Music and intelligence

[Hazzaslagga]

I heard this on the radio a few years ago before i started listening to heavy metal strangely enouph although i can't remember why. plus i'm fairly intelligent

 

[TriggerHappyAngel]

I listen to Techno and Metal, so... does that make me average? :/
also, i have a friend who only gets A's (10/10) for his tests, but he listens to techno and one of my other friends is a complete moron but he listens to metal.

 

[ottenni]

Everyone is different. Taste in music has nothing to do with intelligence.

Not in my experience. Almost all the metal heads i know are a bunch of dipshits while the smartest people i know tend to like pop or indie. But classical is an interesting point, you may be onto something there.

I've met very intelligent people who were metal heads. They were, however, not like the overly hyped up and retarded stereotypical metal heads. They were geeks.

I know people who are really into indie and pop and aren't that smart.

Well it would make sense to me that geeks may be the common factor between metal and intelligence as they are often seen together, as this site proves in abundance.

 

[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?

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

lets consider the implications of people to listen to classical remixes and rap-metal

madness!

Well rap-metal, aka nu-metal, is the most retarded brand of music you can find (see Insane Clown Posse).

 

[Awexsome]

Metal, Rock, and classical pretty much describes my taste.

It's kinda funny how on my ipod I can be listening to a orchestrated piece then be head-bobbing to heavy guitar riffs a minute later.

 

[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).

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

lets consider the implications of people to listen to classical remixes and rap-metal

madness!

Well rap-metal, aka nu-metal, is the most retarded brand of music you can find (see Insane Clown Posse).

precisely

Malenko can wave his wnd all he likes, it wont make anything from Psychopathic worth hearing

 

[coldshadow]

I listen to both techno and classical XD

I think the point of this thought is taht techno/pop are more repetative "basic" sounds while classical and metal are more complex.

how ever you should not assume such an attribute of someone from their tastes.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

The thought of Albert Einstein or Nikola Tesla listening to bubble-gum pop nearly made my brain explode ... if I die in three days it's due to what very well could have been a slow-swelling hemorige ...

OT: My favorite bands include Dethklok, Detroit Metal City, Cradle of Filth and, Helloween. My favorite singer however is Sarah Brightman who was the original Christine in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. More recently she played as Blind Mag in Repo: The Genetic Opera and, hers is the most beautiful singing voice I have ever heard. I am also a fan of classical music played on the glass armonica seen below:

Spoiler: A song composed specifically for the Glass Armonica

Despite all of this musical influence, I don't consider myself smarter than the average person ... but then again ... it seems the people with possessing a lesser intelligence are the ones more inclined to boast about how much smarter they are than everyone else. I'd rather be happy than right and, this music makes me happy

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

No there is no relation to music with intelligence or very little it can be very situational and just be a taste thing. There are some people in my school who listen to metal and etc like myself but are complete and utter thicks in certain areas.

 

[Dirty-Zombie]

Trying to equate music with intelligence is highly elitist and close minded. There's no link!

 

[Exocet]

First off,SAT scores are not a valid way of measuring intelligence since it doesn't take into factor the fact someone taking the SAT may be stressed out or anything else that may affect his/her score.Also,the test barely contains anything.Someone may be a genius political theorist that sucks at math and whose writing isn't perfect since,as far as I know,there is no such class in US high schools,leading to a poor SAT score.

Right off the bat,the "study" starts off flawed.
Second,does it take in consideration social factors?
As in,students intercity school that don't have an education as good and thorough as students in a rich suburban private school are more inclined to listen to rap/hiphop than classical music.

It is an interesting correlation,but does not prove anything.At least not in this form and date.

 

[Mandal0re]

For every intelligent metalhead who actually knows something about music theres 5 thick bastards in slayer shirts.....

 

[Buffoon]

I don't doubt there's some truth to it, mainly due to socio-economic status, culture and education levels.

Personally, I love a lot of techno and a lot of classical. And I'm definitely at least half moron.

 

[GyroCaptain]

ME AM SMAWT AND LISTEN 2 METALS
Actually, self-deprecation aside, while I'm no Rhodes Scholar I do both like metal and do decently well at a hard engineering school. I also listen to everything bar club music and current gen hip-hop, though.

I've seen this conjecture before; proof or no proof I'll someday raise kids listening to a little Maiden with the Mozart Makes You Smarter.

 

[Lukeje]

Unfortunately the correlation is muddled by people who can afford private education being more likely to listen to `classical' music themselves. This then means the kids are more likely to listen to `classical' music.

 

[Nazulu]

*Buzzer* WRONG! People who listen to more complex music have developed an ear for the more layers of sound, it's just like preferring another genre of music. Also just because a song is more complex doesn't make it better, you determine that by the songs melodies and riffs.

lets consider the implications of people to listen to classical remixes and rap-metal

madness!

Well rap-metal, aka nu-metal, is the most retarded brand of music you can find (see Insane Clown Posse).

precisely

Malenko can wave his wnd all he likes, it wont make anything from Psychopathic worth hearing

What are you babbling on about? ICP is awesome.