The only prerequisite tool for creating music is the human body — a fact that makes it difficult to trace the phenomenon’s origins. Most scholars agree that music has been with us since prehistoric times; it has served as a chronicle of family history, a declaration of revolutionary ideals, a call-to-arms and an expression of cultural identity. In some contexts, music has the ability to spark mass elation, while in others it can be misused as an insidious method of psychological torture.
The idea that music has a profound influence on our internal life is as old as academia itself. In Plato’s “Republic,” the ancient Greek philosopher wrote that “education in music is most sovereign, because more than anything else rhythm and harmony find their way to the inmost soul and take strongest hold upon it, bringing with them and imparting grace.” Although this idea that music influences our psychology seems intuitive, the neural underpinnings of that process are both complex and opaque.
