[HN Gopher] Study finds solo music listening boosts social well-...
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       Study finds solo music listening boosts social well-being
        
       Author : PaulHoule
       Score  : 220 points
       Date   : 2025-03-31 22:25 UTC (4 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (phys.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (phys.org)
        
       | tananan wrote:
       | Study finds you enjoy doing things you like. If there's something
       | you particularly like, you seem to enjoy it even more.
       | 
       | If you are missing on some form of pleasure in your life,
       | substituting it for another pleasure can help alleviate the pain.
       | 
       | Woah.
        
         | wobfan wrote:
         | The study also explains that one feels less lonely when
         | listening to their favourite music, which is kinda new to me. I
         | mean, feeling better makes sense and is quite obvious, as you
         | sarcastically say, but I wouldn't think that listening to music
         | makes one feel less alone.
        
           | jack_pp wrote:
           | Depends, if you listen to Emo/sad/heartbreak songs you will
           | probably feel much more lonely.
        
             | odyssey7 wrote:
             | The cause or the effect? I would actually guess no for the
             | effect, since music preferences are associated with
             | community membership.
        
             | clcaev wrote:
             | I wouldn't assume that sad songs make you more lonely. For
             | someone dealing with grief, it may act as drug-free
             | therapy. Perhaps deepened sorrow at first, but when one
             | deals with grief, mental state and behavior can improve.
        
             | basisword wrote:
             | I think it's the opposite. Those songs are good because you
             | find someone can relate to you and therefore you would feel
             | less lonely. Maybe not less sad, but more connected.
        
             | InsideOutSanta wrote:
             | When I work from home, I usually listen to Sade, Brandy,
             | Monica, Faith Evans, and similar music. Although the music
             | is often about heartbreak, it doesn't make me sad. I find
             | it calming.
        
             | jjulius wrote:
             | I listen to sad songs with great regularity and jam the
             | hell out to the sheer musicianship within, actually.
        
         | metalman wrote:
         | :) pleasure is the gateway experience into enjoying yourself
        
         | neuroticnews25 wrote:
         | I wonder if it may be beneficial even if you're not naturally
         | willing to do it, similar to how introverts feel better after
         | acting extroverted [0] [1]
         | 
         | [0] https://archive.is/Ipdxc
         | 
         | [1]
         | https://online.ucpress.edu/collabra/article/7/1/29931/119109...
        
         | RajT88 wrote:
         | I used to live near a nice downtown with a riverwalk. I liked
         | to take my guitar and go play under the bridge at night. The
         | bridge was concrete and the reverb was crazy good. (Does that
         | make me a troll? A troll posting on the internet??)
         | 
         | I found it terribly soothing. Sometimes I'd bring a friend with
         | and we'd play together.
        
           | bluGill wrote:
           | I assume you listened for kids walking over the bridge and
           | then jumped up "Who is trip tropping over my bridge". One of
           | my favorite actives, and done right the kids laugh (don't get
           | too close or do anything else that would make the kids
           | scared!)
        
             | RajT88 wrote:
             | This was Naperville, IL. So that kind of behavior is very
             | risky.
             | 
             | You could get sued for 10 million dollars. Or these days,
             | deported to Aurora.
        
           | seplox wrote:
           | You just reminded me of one of my favorite Tony Joe White
           | songs, so thanks!
           | 
           | Tony Joe White - Even Trolls Love Rock and Roll
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fJMNJTEhuw
        
       | pearlsontheroad wrote:
       | I wonder if the positive effect is also associated with a sense
       | of autonomy and control of the environment.
        
       | singularity2001 wrote:
       | This is one of the cases I call reality mismatch:
       | 
       | Through evolution we have been programmed to associate music with
       | security of the group being nearby. Now we can listen to music
       | even though the group is very distant in time and space. Maybe
       | it's not a complete reality mismatch because in a sense we are
       | still close to the group through the Internet.
       | 
       | However the positive feelings are over exaggerated given the
       | limited modern benefits.
        
