What does it mean that members of society have evolved to constantly need audible stimulation? I feel like there has to be some sort of mental effect from listening to music constantly.
I don't have an answer for you, just wanted to pile on with my own experience and questions in the same vein.
I find that a background noise app really helps me stay calm/lowers stress and anxiety, and I get a huge productivity boost out of it. Something about being at peace hearing natural sounds really does feel like it's deeply engrained in me, and I assume other people also. I wonder: (1) if there's a difference between the effects people generally get from various noise types (lofi, natural sounds, white noise etc), (2) whether something relevant about the individual correlates with preference among these, and (3) what is universal among these that makes background noise so commonly helpful.
(I use Noice for free nature/background sounds, off f-droid. I highly recommend it)
Tried noice, uninstalled since it would stay open in the background, even though i closed it. Display used 36%, Noice used 11% of power! Was open for 36 minutes, ran 1:3X:XX.
I think the difference between music and background music makes sense here.
I use this this kind of background music as a way to drown other noises, because it's easily canceled by the brain.
It's basically a nicer white noise, better than silence because it allows me to ignore much better the noises around.
So for the 'need' for audible stimulation, it's actually the opposite : you cancel as much as possible the stimulation by having a constant and easily filterable input that drowns the unexpected noises that could be stimulating/break your focus
I think this is a valid question worth asking. As we dive further into the age of constant electronic activity and people preach digital detoxes, lament the loss of "deep work", and wax on about dopamine, it's good to consider all areas in which we've allowed such stimuli to pervade every part of our daily lives.
Certainly, people can point out that constant audible stimulation dates back to at least the radio craze near the beginning of the 20th century. So that gives us a place to start researching comparisons on the effect on attention spans and other aspects of human cognition.
I find the idea of needing music very interesting. I never really feel that I need music. Like, I can enjoy movie and game soundtracks, and I feel like they add to the atmosphere. But when working, I have no problems working and focusing in silence. I don't need background music, and I don't need to hear the radio playing. I actually prefer silence. But I've noticed many people consider silence very uncomfortable. I think silence is associated with boredom, and boredom is something people would rather avoid.
Well I don't constantly need it, but there's certainly stretches of time where I want something for my ears to focus on, leaving the rest of my mind to focus on something else.
And selecting music I actually want to listen to is counterproductive - as is scrolling through playlists and youtube channels finding the "right thing" to put on and forget about.
I suppose it depends on what definition of effect is in play.
To me it's like asking "is there an effect to seeing all the time?" or "is there an effect to listening to people speak Korean?" or "is there an effect to touching things?". Sure, there are second and third-order effects of using your senses - for example "looking" at an article will ideally cause you to learn something new - but our eyes and ears in particular evolved to be open practically all the time, and most music falls squarely within the non-injurious range of auditory stimuli.
I find that a background noise app really helps me stay calm/lowers stress and anxiety, and I get a huge productivity boost out of it. Something about being at peace hearing natural sounds really does feel like it's deeply engrained in me, and I assume other people also. I wonder: (1) if there's a difference between the effects people generally get from various noise types (lofi, natural sounds, white noise etc), (2) whether something relevant about the individual correlates with preference among these, and (3) what is universal among these that makes background noise so commonly helpful.
(I use Noice for free nature/background sounds, off f-droid. I highly recommend it)