Music Is Good for You

While appreciating music does stimulate the brain, “It will be a sad day when the only way to persuade educationalists to embrace music is via its side effects on cognition and intelligence.” Phillip Ball says that, “We should be especially wary of that argument in this age of cost-benefit analyses, targets and utilitarian impact assessments. Music should indeed be celebrated (and studied) as a gymnasium for the mind; but ultimately its value lies with the way it enriches, socializes and humanizes us qua music.”