I’ve been listening to it as I read your post, and I like it well enough so far, despite not being a huge classical music person. (I will probably get bored of it before the end though since I don’t really have the patience for long classical works.) I also liked Pollock’s paintings the first time I saw them in person, and generally prefer abstractish art to representational, despite not being an art connoisseur. My point being, some people really do like these things without having to try :).
I do think you have a point overall, in that stuff that’s harder to appreciate can become higher in status for precisely that reason. However, just because it takes a while to “get” something doesn’t mean that it’s secretly bad. In particular, listening to music multiple times could have a “key” effect similar to the effect where an incomprehensible distorted sentence can be understood clearly after hearing a non-distorted version (I can’t find a video of this right now). Similarly, just because you don’t understand some piece of mathematics the first time (or two) you read it doesn’t mean that people who claim to find it beautiful are lying or have tricked themselves into liking it. Some things really do require more effort to appreciate.
Unless my ears are significantly better than yours, I think the difference is perception, not sensation. I also forgot to note that hearing the normal text made the SWS clearer, although I had typically managed to guess it.
In particular, listening to music multiple times could have a “key” effect similar to the effect where an incomprehensible distorted sentence can be understood clearly after hearing a non-distorted version
I’ve been listening to it as I read your post, and I like it well enough so far, despite not being a huge classical music person. (I will probably get bored of it before the end though since I don’t really have the patience for long classical works.) I also liked Pollock’s paintings the first time I saw them in person, and generally prefer abstractish art to representational, despite not being an art connoisseur. My point being, some people really do like these things without having to try :).
I do think you have a point overall, in that stuff that’s harder to appreciate can become higher in status for precisely that reason. However, just because it takes a while to “get” something doesn’t mean that it’s secretly bad. In particular, listening to music multiple times could have a “key” effect similar to the effect where an incomprehensible distorted sentence can be understood clearly after hearing a non-distorted version (I can’t find a video of this right now). Similarly, just because you don’t understand some piece of mathematics the first time (or two) you read it doesn’t mean that people who claim to find it beautiful are lying or have tricked themselves into liking it. Some things really do require more effort to appreciate.
I think you’re referring to Sine wave speech (listen to SWS, then original, then SWS again), so I’m just gonna put the link here for you...
I understood the SWS almost every time the first try (didn’t get #4).
He might also be referring to audio pareidolia (example with the NAACP).
Really? Wow! It’s always weird when someone’s sensory experiences are demonstrably different to your own.
Unless my ears are significantly better than yours, I think the difference is perception, not sensation. I also forgot to note that hearing the normal text made the SWS clearer, although I had typically managed to guess it.
Sounds plausible.