scholarly journals Measuring the cultural evolution of music: Cross-cultural and cross-genre case studies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick E. Savage
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Relative Stability ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Clear Trend ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
Rates Of Evolution ◽  
Work Songs ◽  
Musical Evolution ◽  
Evolution Of Music

In this article I apply methods for measuring the cultural evolution of music to four diverse case studies for which the history of musical evolution has already been qualitatively documented: 1) the divergence of the Scottish 17th c. Lady Cassiles Lilt into nearly unrecognizable 20th c. American descendants, 2) the merging of work songs from distant prefectures into the Japanese folk song Esashi Oiwake, 3) the simultaneous performance of vestigial, inaudible 1,000-year-old Chinese melodies and their radically changed descendants in the Japanese gagaku piece Seigaiha, and 4) the legal cases finding George Harrison's My Sweet Lord (1970) and Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams' Blurred Lines (2013) liable for copyright infringement. Although the precise mechanisms differ and absolute rates of evolution vary almost 400-fold within and between these case studies, several patterns are consistent with the predictions of previous research. These patterns include: 1) the relative ease of mutations to nearby pitches, 2) the relative predominance of insertions/deletions over substitutions, 3) the relative stability of functional notes (e.g., rhythmically stressed vs. unstressed), and 4) the relative stability of written over oral traditions. Both increases and decreases in complexity were observed, with no clear trend favouring one direction.

scholarly journals Cultural evolution of music

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick E. Savage
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Review Literature ◽  
Scientific Understanding ◽  
World War ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Musical Evolution ◽  
Evolution Of Music

The concept of cultural evolution was fundamental to the foundation of academic musicology and the subfield of comparative musicology, but largely disappeared from discussion after World War II, despite a recent resurgence of interest in cultural evolution in other fields. In this article, I draw on recent advances in the scientific understanding of cultural evolution to clarify persistent misconceptions about the roles of genes and progress in musical evolution and review literature relevant to musical evolution ranging from macroevolution of global song-style to microevolution of tune families. I also address criticisms regarding issues of musical agency, meaning, and reductionism, and highlight potential applications including music copyright, education, and sustainability. While cultural evolution will never explain all aspects of music in culture, it offers a useful theoretical framework for understanding diversity and change in the world’s music.

The Unification of the Arts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Brown
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Visual Art ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Aesthetic Responses ◽  
Music And Language ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Dance Movements ◽  
Evolution Of Music

The Unification of the Arts presents the first integrated cognitive account of the arts that attempts to unite all of the arts into a single framework, covering visual art, theatre, literature, dance, and music, with supporting discussions about creativity and aesthetics that span all of the arts. The book’s comparative approach identifies both what is unique to each artform and what artforms share with one another. An understanding of shared mechanisms sheds light on how the arts are able to combine with one another to form syntheses, such as choreographing dance movements to music, or setting lyrics to music to create a song. While most psychological analyses of the arts focus on perceptual mechanisms alone—most commonly aesthetic responses—the book offers a holistic sensorimotor account of the arts that examines the full gamut of processes from creation to perception for each artform. This allows for a broad discussion of the evolution of the arts, including the origins of rhythm, the co-evolution of music and language, the evolution of drawing, and cultural evolution of the arts. Finally, the book aims to unify a number of topics that have not been adequately related to one another in previous discussions, including theatre and literature, music and language, creativity and aesthetics, dancing and acting, and visual art and music. The Unification of the Arts provides a bold new approach to the integration of the arts, one that covers cognition, evolution, and neuroscience.

