23 May, 2019
- A new study supports earlier suspicions of a link between intelligence and non-vocal music.
- This may have to do with a taste for novel experiences way back on the savannah.
- Purely instrumental music may simply be more fresh for brainiacs.
The Savanna‐IQ Interaction Hypothesis, based on the Savannah Principle, proposes that intelligent people are more likely to be attracted to novel stimuli than other individuals are. A 2011 study — "Why More Intelligent Individuals Like Classical Music," by evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa — proposed that since music evolved from vocal sounds, purely instrumental music would, by comparison, be one such novel stimulus. Ergo, smarter people are more likely to enjoy instrumental music.
We may logically expand that category beyond Kanazawa's boundaries to encompass other, non-classical, but nonetheless purely instrumental forms of music, such as ambient/chill-out electronica, dance music, jazz, and so on. With that caveat, a study recently published in Evolutionary Behavioral Science, "Intelligence, Music Preferences, and Uses of Music From the Perspective of Evolutionary Psychology," adds fresh support for Kanazawa's take on musical taste.
Replies