Music and intelligence

[userwhoquitthesite]

You refuted my opinion, so I'm free to respond in kind. ICP has ALWAYS sucked, from the time they couldn't make it as NORMAL white rappers, on through the name change, the dark carnival, and the six jokers. I do not share your particular musical taste, and cannot see how ANYONE would enjoy any of the work, save a very few songs intermittent throughout the duo's career. The fact that these songs exist does not MAKE the group awesome, as almost everyone has at least one song that is any kind of decent. ICP sucks. Twiztid sucks and can only claim to be a more mainstreamed version of ICP, I have never heard anything Blaze has done but i bet he sucks too and the same can be said of ABK, and Boondox sucks with a strong country aftertaste.

This sucks and that sucks because I know everything! Well smarty pants, I know everything too and just because a bands/rappers career doesn't start very well doesn't mean they will be shit forever. Also they had more than one good song, hell I already got 17 at the moment on my iPod and to me that's a good number of songs.

And faygo is the ICP soda. Juggalos seem to subsist on it, and as many references to it ICP makes in their songs, I am amazed you dont know what it is.

Yeah I just started listening to 'em, thanks for telling me I'll go and try it out myself.

I didn't say they sucked BECAUSE they started out as shitty rappers, im saying they sucked then and they STILL suck because they are STILL shitty rappers. 17 songs is far more generous than I could ever be, and thats still only about one album's worth of songs out of a career of how many? at least 11 albums, plus the other crap they produce.

And, yes, having listened to most of their library, I DO feel entitled to my opinion of them.

 

[AkJay]

Hy would people with high intelligence listen to metal? that sounds.. well, stupid.

I don't know what I am. I'm not that intellegent, and I listen to bands like Muse, Radiohead, Primus, etc.

My friend is one of the smartest people I know, he's never gotten a C or below a 3.5 GPA, and he listens to the same stuff I do.

 

[dasUnbekannte]

My taste in music is crappy (techno and pop) and I'm getting a 4.0 right now...

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

A couple of years ago my sister told me that people with low intelligence mostly listened to pop and techno music and that people with high intelligence mostly listened to Classic music or metal.

I have tried this on my class and it might just be correct.
But still i wonder if she is right.. And haven't been able to find ANY articles on this, but who knows.
It doesn't apply to everyone, just the majority.

To the questions:
Is this right?
And can anyone tell me why or why not?

Discuss.

http://troglopundit.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/music-that-makes-you-dumb/

This test is accurate but not precise. You can take it for what it's worth, but the general jist is rap at the low end, the middle is a bit cloudy, and the top is classical.

Metal is mostly unrepresented. The bands labeled as "metal" are not (to the extent you would expect) metal. I would've liked to see names like Lamb of God, In Flames, Killswitch Engage, [insert name here], for metal.

Overall, the bands are almost all mainstream, names you've heard of, with a few labeled as indie or misc.

Does this help at all?

It proves nothing.

Just because where there is X (listening to certain music) there is Y (intelligence/lack of intelligence), doesn't mean that X creates Y. Perhaps Y actually creates X. Or maybe there is another factor such as Z which is creating both X and Y.

In the case of classical music, listening to classical music (X) does not make you smart (Y). Maybe people who like to listen to classical music are just older and therefore wiser because they have had more lived experience (Z). Or maybe, they go to school and learn about smartness and stuff and they discover classical music there in the study environment (Y creates X).

With rap music, it doesn't make you dumb (X creates Y), but most people who listen to it are kind of young and therefore haven't learned a lot of stuff yet so may not be smart (Z creates Y). No doubt they will grow into smarter people down the track. If they are already dumb and so stuff like L'il Wayne seems pitched to their intellectual level, so they appreciate it more (Z creates Y which then creates X).

You have a point, but they say for the study that everyone is college age, and its based on SAT scores. Age has nothing to do with it.

 

[Julianking93]

I listen to almost everything and I'm not stupid.

But people who listen to metal are generally smarter?

Uh have you ever been to a Lamb of God concert where I live? All it is just a bunch of drunk rednecks beating the shit out of each other.

