Another of those reports from the wilder shores of science to remind us that the expansion of the universities was perhaps a waste of money. Partly because the subjects being studied in that desperate race to publish and rack up the research credits seems so marginal, partly because the conclusions drawn are so at odds with obvious reality. What type of music you like listening too is a guide to your personality:
People who like easy-listening music are likely to be talkative and energetic, while opera lovers are more insightful and imaginative, according to scientists.
Two major studies conducted by psychologists from Cambridge and top US universities have found your personality type can be accurately predicted from your musical tastes – and vice versa.
Well, no, not really. Easy listening music encourages being talkative to cover the dross up, we’re all only interested in opera when we’re being imaginative – you need to be so to think it’s worth listening to.
You might want to quibble with my analysis here but my richness in maturity means you do not get to question mah authoritah.
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Interesting word "imaginative". One often finds those described as imaginative (particularly self-described) are, in truth, the least imaginative. In common usage it's mostly just a synonym for conformist.
So, where does liking Charlemagne put the listener? On the one hand it's Pratchett-style dwarf opera crossed with heavy metal... on the other hand it's sung, rather well, by Christopher Lee (yes, that Christopher Lee). Including a heavy-rock styled cover of "My Way"... I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that a showman like Lee had a fine voice.
And as with horoscopes, merely randomly throwing nice positive adjectives at genres is easy. "You like jazz, you're free-thinking and imaginative! You like folk music, you nurture tradition and are community-spirited!". I'd be more impressed if there were any negatives attached to popular genres, even before we get into repeatable testing - "You like slow romantic ballads! You are depressive, unlovable and will die alone!" never seems to feature in these "analyses".
Weird Al Yankovic nailed this sort of thing nearly twenty years ago with "That's Your Horoscope For Today":
"The stars say that you're an exciting and wonderful person
But... you know they're lying."
So, where does liking Charlemagne put the listener? On the one hand it's Pratchett-style dwarf opera crossed with heavy metal... on the other hand it's sung, rather well, by Christopher Lee (yes, that Christopher Lee). Including a heavy-rock styled cover of "My Way"... I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that a showman like Lee had a fine voice.
And as with horoscopes, merely randomly throwing nice positive adjectives at genres is easy. "You like jazz, you're free-thinking and imaginative! You like folk music, you nurture tradition and are community-spirited!". I'd be more impressed if there were any negatives attached to popular genres, even before we get into repeatable testing - "You like slow romantic ballads! You are depressive, unlovable and will die alone!" never seems to feature in these "analyses".
Weird Al Yankovic nailed this sort of thing nearly twenty years ago with "That's Your Horoscope For Today":
"The stars say that you're an exciting and wonderful person
But... you know they're lying."
The result of this research reminds me of the self-evident factoids mixed into the occasional columns of Interesting Facts in Viz.
The result of this research reminds me of the self-evident factoids mixed into the occasional columns of Interesting Facts in Viz.
I've this theory that as you grow older you come to appreciate your parents' music but you never get used to your kids'.
I've this theory that as you grow older you come to appreciate your parents' music but you never get used to your kids'.
I don't think you appreciate how difficult it is to conduct research like this. You can't just head off to the student union and hand out a lot of questionnaires and pencil stubs asking
1. Which do you prefer (a) opera or (b) easy-listening music?
2. Would you describe yourself as (c) talkative and energetic or (d) insightful and imaginative?
That would only take an hour, plus an hour to tally up the answers and write your Ph.D. thesis. There's no money in that. You have to think how to make it as complicated as possible so that it will take many moons and require many oodles of grant boodle. (This is called "designing" the experiment.) Also there is the small problem that on most elite campuses you would struggle to find anyone prepared to tick either the "easy listening" box or the "talkative and energetic" one.
I don't think you appreciate how difficult it is to conduct research like this. You can't just head off to the student union and hand out a lot of questionnaires and pencil stubs asking
1. Which do you prefer (a) opera or (b) easy-listening music?
2. Would you describe yourself as (c) talkative and energetic or (d) insightful and imaginative?
That would only take an hour, plus an hour to tally up the answers and write your Ph.D. thesis. There's no money in that. You have to think how to make it as complicated as possible so that it will take many moons and require many oodles of grant boodle. (This is called "designing" the experiment.) Also there is the small problem that on most elite campuses you would struggle to find anyone prepared to tick either the "easy listening" box or the "talkative and energetic" one.
"Two major studies".
A bullshit online survey of 20 000 people hardly counts as 'major studies'.