Music and mathematics have a symbiotic relationship. I was once again reminded of this from watching this video by Numberphile.
Both are universal. Both are dominated by patterns. And in both, the patterns need to be beautiful and the ideas must fit in a harmonious manner. As GH Hardy famously said: "Beauty is the first test: there is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics."
The 19th-century English mathematician J J Sylvester put it thus: “May not music be described as the mathematics of sense, mathematics as the music of reason, the soul of each the same?” This is a wonderful analogy of how closely intertwined the two are.
In fact, Gottfried Leibniz, philosopher and mathematician says about music
"Music is a secret exercise in arithmetic of the soul, unaware of its act of counting."
Many great mathematicians have loved music - and many in particular - have a great liking for Bach.
Johann Sebastian Bach is considered as grand master of structural innovation. He is by far, the most mathematically sound composer. His compositions were replete with patterns, structures, recursions and other precisely crafted features.
Bach has played with the Fibonacci sequence, the patterns of palindromes, and even with the mobius strip.
Musicians too enjoy mathematics. Without mathematics, the fundamentals and the beauty of music would elude the ardent musician.
As Stravinsky once said: "The musician should find in mathematics a study as useful to him as the learning of another language is to a poet. Mathematics swims seductively just below the surface."
Take these 2 videos for example. They are excerpts from a talk by D Srinivas, who explain the mathematics of Carnatic music.
Music, we know, has a way to our soul. It opens up a window to see and feel things that conscious mind cannot fathom. Music, for many, is the closest feeling of being connected to a higher plane. To connect with a higher being or a more evolved self. Ever heard Gregorian chants, or the Vedic chants, or Tibetian music? One doesn't have to belief in God to feel the music.
But it's not just music that leads to this elevated sense of self. The famous mathematician Ramanujan said: "“An equation for me has no meaning, unless it expresses a thought of God.”
To wind it all up, here's a video that demonstrates the mathematics of music, albeit by an automotive company. This was Honda doing content long before CONTENT was a thing.
Strategic planners have this innate habit and drive to connect seemingly unrelated dots and try to make sense of the world around them. No wonder that they immerse themselves into so many different kinds of things - and each will find its way into the work they do. Either it's in the brief, in the strategy deck, in the consumer insight, in the quest to simplify complicated thoughts and behaviours, anything. It's almost as if this constant need to connect dots and look for patterns is our coping mechanism to find meaning in chaos. It helps us understand the world better. And we do this so often that most often - it's on auto mode and spontaneous. While we do this daily with the knowledge we assimilate along the way, we rarely utilize it to generate newer ideas when required. And then, I chanced upon a wonderful video by Mark Pollard, that showed me a new way to leverage this connection seeking behaviour of planners. It was used to showcase the power of lateral thinking, wi...
We live in strange times where the words commitment and consistency are degraded to the unspeakable 'C's. There is a lack of commitment across the board. It's a human problem but in technological terms - not a software but a hardware issue. Commitment is missing from relationships, to jobs, to even oneself. And the sister of commitment, consistency is given the same treatment. Much like everything else that the digital age touches, a cool name is what it takes to mask the problem. So 'situationships' is this generation's brilliant solution to one's inability to commit. Occupationship is the term used for one who switches jobs frequently. Or a career nomad. What's with these cool names? Aren't these a means to glorify such acts? Or is this generation just too good at naming stuff? But the problem is not that this new generation have a commitment issue - it's that the world seems to embrace it as if it's the latest wave to ride. I don't ...
Dave Chappelle last month had released a video on Youtube titled "Unforgiven". This is the second one that I saw after his earlier one titled 8:46. There was one thing common in both. It was a stand up routine but wasn't meant to be funny. There's a misconception that every stand up comedy show has to be extremely funny all along. But that is dead wrong. Stand up comedy should be funny - but should leave you with a thought you've never had before. It should be able to pull an "Inception" on you and plant a thought that makes you a different person. One that thinks a little differently than before. I watched both of these and laughed very little - but both were so immensely engaging. Stand up comics are great narrators. Are amazing story tellers. And beautifully insightful. We watch them for their stories - not just for their jokes. I like a more intellectual comic. Which is why I avoid most Indian comics who address the young millennials and yet rela...
Comments