         | scop wrote:
         | That's a fascinating take. Music until very recently was indeed
         | an incredibly social activity bound with layers of talent,
         | leisure (purpose/meaning/security), belonging, etc.
         | 
         | As people have been chatting about the Metaverse or AR I often
         | quip that we've already had AR for awhile: headphones.
         | 
         | The ubiquitous of AirPods, even amongst employees _on the
         | clock_ in recent years, has only reinforced my belief that we
         | are already deep down the AR rabbit hole and seeing both the
         | positive and negative effects. Augmented reality is great, but
         | we still need to be grounded and able to act within reality.
         | It's the reality that must be our base, not the augmented part.
         | The augmented should serve to improve reality, not replace.
        
           | cryptopian wrote:
           | One of the most enjoyable musical experiences I had recently
           | was on a choir exchange in Europe. We were at a concert
           | afterparty with choirs from two other countries, exchanging
           | drunken folk songs. Were we pleasant to listen to? Probably
           | not. It was raucous and out of tune, but it was a bunch of
           | people sharing something we loved.
        
             | moritzruth wrote:
             | That sounds beautiful.
        
             | em-bee wrote:
             | i had a similar experience in scouting. german scouting has
             | a strong singing tradition to the point that there are
             | regular competitions that attract groups from all over
             | europe. also camps where multiple groups meet. imagine your
             | after party experience every night for multiple days, maybe
             | even a week or two.
        
             | scop wrote:
             | Singing in adult choirs has been one of my most spiritually
             | and socially rewarding activities. You really feel a
             | brother in arms with your fellow singers. Perhaps it is
             | because singing is such an embarrassing activity in
             | isolation, but then the sheer force of all the voices come
             | together to make something of such power and beauty that
             | you are incapable of replicating yourself. I'll never
             | forget the tenors I sang Faures Requiem or Beethoven 9th
             | with.
        
           | volkl48 wrote:
           | We created office jobs that required sustained individual
           | focus.
           | 
           | The traditional (high-walled) cube farm may be ugly, but it's
           | also one where an employee could often work at their desk
           | with relatively few distractions. If you're not going to
           | build private offices, they're not that awful of a compromise
           | for enabling focus.
           | 
           | Then in the past decade or two, we had the open-office trend,
           | and changed the office to one full of endless visual and
           | auditory distractions making focus difficult.
           | 
           | Employees wearing headphones at work is an obvious attempt by
           | many to reduce the distractions that bad office design has
           | created.
        
         | em-bee wrote:
         | i thought it is comparable to talking to my friends online
         | instead of in person. in my case those friends are on a
         | different continent. i do have local fiends too, but talking to
         | my online friends is what keeps me connected to my the place
         | where i grew up. (even though these friends are not from that
         | time)
         | 
         | interestingly, as someone who plays an instrument, i don't
         | enjoy just listening to music as much because i'd rather play
         | with friends
        
         | brudgers wrote:
         | Some people don't have strong bonds with groups and some people
         | don't have experiences where identifiable groups were a source
         | of security.
         | 
         | This is the experience of outsiders. People without tribe.
         | There choice is not between bread and cake, but between bread
         | and an empty belly.
        
           | s1artibartfast wrote:
           | To be honest, I dont have a lot of time for complaints from
           | such people. Maybe I am one, but the solution is to go live
           | in a cabin and bake your own bread, not sit at the table
           | looking for sympathy.
        
             | wiether wrote:
             | That seems to be an extreme reaction?
             | 
             | They were just stating the reality of some people that
             | don't necessarily chose to feel how they feel...
        
               | s1artibartfast wrote:
               | That wasn't my reading. It was the bread or death part
               | that did for me.
               | 
               | To me it seemed like melodramatic self pity, like the
               | person complain that they had no other choice but go to
               | the party but be alone. If someone hates company, they
               | should go be a hermit, not show up and tell everyone
               | about it.
               | 
               | It's okay to be a loner or a hermit. If you're not doing
               | it, then either you are choosing the trade offs or you
               | don't actually want it.
               | 
               | People should own their choices. Self pity and denial of
               | agency are two of the most self destructive cognitive
               | phenomenon.
        