Ecological and psychological factors in the cultural evolution of music

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thom Scott-Phillips ◽  
Atsuko Tominaga ◽  
Helena Miton
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Cognition And Culture ◽  
Evolution Of Music ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract The two target articles agree that processes of cultural evolution generate richness and diversity in music, but neither address this question in a focused way. We sketch one way to proceed – and hence suggest how the target articles differ not only in empirical claims, but also in their tacit, prior assumptions about the relationship between cognition and culture.

scholarly journals Cultural evolution and music

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mason Youngblood ◽  
Yuto Ozaki ◽  
Patrick E. Savage
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Important Research ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Experimental Approaches ◽  
Evolution Of Music ◽  
Copyright Enforcement

The universality and diversity of music in human societies make it an important research model for understanding how cultural features change over time and space. In this chapter, we review research on the cultural evolution of music, broken down into three major approaches: 1) corpus-based approaches that use large datasets to infer evolutionary patterns, 2) experimental approaches that explore cultural transmission and transformation, and 3) research on “music-like” behaviors in non-human species, such as bird and whale song, that highlights shared mechanisms and future directions. Finally, we discuss applications of this research to issues like copyright enforcement and algorithmic inequality. Given the diversity of musical datasets that have yet to be fully leveraged, we think that music has the potential to become a powerful research model for cultural evolution.

Loss of grammatical gender and language contact

Diachronica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-221
Author(s):  
Iván Igartua
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Relative Stability ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Rare Phenomenon ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Specific Influence

Abstract Despite its alleged relative stability, grammatical gender has nevertheless been completely lost in a number of languages. Through the analysis of three case studies (Afrikaans, Ossetic, and Cappadocian Greek) and a brief survey of similar developments in other languages, this article investigates the link between the loss of gender and language contact, which appears to be a key factor in the decline of gender systems. Drawing on recent research within the framework of sociolinguistic typology, I focus on the specific influence that a particular type of language contact (namely, non-native or imperfect learning) usually exerts on the grammar of the languages being acquired. I also discuss the diachronic asymmetry between the loss and the development of gender in language contact settings: while gender loss seems to be contact-related in quite a number of cases, replication or borrowing of gender turns out to be a rather restricted or even rare phenomenon.

The Knowledge Instinct, Cognitive Functions of Music and Cultural Evolution

2016 ◽  
pp. 17-41
Author(s):  
Leonid I. Perlovsky ◽  
Nobuo Masataka ◽  
Michel Cabanac
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Music Culture ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
Evolution Of Music ◽  
Joint Evolution

Evolution of music ability has been considered a mystery from Aristotle to Darwin and as no adaptive purpose has been identified yet, making music is still a puzzle for evolutionary biologists. This chapter considers a new theory of music origin and evolution, identifying a cognitive function of music which helps overcoming cognitive dissonance based on the unification of consciousness that is differentiated by language. According to this theory, music is fundamental for cultural evolution. The reason for music strongly affecting us is that it helps overcoming unpleasant emotions of cognitive contradictions, which are conditions of accumulating knowledge. The chapter considers experimental evidence supporting this theory and the joint evolution of music, culture, and consciousness.

scholarly journals 70 Years of Land Use/Land Cover Changes in the Apennines (Italy): A Meta-Analysis

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Malandra ◽  
Alessandro Vitali ◽  
Carlo Urbinati ◽  
Matteo Garbarino
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Change Detection ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Pattern Analysis ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Automatic Segmentation ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Heterogeneous Data ◽  
Spatial Pattern Analysis ◽  
Clear Trend

Land use science usually adopts a case study approach to investigate landscape change processes, so we considered a meta-analysis an appropriate tool for summarizing general patterns and heterogeneous findings across multiple case studies over a large geographic area. Mountain landscapes in the Apennines (Italy) have undergone significant variations in the last century due to regional and national socio-economic changes. In this work, we reviewed 51 manuscripts from different databases and examined 57 case studies. We explored heterogeneous data sets, adopting a stepwise approach to select the case studies: Step 1, a general overview of the main studies; Step 2, an analysis of the features of the study sites and of land-use/cover transitions; Step 3, a landscape pattern analysis. We standardized the processing methods to obtain a new set of homogeneous data suitable for comparative analysis. After some pre-processing of the selected paper due to the broad heterogeneity of the data, we calculated common landscape metrics ex novo. We obtained digital images used to perform automatic segmentation with eCognition Developer 64 software. Our review indicated that most case studies were in Central and Southern Italy, 83% were examined at local scale, 77% carried out change detection, but only 38% included both change detection and landscape spatial pattern analysis. The results revealed a clear trend of forest expansion (+78%) and the reduction of croplands (−49%) and grasslands (−19%). We did not find significant changes in the landscape spatial patterns.

