Music learning disability and the values of society

[thalberg]

A friend of mine brought up a great discussion point:  she was diagnosed with a math learning disability.  Yet she is a good musician.  Her husband is excellent at math and terrible at music, yet he has not been diagnosed with a music learning disability.  Why does society say that if you can't do math, something is wrong with you, but if you can't do music, you are perfectly fine?

[perfect_pitch]

Thats unfortunately the world we live in...
We live in a world where business is one of the biggest industries that most people find themselves in - whether it's to do with technology, education, law-enforcement etc... and chances are with most jobs - it's necessary to be able to spell and add/multiply with the ability to string a sentence together.

The funny thing is though that as kids (Young kids - say 4 onwards till about 10) - we're taught to draw, paint, play, sound and do all sorts of creative tasks. Then we head to high school and we're taught about stringing sentences into paragraphs and have algebra crammed down our throats... and the schools focus less on the ability to express, and drive the ability to prepare for the working world.

I guess the world doesn't value creativity as much as the ability to type up reports... however we musicians understand how truly wonderful it is to have music in our lives...



And chances are when people are 60, they'll realise that they'd wished they had music in their lives... instead of wasting 40 working years publishing articles, reports and all sorts of bullshit.

[rc]

From what I remember of math class, and talking amongst people, I get the impression that a lot of people aren't all that great at math.  Though just about anybody could add, subtract, multiply and divide - which is the bulk of what most need in daily life (personal finances)...  If they're inclined to actually use those skills...

Maybe it's another symptom of the materialistic focus of this society.  Where math can help one earn money to supply the material things in life (important! to a point), the benefits of music aren't material.

I think there's a link to the rise of science.  I don't want to demean all the technological benefits of scientific thinking, but I've always thought the essential limit to science is that it can only, by it's nature, be materialistic.  As in, reducable to some physical operation (although, by the bits I've heard and read of theoretical physics they're beginning to blur the lines into some sort of metaphysics).

I was listening to a podcast earlier today, with the author of 'this is your brain on music'.  He explained the universal human inclination to music with a sort of vague evolutionary explaination.  Somehow the mind evolved to produce dopamine when we perceive predictable patterns (with surprises thrown in to sustain interest).  How certain mathematical ratios present in music can be found in nature and our brains adapted to it (how did those ratios come to matter?  well that's not really the business of evolutionary biology)...

Anyways I could ramble across all sorts of fields that I don't have a deep understanding of, in the end I don't see a very compelling explaination for the importance of beauty from science.  To a society that's a bit sqeamish in themes of spirit - unmeasurable, untestable, uncertain, more faith than proof - music doesn't seem so important.

And maybe there's a point to that.  If the basic math skills can be the difference between a person being able to keep track of their finances and feed their family, or not...  Well what does music matter if there's nothing to eat and nowhere to live.  But having basic needs met, I think there's more to life than survival and passing on the genetics.

*shrug* I'm ready for bed

[go12_3]

I think that labeling someone that has a *disability*  of any thing is not necessary.
No one should have any kind of disability.  The only disability that I see is not having  the ability to try it out.  Sure, there are folks that doesn't comprehend music and can learn it as readily as most musicians can.  But, no one shouldn't say , you have a music learning disability. 

best wishes,

go12_3

[timothy42b]

  But, no one shouldn't say , you have a music learning disability. 

best wishes,

go12_3

There are exceptions to that.  Every church choir has one dedicated singer who is truly music disabled and doesn't know it. 

[mrba1979]

A friend of mine brought up a great discussion point:  she was diagnosed with a math learning disability.  Yet she is a good musician.  Her husband is excellent at math and terrible at music, yet he has not been diagnosed with a music learning disability.  Why does society say that if you can't do math, something is wrong with you, but if you can't do music, you are perfectly fine?

Who diagnosed her and do they have one of those diagnoses for learning history.  I actually like history however I can never retain anything I read.  Also the same for learning peoples names for that matter.  I need one of those diagnoses as well.  I am now wondering if I can receive federall grant money for my deficiencies since it technically impedes on my quality of life?