               | brudgers wrote:
               | _That wasn 't my reading_
               | 
               | Indeed, it was your misreading.
        
               | s1artibartfast wrote:
               | Sure seemed melodramatic to me. care to explain the
               | choice between bread and an empty belly in a way that
               | isn't intended to garner sympathy? It is a pretty loaded
               | metaphor.
        
         | DrillShopper wrote:
         | There are a lot of things that I find wrong with Spotify, but
         | one of the features it does have that I have found helpful is a
         | feature where you can listen along using what Spotify calls a
         | Jam:
         | 
         | > Friends who join a Jam can listen and add songs to the queue
         | together, whether in-person or virtually.
         | 
         | > Note: Premium is needed to start and host a Jam. Free users
         | can join and add songs to a Jam hosted by a Premium user,
         | allowing for in-person Jams. This feature works also with smart
         | speakers and most Bluetooth speakers.
         | 
         | I've used this with online friends, and it's really good. If
         | you use a voice chat app (we usually use Mumble) you can even
         | talk while the music plays.
        
         | hackable_sand wrote:
         | Did you mean to say "performance" instead of "music"?
         | 
         | Either way, this sounds like vague popsci reasoning.
        
       | Pixelious wrote:
       | Another study that states obvious facts. Of course listening to
       | music boosts your well-being, heck, doing anything you enjoy
       | doing tends to do so.
        
         | tonytamps wrote:
         | Not sure if your response was deliberately obtuse or not, but
         | in case it was accidental I wanted to point out that you may
         | have missed a key word - "social" well-being.
         | 
         | It's one thing if listening to music makes you feel good, but
         | another completely if listening makes you more capable of
         | socialising. This may be more important for others than it is
         | for you.
        
           | tananan wrote:
           | You are reading into something that isn't there. The study
           | doesn't have to do with music making you more capable of
           | socializing.
           | 
           | The hypothesis being tested is that in the absence of social
           | interaction, people will turn to surrogates in order to make
           | up for the perceived lack. Specifically, they test if music
           | can be such a surrogate. They do some surveys and a kind of
           | silly experiment to provide evidence that yes- it can.
           | 
           | The reason it is rightly called pointless is that it brings
           | nothing actionable to the table.
           | 
           | You cannot extract advice from showing evidence for a common-
           | sense observation: If you feel a certain lack, activities you
           | find pleasurable can diminish that lack.
           | 
           | And look at the experimental setup: They make people play an
           | online game with others where certain people are excluded
           | from playing. It turns out that people who are hyped from
           | listening to their favorite song found this less jarring,
           | hence showing that music can be a "social buffer", i.e. make
           | up for a perceived social exclusion.
           | 
           | Let everyone individually conclude how insightful this
           | experiment is.
           | 
           | EDIT: Misunderstood the nature of the "Cyberball" experiment,
           | fixed
        
         | bluGill wrote:
         | Until it doesn't. It is an obvious fact that a heavy rock will
         | fall faster than a light rock. Only because you have been
         | taught otherwise for all your life do you realize it isn't a
         | fact even though it is obvious.
        
       | FollowingTheDao wrote:
       | "This study was funded in part by the International Coalition of
       | Headphone Manufactures."
       | 
       | But seriously, "Music as a social surrogate"? How is this good?
       | What we need is to fix the social structure, not find out ways to
       | compensate for the miserable state we are in.
       | 
       | From https://www.utica.edu/college-community/utica-
       | stories/fillin...
       | 
       | "In terms of social needs, we have a social fuel tank. This tank
       | helps us understand if we are able to get to our destination--the
       | destination being positive mental health outcomes, like feeling
       | satisfied with our lives, having positive self-image, and feeling
       | accepted by others. The problem is that past measures used in
       | psychology research only tell us how much fuel is in the tank--
       | not what types of fuel are in the tank, or how much of each type
       | of fuel is in there.
       | 
       | In this study, the measure that I created helps researchers
       | understand what types of fuel are in the tank, and how much of
       | each type of fuel is in the tank, that is leading to those
       | outcomes. It gives us a better idea of what is going on to help
       | people get those positive outcomes."
        