 

[Aerodynamic]

To an extent its correct, of course there is going to be a few exceptions.

The majority of people at my school listen to techno and rap, some are not stupid but most are.

But you have to take in a factor, people who listen to GOOD music. The stupid ass kids i see at my school listing to Bullet for My Valentine and Bring me the Horizon thinking it is legit metal are fucking idiots, People who listen to good music are mostly the ones who are intelligent.

 

[ribonuge]

I listen to IDM [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_Dance_Music] (Intelligent Dance Music). Yes it is supposedly intelligent but don't ask me how, I just enjoy listening to it. I also listen to jazz, insane genre shifting metal, normal metal, stoner rock. Blah blag blah blaah. I don't think it is any indication to intelligence, but more to musical interest. The more quality music you listen to, the more shit the rest of the pop sounds I guess.

 

[GammaZord]

People who are more intelligent than me listen to country music, so there can't be a corelation.

 

[zen5887]

I think its a case by case thing. Some smart people might listen to Jazz and Classical but that doesn't mean that those genres make you smart.

I would argue that listening to ALL genres make you smarter.

 

[Nazulu]

You refuted my opinion, so I'm free to respond in kind. ICP has ALWAYS sucked, from the time they couldn't make it as NORMAL white rappers, on through the name change, the dark carnival, and the six jokers. I do not share your particular musical taste, and cannot see how ANYONE would enjoy any of the work, save a very few songs intermittent throughout the duo's career. The fact that these songs exist does not MAKE the group awesome, as almost everyone has at least one song that is any kind of decent. ICP sucks. Twiztid sucks and can only claim to be a more mainstreamed version of ICP, I have never heard anything Blaze has done but i bet he sucks too and the same can be said of ABK, and Boondox sucks with a strong country aftertaste.

This sucks and that sucks because I know everything! Well smarty pants, I know everything too and just because a bands/rappers career doesn't start very well doesn't mean they will be shit forever. Also they had more than one good song, hell I already got 17 at the moment on my iPod and to me that's a good number of songs.

And faygo is the ICP soda. Juggalos seem to subsist on it, and as many references to it ICP makes in their songs, I am amazed you dont know what it is.

Yeah I just started listening to 'em, thanks for telling me I'll go and try it out myself.

I didn't say they sucked BECAUSE they started out as shitty rappers, im saying they sucked then and they STILL suck because they are STILL shitty rappers. 17 songs is far more generous than I could ever be, and thats still only about one album's worth of songs out of a career of how many? at least 11 albums, plus the other crap they produce.

And, yes, having listened to most of their library, I DO feel entitled to my opinion of them.

Great but you STILL tried to convince me that they are STILL shit and I have even listened to all their albums yet, only the first 5. Even then 17 songs is a lot to me, I'm happy with a band if I can even get only 8 songs out of 'em. Opinion? Don't forget you refuted first by telling me they have never been awesome.

I haven't listened to their entire library and I don't have to just to call a band awesome. The songs had good riffs and they had interesting and funny things to rap about, there is my opinion.

If your gonna keep going then your still trying to tell me they're crap, if you wanna bring up that obvious opinion shit then you should of said lets agree to disagree.

 

[RamirezDoEverything]

I was just accepted to a college, and I'm in my first year of high school and I listen to techno

 

[Ancientgamer]

Many studies have found that exact trend, no, you're not clever going "yeah well I listen to pop and I'm smart herp derp". Let me point you to a thing called correlation, statistical exceptions, and statistical significance. Let me also point out you're a fool if you think artistic merit can be quantified based on how a given piece of music effects brain patterns, and are actually using that as proof that such observed patterns can't exist.

 

[Puzzles]

No, and I don't say that to defend myself, since I don't listen to techno, pop or hip-hop.

A more likely link would be pretentiousness to classical music listeners, there's something that might link up.

I'm surprised Jazz is so low on that diagram.

In my experience, the people I know who listen to techno have been very intelligent. Those who listen to hip-hop quite slow. The metal heads fit somewhere in the middle, neither super smart or dumb. Alternative rock and indie are normally listened to by the other non-techno smart people.

