, music has the unique ability to directly communicate emotion: anger, sadness, joy, laughter, angst, etc.

So, we can begin to classify something as being music or not. For example, John Cage’s 4’33”, which is just 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence, is not music, since no sound is produced. When a toddler bangs randomly on a piano, that is not music because no skill is involved. It is also doubtful if this communicates anything, except perhaps aggravation.

My definition of music would also make some of the academic music being written today invalid as being called music, since it is written without any purpose of communicating anything, and though the notes are intentionally chosen and the piece is skillfully performed, no emotion is ever felt by the listener. I would also put a lot of 12-tone music in this category.