       | JKCalhoun wrote:
       | Maybe others will relate? I'm not a headphone person but always
       | have music playing in the background on speakers -- often at a
       | fairly low volume so it is easily ignored, talked over.
       | 
       | I find without the presence of external music I will have a song
       | playing in my head instead. And generally the same song for hours
       | (!). So I suppose the external click-track freezes up my mind
       | somehow.
       | 
       | In case anyone cares, my "playlist" is local music I've purchased
       | over the decades -- maybe 4 or 5 days long? In my "lab" (man-
       | cave, I suppose) I have a shorter, streamed playlist on the
       | stereo that is looping over new music that I am currently
       | "auditioning". The songs that make the cut are purchased and
       | added eventually to the local playlist that plays elsewhere.
        
         | Novosell wrote:
         | As another music-purchaser, it's annoying how difficult it is
         | to buy FLAC releases of bigger artists.
        
           | JKCalhoun wrote:
           | Yeah, since I prefer Bandcamp and, as you say, the bigger
           | artists are not there, I end up buying shitty MP3s from
           | Amazon for their songs.
           | 
           | So I end up with real high quality Japanese Breakfast and
           | MP3-quality Pixies.
        
             | Novosell wrote:
             | Aye, bandcamp is the go-to. It's funny that the further
             | production gets from someones bedroom the less likely you
             | are to be able to buy a lossless version. All that
             | production for a 192kbps MP3...
        
           | skydhash wrote:
           | You can try qobuz and 7digital.
        
           | piperswe wrote:
           | For big artists, I tend to just go to my local record store,
           | pick up a CD, and rip it when I get home.
        
             | csdvrx wrote:
             | For albums, I recommend supraphonline.cz: https://www.supra
             | phonline.cz/vyhledavani/alba/maingenre.1-ve...
        
           | saint_yossarian wrote:
           | hdtracks.com has a pretty big catalog, but is sometimes a bit
           | expensive.
        
           | edu wrote:
           | And buying the CD and ripping it?
        
         | maeil wrote:
         | > I find without the presence of external music I will have a
         | song playing in my head instead. And generally the same song
         | for hours (!).
         | 
         | I have this, but then for days. It's not fun. Sleeping a lot
         | helps, to an extent.
        
         | crent wrote:
         | I'm glad you shared your experience because I've dealt with
         | this for decades. It's usually a small snippet, 15 seconds or
         | less, of a song that just loops over and over for me.
         | 
         | What I do to combat this, and other "brain noise", is also to
         | listen to music but I use headphones with high volume. I also
         | listen to the same playlist repeatedly so it's not distracting
         | and instead quiets that loud part of my brain to allow me to
         | focus.
        
           | threecheese wrote:
           | Same. It's five seconds of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" looping over
           | and over and makes me want to crawl inside a blaring tuba to
           | drown it out.
           | 
           | When people mention "intrusive thoughts" this is what comes
           | to my mind.
        
           | jaymzcampbell wrote:
           | I'm relieved to know from reading this thread I'm not
           | completely crazy. I have the same thing, a very, very short
           | snippet just repeatedly "playing". I become very conscious of
           | it at various moments and try to "change the track" to some
           | other repeated snippet. I've yet to find a pattern to which
           | track is next.
        
           | thewebguyd wrote:
           | Same, but instead of the same playlist I'll put the same song
           | on repeat while working. It really does quiet the mind and
           | lets me focus.
        
             | chrisweekly wrote:
             | Same. I posted upthread about my flowstate playlist,
             | optimized for tracks to put on repeat for focus.
             | 
             | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43585365
        
           | chrisweekly wrote:
           | Strong recommendation to use noise-cancelling instead of high
           | volume. Hearing loss sucks! Protect your ears!
        
