I listen to audiobooks on my ipod when I'm on the go or doing mindless tasks such as mowing the lawn or folding clothes or whatever. It's a nice way to infuse some sort of productivity during down time that otherwise feels wasted. I have to have my music at the gym though otherwise I can't get properly amped up to lift. Funny that you mention still listening to talk radio and sports radio. Cutting those out would definitely do more in terms of increasing your intelligence and might even help your blood pressure.
i havent listened to music in years. the effect on your mind is profound. not to mention the sheer amount of time AND money wasted on buying it, keeping up with the latest, and all the inane details about musicians personal lives and reading their lyrics... seriously, nothing better to do with your life? simply put: garbage in, garbage out. stop putting in garbage.
Maybe you should listen to music that ISN'T garbage? McDonalds Chicken Nuggets are bad for you. Because of this, I have decided to never eat food again.
I hear what you're saying about cutting out the peripheral "noise" in our lives, but I don't think music even comes close to being the distraction that television, talk radio or movies are (unless you are listening to real crap or you never truly ever digested the music in the first place). At least for me, music is a real equalizer, and listening objectively to things I've never heard before is the best stabilizer I can think of.
What does this have to do w/ listening to music? You don't have to do hours of research before pressing play on your iPod. Maybe you've been doing it wrong.
I didn't stop listening to music, because music is my life, whether it's playing it, listening to it, or writing it....BUT I did stop listening to rap, and I can tell you that music is just more meaningful now. I'm sorry, but making a beat in your bedroom and singing into an auto-tuner about how it's your birthday and we're gonna have sex is NOT music. I swear idiocracy is coming true.
wow. do you really think the problem is the music, and not you? something makes me think you never learned how to sit down and listen to music properly in the first place.
I've already repped arkoe for the same line plus you have too many little green boxes as it is To the op - as others have said, I think you would be better off to cut out the sports radio than music altogether. That's great you can do it and actually think you have gotten smarter. I listen to music (on the iPod) at work mainly to block out all the inane conversations that the women around me have about their personal lives and all the drama involved. Believe me - I would be a lot stupider (is that even a word) if I had to listen to their drivel for 3 straight months compared to music.
I decided to stop listening to my iPod when traveling (mainly bus rides) and found that my mind would wander more and think more abstract things....although when I thought of music my brain just replayed all the classical music back to me (never worked for rap though, not sure why).
Difference is, food is a necessity to life, whereas music is a luxury and not a need. I don't agree with the OP, I believe music is needed to calm the soul and relax, but your analogy is flawed.
I usually only listen to music in the car when driving.... that's about the only time I listen to music.
*general tired ramblings I recommend using memory and your brain fill in the blanks about your best and worst moments in life whilst listening to music once in a while. When music lights up the limbic system, I find I can better see the details, smell the room. Can you remember what you were doing the first time you heard that song? It's up to you if you brainlessly listen to talk radio and have someone elses thoughts pumped into your head but you can have active responses to whatever is around you.... do mental calisthenics . Find 10 things you can't do and learn how to do them. Think about a time some dude cut you off while driving and try to remember the license plate. Your high emotional state increases the likelihood that lots of information was encoded about the incident. Sleep on it. Have you ever thought about inventing something? Great! What is the best way to make it, how can it fail or wear out, and how would you change that? If that's not your thing, think about that person who always gets the girl/guy or the person who tells the best jokes. Pick it apart... what are they doing that makes them successful? There are absolute laws of physics, general rules of thumb and examples from the extremely unlikely that can help you build a model of the world around you. Sharpen your B.S. detector. What do you really know, and how do you know? What do you assume, and how hard have you questioned those assumptions? Uh, yeah so if music is interfering with the important things in your life... by all means stop doing it.
I would quit talk radio, sports radio, television and news before music. You must lead a very odd and uncreative life if music 'interferes.'
I used to listen to music all the time in my early-to-mid 20's. I lived at the Record Rack and Soundwaves down by the Shepherd/Westheimer area in Houston. But around the time I got my first real job, my music listening started going down. When I left Houston to come to Dallas, my sports talk listening basically became non-existent. It gave me time to uh... post on forums. But seriously, about the only time I listen to music now is when I'm driving on long trips. I find myself listening to only CNBC in the car now on weekdays when the market is open. I'm trying to get more into audiobooks on my long drives as well. Music, while, I still enjoy what I may consider good music, doesn't make me want to hunt it down anymore. I couldn't care less who is hot, but if I hear something I like, I may see if I can d/l it off of Napster/Zune.
your life would not be the same without tv, a computer, hell even woman. but in the end you can SURVIVE without them and adapt and find other things, which is what makes it a luxury not a necessity like food and shelter. see how long you survive without food..