Automatic Shoulder Belt Manual Lap Belt Restraint Systems: Human Factors Analyses of Case Studies Data

1996 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 492-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth R. Laughery ◽  
Keith A. Laughery ◽  
David R. Lovvoll
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Seat Belt ◽  
Warning Systems ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
Belt System ◽  
Usage Rates

Automatic shoulder belts combined with manual lap belts satisfy federal requirements for passive vehicle restraint systems. Previous studies show that usage rates of the lap belts in these systems is considerably lower that usage rates for manual three-point belts. Recent years have witnessed a substantial amount of litigation involving the automatic shoulder belt manual lap belt systems. Forty-one legal cases have been reviewed in which an occupant was injured or killed in an accident while wearing the shoulder belt but not the lap belt. Particular attention was given to issues of risk perception and warnings. Analyses of these cases indicate reasons for not wearing the lap belt include: (1) feeling belted or secure when the shoulder belt was in place; (2) forgetting to fasten the belt; and (3) not familiar with the type of seat belt system. The vehicle warning systems designed to encourage lap belt use generally fail to communicate the hazards and consequences of not wearing the lap belt.

scholarly journals STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE IN COMPLEX AND MODERN ERA

ALQALAM ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Chuzaemah Batubara ◽  
Fatimah Fatimah
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Legal Culture ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
State Courts ◽  
New Order ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
Destructive Conflict ◽  
Customary Court ◽  
Modern Era

The holistic implementation of Islamic law in the life of Acehnese community has brought “big changes,” one which is force the majority Acehnese involved in conflicts or disputes bringing their cases solved to Mahkamah Syari’ah as a formal legal instituon which mostly leads disputants  to expensive costs, long consumed and waste time as well as exhausting, even unjust feeling.  However, the implementation has revitalized the existence of customary court which  almost gave up in New Order regimes. The paper argues that the Acehnese legal culture embodied in Peradilan Gampông as customary Law is living law that would resolve destructive conflict and reduce the intention and huge suggestion of some people to resolve their cases through formal legal solution in State Courts (Mahkamah Syariah). With a socio-legal approach the research is focused on case studies on resolving dispute in Aceh customary courts (Peradilan Adat Gampông) at several Gompông in Aceh. The study found that peace, equilibrium, societal hood and justice as dominant principles in the life of Acehnese people at gampôngs and cities have brought customary law revived and as socities’ primary choices in resolving their legal cases.

scholarly journals Music as a coevolved system for social bonding

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick E. Savage ◽  
Psyche Loui ◽  
Bronwyn Tarr ◽  
Adena Schachner ◽  
Luke Glowacki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Mate Selection ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Social Bonding ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Unified Framework ◽  
Physiological Mechanisms ◽  
Feedback Effects ◽  
Comprehensive Theory ◽  
Evolution Of Music

Why do humans make music? Theories of the evolution of musicality have focused mainly on the value of music for specific adaptive contexts such as mate selection, parental care, coalition signaling, and group cohesion. Synthesizing and extending previous proposals, we argue that social bonding is an overarching function that unifies all of these theories, and that musicality enabled social bonding at larger scales than grooming and other bonding mechanisms available in ancestral primate societies. We combine cross-disciplinary evidence from archaeology, anthropology, biology, musicology, psychology, and neuroscience into a unified framework that accounts for the biological and cultural evolution of music. We argue that the evolution of musicality involves gene-culture coevolution, through which proto-musical behaviors that initially arose and spread as cultural inventions had feedback effects on biological evolution due to their impact on social bonding. We emphasize the deep links between production, perception, prediction, and social reward arising from repetition, synchronization, and harmonization of rhythms and pitches, and summarize empirical evidence for these links at the levels of brain networks, physiological mechanisms, and behaviors across cultures and across species. Finally, we address potential criticisms and make testable predictions for future research, including neurobiological bases of musicality and relationships between human music, language, animal song, and other domains. The music and social bonding (MSB) hypothesis provides the most comprehensive theory to date of the biological and cultural evolution of music.

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