         | sph wrote:
         | In the past few years, getting songs stuck in my head
         | (earworms) has become so easy I pretty much don't listen to
         | music with vocals anymore. Only ambient, techno and psytrance
         | for me. (Pop I imagine would be the absolute worst, lab
         | engineered to be memorable)
         | 
         | I'm certain the DSM-5 might list that as a symptom of going
         | crazy or whatever, but I don't care to know, I guess it's a new
         | quirk of mine. That said, I truly dislike having neighbours
         | practicing an instrument, which means having to suffer the same
         | tune for far too long, and it getting stuck in my head for 2
         | more days.
        
           | encom wrote:
           | This can be associated with ADHD. Guess how I know.
        
           | globnomulous wrote:
           | > In the past few years, getting songs stuck in my head
           | (earworms) has become so easy I pretty much don't listen to
           | music with vocals anymore. Only ambient, techno and psytrance
           | for me. (Pop I imagine would be the absolute worst, lab
           | engineered to be memorable)
           | 
           | Same. This is partly why SomaFM (esp. Space Station Soma,
           | Drone Zone, and Mission Control) and soundtracks are my jam.
           | 
           | I think it's also partly why I can't stand Vivaldi or Hiromi.
           | Vivaldi writes classical pop -- so heavy on melody that it
           | may as well be choral. It's easy to sing, and sounds like
           | song, so it gets stuck in the ear. Hiromi, in turn, plays the
           | piano quite literally like she's singing (honestly, I think
           | she's a musical acrobat with no feel for the piano as an
           | instrument), which results in ear worms for the same reason.
           | 
           | Bill Evans, by contrast, is so chock full of harmonic
           | complexity and color that it's physically impossible to sing
           | along with him. I never tire of him. Same for Wayne Shorter
           | and Bach, though for different reasons.
           | 
           | And I just realized that this is probably partly why I hate
           | musical theater so fervently.
        
           | recursive wrote:
           | I have music stuck in my head more or less constantly. It's
           | never bothered, and I'm kind of surprised to find all the
           | remedies suggested here. For me, instrumental music is no
           | different from vocal music. It can be a riff from a solo, a
           | chord change, an interesting timbre, or pretty much any
           | sound. Sometimes I think they're not from songs that have yet
           | been recorded. Just the imagination of sounds that turn over
           | and over. I've always kind of liked it. I'm a musician
           | myself, and I think it helps me think of old music in new
           | ways.
        
         | StefanBatory wrote:
         | Same for me; I can get songs stuck in my head too easily.
        
         | pknopf wrote:
         | I'm exactly like this.
         | 
         | I have a OneWheel that I use to get around, and a JBL speaker.
         | I legit listen to music in Publix isles, dancing, vibing, all
         | day, every day.
         | 
         | I'm known around my neighborhood as "the speaker guy".
         | 
         | If I don't have music playing, I'm usually finger
         | drumming/tapping/bobbing my head anyway.
        
           | aerostable_slug wrote:
           | > JBL speaker
           | 
           | On behalf of everyone else in the world, please invest in
           | headphones.
           | 
           | Broadcasting in this way is boorish and the kind of thing
           | emotionally stunted people do to inflict their will upon
           | others. I'm not saying you're necessarily like that, but
           | you're 'wearing their uniform' so to speak.
        
           | velp wrote:
           | Being known as "the speaker guy" isn't a compliment.
           | 
           | Also, do a kickflip.
        
         | chrisweekly wrote:
         | I have a carefully-curated Spotify playlist -- "FLOWSTATE:
         | Repeatable FTW"[1] -- that I specifically optimized for
         | "flowstate" (/Cal Newport "deep work" sessions). The tracks
         | span various moods or vibes, but all are strictly instrumental,
         | w/ limited dynamic range or significant musical variation, and
         | a steady, energizing beat -- ie they're each deliberately
         | repetitive and work well set on repeat. Airpods in, pick a
         | track that resonates w my mood, set it on repeat, set my
         | Pomodoro timer (to remind me to stand and move instead of
         | hyperfocus for hours straight), and I can reliably enter
         | flowstate almost right away.
         | 
         | 1. Here's the playlist if anyone's interested:
         | 
         | https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6UScdOAlqXqWTOmXFgQhFA?si=...
        
