this is what it sounds like in my brain
say hello to mr. kellaris. he did some research on catchy tunes. now, what makes a catchy tune? it’s quite obvious, isn’t it? it’s about repetition, simplicity and incongruity. what i find the most interesting is this:
"Kellaris, an expert on the influences of music on consumers, reported preliminary results on his work last month at the Society for Consumer Psychology’s winter conference. He has a sample of 1,000 respondents to work with in analyzing his theory that certain songs create a sort of »cognitive itch« - the mental equivalent of an itchy back.
»It is like the familiar pattern of itching and scratching,« Kellaris says. »The only way to ’scratch’ a cognitive itch is to rehearse the responsible tune mentally. The process may start involuntarily, as the brain detects an incongruity or something ‘exceptional’ in the musical stimulus. The ensuing mental repetition may exacerbate the ‘itch,’ such that the mental rehearsal becomes largely involuntary, and the individual feels trapped in a cycle or feedback loop.«"
listen to what’s itching me most at this very moment [not dangerous… only short snips…]. WIN! tell me the name names (either artist or song title) of all the 3 of the tunes and you’ll win a copy of my new record! lines are open now!.
[…] inspired by my post on last thursday i wondered what other questions might be nearly unsolvable :-). google brought me to "the banana problem": a circumlocution used by computer experts and mathematicians for a thing that more normal people would call an unsolvable problem. this muppet labs episode came to my mind. needless to say that, when i was a child, i never understood the real joke behind this one. […]