First thought was that one would favor rhythms and tonal relationships as present in the native tongue, but then it occurred to me that there is a great deal of music that is loved widely, across linguistic lines, so that would imply no relationship.
On further consideration after reading the piece, I think there is a much stronger argument to be made for a relationship between what we find appealing visually and what we find appealing aurally, and that they both reflect the proportional relationships we see in nature.
It parallels a question in philosophy of language, which is whether native language influences thought. Does it make some thoughts easier to think? Does it make some thoughts more appealing? Would you be more inclined to think a certain way -- or only capable of thinking a certain way -- if you had the right linguistic upbringing?
It seems deeply plausible, and yet as far as I know, there's no evidence that it's true.
2 comments:
First thought was that one would favor rhythms and tonal relationships as present in the native tongue, but then it occurred to me that there is a great deal of music that is loved widely, across linguistic lines, so that would imply no relationship.
On further consideration after reading the piece, I think there is a much stronger argument to be made for a relationship between what we find appealing visually and what we find appealing aurally, and that they both reflect the proportional relationships we see in nature.
It parallels a question in philosophy of language, which is whether native language influences thought. Does it make some thoughts easier to think? Does it make some thoughts more appealing? Would you be more inclined to think a certain way -- or only capable of thinking a certain way -- if you had the right linguistic upbringing?
It seems deeply plausible, and yet as far as I know, there's no evidence that it's true.
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