         | lgeorget wrote:
         | I know many people who say they can't live without music,
         | cannot work or just be around home without listening to
         | something. I understand their experience but I can't relate at
         | all. It's not that I don't like music or that I'm particularly
         | sensitive to noise but I practically never listen to music I
         | put myself. I feel like I could just live without it
         | completely.
        
           | bojan wrote:
           | Since I have children I almost never listen to music. The
           | kids are such a sensory overload that, when I get a moment of
           | silence alone, I don't want to ruin it with sound.
        
             | recursive wrote:
             | I have kids. When I get a moment alone, I find that's a
             | perfect opportunity to do some high quality listening
             | without interruption.
        
           | TechDebtDevin wrote:
           | I'm like this but replace music with audiobooks/podcasts..
        
           | SoftTalker wrote:
           | For me it depends on my mood. Sometimes I like to have
           | background music going, sometimes I enjoy silence.
        
         | ecalifornica wrote:
         | You might enjoy Oliver Sacks' book Musicophilia: Tales of Music
         | and the Brain. You're not alone in your experience.
        
       | qoez wrote:
       | Study shows people relying on studies for common sense found less
       | adept at independent thinking
        
       | _fat_santa wrote:
       | Just from personal experience, listening to music in the morning
       | while I make my coffee is an essential part of my morning
       | routing, to the point that I will be upset if I can't do it.
        
       | hk1337 wrote:
       | I wonder if it's a similar case with having tv shows running in
       | the background? Music is often too stimulating for me but I like
       | having the TV running in the background cycling through tv shows.
        
         | Ylpertnodi wrote:
         | Many years ago, I always used to have TV on whilst I did
         | (composed) music. With YouTube (and others) nowadays, I still
         | found myself doomscrolling, so I bought a digital TV tuner and
         | have that in a window. Productivity up.
        
         | jrmyphlmn wrote:
         | if one's childhood had many instances of tv playing in the
         | background, then I suspect it's their nervous system marking
         | that environment as their most safe/comfortable environment and
         | that revisiting it can have a soothing effect on them?
        
       | autobodie wrote:
       | Wonderful! I am increasingly drowning in debt, my career is a
       | dead end thanks to AI, and my landlord is making my daily life a
       | stressful misery, but I _can_ listen to music on my headphones.
       | Thanks science!
        
       | ssttoo wrote:
       | Confusing title, I thought there was something special in solo
       | music, e.g. pieces for one piano or a single classical guitar
        
       | euvitudo wrote:
       | My birds are much happier when music is playing. And they seem to
       | have preferences over time. Like there are no predators around
       | when the environment around them is noisy.
        
         | khalladay wrote:
         | Though I found they like having control over whether the music
         | is playing more... to my chagrin. I tried to keep my parrot
         | from being too noisy through the day by setting up a microphone
         | in his room, and having it turn off the radio for 30 seconds
         | every time he was louder than a threshold amount.
         | 
         | Day one -> he triggered the shut down ~10 times. Day two ->
         | easily 50. Day three -> you can see where this is going
         | 
         | Dude freaking LOVED being able to turn on and off the radio. It
         | almost beat out being able to flap his wings and make the
         | curtains move as one of his favourite hobbies.
        
       | chaosprint wrote:
       | is there any good app to know local music event?
        
       | 6stringmerc wrote:
       | Yeah but having a CHOICE in the music typically plays an
       | important role! I mean in jail the only free option Tarrant
       | County offered was Christian music (rap and contemporary) and
       | that stuff was actually irritating to me. I wasn't actively
       | accessing it - I couldn't NOT hear it coming through the
       | ventilation system.
       | 
       | I wrote about how it's a form of indoctrination to exploit
       | people's desire for something that they love yet only present a
       | brainwashing oriented selection:
       | 
       | https://samhenrycliff.medium.com/tarrant-county-sheriff-bill...
        
