I can hear Shepard tones [1] in songs now. I remember the first time I heard it in a song, I was blown away, confused as to what I was hearing.
Later when it was pointed out to me that is is "a thing" I started to recognize them in other songs. I sort of miss being naive.
There's a line from one of Feynman's books where he is arguing with an artist friend who dislikes how Feynman (science generally) dissect a rose rather than just admiring its beauty. Feynman is incredulous as to how knowing more about a thing can take away from its beauty. (I may be slightly mis-remembering this exchange.)
That always bothered me because I felt that naïveté is a thing you lose with knowledge and that is not always a good thing.
Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer" [2] instead resonated with me.
Shepard tone is popular for building suspense. The soundtrack for the movie "Dunkirk" leverages a pretty identfiable shepard tone for anyone interested in hearing a quick example.
Later when it was pointed out to me that is is "a thing" I started to recognize them in other songs. I sort of miss being naive.
There's a line from one of Feynman's books where he is arguing with an artist friend who dislikes how Feynman (science generally) dissect a rose rather than just admiring its beauty. Feynman is incredulous as to how knowing more about a thing can take away from its beauty. (I may be slightly mis-remembering this exchange.)
That always bothered me because I felt that naïveté is a thing you lose with knowledge and that is not always a good thing.
Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer" [2] instead resonated with me.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepard_tone
[2] https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45479/when-i-heard-th...