But that's about as reliable as a sample as the one in that study (i.e not very).

 

[electronictiger]

I listen to almost everything, but my favorite music is techno and I'd say I'm pretty smart, I'm just really lazy.

 

[Small Waves]

A couple of years ago my sister told me that people with low intelligence... techno music.
high intelligence... Classical music and metal.

So in other words your sister's a pretentious metalhead who is too much of a wimp to step outside her comfort zone and lumps all electronic music as "techno".

If anything, electronic music is the most difficult stuff to make. You have to have a good ear and a VERY expansive knowledge of synths, drum machines, analogue equipment, etc. to make anything half-decent. It's more of a science than an art.

 

[Cinnonym]

Wouldn't it be the way one understands music that would reflect intelligence? You can apply music theory to any genre--and every genre has its gems. "Intelligent" people ought to be more likely to branch out through other genres, not be relegated to one. I personally think the study is bullshit--I know folk who love classical music who are also some of the most ignorant (and pretentious) people I've ever met.

 

[rt052192]

i listen to metal and got a 3.7 gpa

 

[BonsaiK]

A couple of years ago my sister told me that people with low intelligence mostly listened to pop and techno music and that people with high intelligence mostly listened to Classic music or metal.

I have tried this on my class and it might just be correct.
But still i wonder if she is right.. And haven't been able to find ANY articles on this, but who knows.
It doesn't apply to everyone, just the majority.

To the questions:
Is this right?
And can anyone tell me why or why not?

Discuss.

http://troglopundit.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/music-that-makes-you-dumb/

This test is accurate but not precise. You can take it for what it's worth, but the general jist is rap at the low end, the middle is a bit cloudy, and the top is classical.

Metal is mostly unrepresented. The bands labeled as "metal" are not (to the extent you would expect) metal. I would've liked to see names like Lamb of God, In Flames, Killswitch Engage, [insert name here], for metal.

Overall, the bands are almost all mainstream, names you've heard of, with a few labeled as indie or misc.

Does this help at all?

It proves nothing.

Just because where there is X (listening to certain music) there is Y (intelligence/lack of intelligence), doesn't mean that X creates Y. Perhaps Y actually creates X. Or maybe there is another factor such as Z which is creating both X and Y.

In the case of classical music, listening to classical music (X) does not make you smart (Y). Maybe people who like to listen to classical music are just older and therefore wiser because they have had more lived experience (Z). Or maybe, they go to school and learn about smartness and stuff and they discover classical music there in the study environment (Y creates X).

With rap music, it doesn't make you dumb (X creates Y), but most people who listen to it are kind of young and therefore haven't learned a lot of stuff yet so may not be smart (Z creates Y). No doubt they will grow into smarter people down the track. If they are already dumb and so stuff like L'il Wayne seems pitched to their intellectual level, so they appreciate it more (Z creates Y which then creates X).

You have a point, but they say for the study that everyone is college age, and its based on SAT scores. Age has nothing to do with it.

Well then Z might not be age, it might be some other factor. Z could be anything. The point is that just because you see X and Y together doesn't mean X creates Y.

 

[Cinnonym]

http://www.labnol.org/internet/music-taste-linked-to-intelligence/7489/

The musical taste vs SAT score chart maps the 133 most popular (out of 1,455) favorite music from 1,352 schools. In terms of music genres, it follows like this ? Soca < Gospel < Jazz < Hip Hop < Pop < Oldies < Raggae < Alternative < Classical < R&B < Rap < Rock < Country < Classic Rock < Techno in increasing order of SAT scores.

According to this study, posted on the first page, Techno actually beat out Classical.

 

[Irishhoodlum]

I think it's just personal preference since some of the smartest kids at my school listen to rap while others classical etc. But when it comes down to the writing of the music most pop/techno songs will use the same 3-4 chords, sometimes as few as 2 while in Classical and Jazz you'll have a much more complex piece. Though from personal experience again kids who listen to metal usually don't do as well. Listenting to music is supposed to help you concentrate but only when there's no lyrics (i.e classical...).