       | jasondigitized wrote:
       | https://somafm.com/player/#/now-playing/groovesalad is my well-
       | being
        
         | e40 wrote:
         | Does nothing for me ("Play" does nothing) with uBO enabled in
         | FF.
        
           | tetris11 wrote:
           | Works fine for me in Firefox for Android with uBO.
           | 
           | The music is quite sparsely melodic though and easy to miss
        
             | e40 wrote:
             | Maybe because I'm not signed in? I disabled uBO and it
             | still doesn't play. Hmm.
        
         | ews wrote:
         | SOMAFM's SF police radio with ambient music is surprisingly
         | good for concentration, I have this on an alias in my box : mpv
         | https://somafm.com/sf1033.pls
        
       | dimal wrote:
       | This is a cynical take, but I'm increasingly becoming tired of
       | studies like this. Is this is where our science funding is going?
       | It's clever, trite, and probably meaningless. I keep reading
       | about the publish/perish problem in academia and how it
       | encourages research that safe, slightly interesting, but not
       | _too_ interesting, and doesn't move anything _forward_. This
       | study seems to fit that criteria.
       | 
       | And since it's behind a paywall, I can't really determine the how
       | the study was designed, how well powered it is, how they defined
       | statistical significance, and exactly how they justify their
       | conclusion. But it got clicks and comments, so I guess it served
       | its purpose, only to be quickly forgotten in endless churn of
       | popular science news.
       | 
       | I'm sad to say, I'm beginning to think that a lot of current
       | science is bullshit. As a very pro-science person, this is very
       | depressing.
        
       | riyanapatel wrote:
       | I can't argue that I really enjoy music as my working background
       | noise. Something else unique is I enjoy listening to TV shows, or
       | more, "noise". I usually put on a simple TV show I've seen before
       | that doesn't need a lot of attention (Friends, the Office, New
       | Girl, Big Bang Theory), that creates that background noise. It's
       | like white noise to me :)
        
       | SteelByte wrote:
       | Fascinating research showing music's powerful social effects.
       | Would be interesting to see if the results hold up across
       | different demographics and cultures. Also curious about the
       | neurological mechanisms at play - perhaps solo music activates
       | brain regions involved in empathy and social bonding? Exciting
       | implications for music therapy applications.
        
       | bitwize wrote:
       | I dunno, man, just from personal experience... I never went to
       | raves back in the day, and only occasionally to clubs. With one
       | exception I found the mobs of sweaty drunken (or otherwise
       | intoxicated) people borderline intolerable. But sitting in my
       | room with headphones on, blasting trance or other EDM... I feel
       | swept up and part of something. It's also the best way for me to
       | bro out lots of code, with that stuff pumping. It's like the
       | rhythm provides guide-rails for my brain to keep it going a
       | certain direction.
       | 
       | The one exception? I once saw Armin Van Buuren do one of his
       | legendary hours-long sets. That man is like the Pied Piper.
       | Whatever energy the floor had before he came on was amplified a
       | hundredfold and I just danced and danced, people be damned.
        
       | stronglikedan wrote:
       | If you want to know if this is for you, but you don't want to
       | spend a lot of money, start with iems. It's quite the hobby, as
       | well as education. It's very cheap and accessible to start off,
       | while getting the full hi-fi music feeling. Of course, if you
       | stick with it, it can get very expensive.
        
       | ThinkBeat wrote:
       | The study found that for people who are lonely or sad, listening
       | to music helped them.
       | 
       | Wow. How utterly expected.
       | 
       | Next, they will do studies and find that people who are lonely or
       | sad, are helped when they attend a concert with their favorite
       | band.
       | 
       | Or when they eat their favorite food.
       | 
       | "After two years of studies, we conclude that people who are
       | feeling lonely or sad, eating their favorite food gives them a
       | boost and feel better".
       | 
       | The metric that would be useful is "better" for how long?
        
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