The Importance of Music in Our Society

How music has a long history of bringing people together

Music strengthens social bonds

How is important the music in our society?

For much of human history, the only way to experience music was live—no recordings were allowing us to share music outside of performance. Since music had to involve contact with others (e.g. coming together for a concert), it provided a network of physical and psychological safety that may have helped our early ancestors—and may still help us—to survive.

Performing music involves coordinating our efforts, too…at least if we want to produce a pleasing sound. According to researchers, when we try to synch with others musically—keeping the beat or harmonizing, for example—we tend to feel positive social feelings towards those with whom we’re synchronizing, even if that person is not visible to us or not in the same room.

Though it’s unclear exactly why that happens, coordinating movement with another person is linked to the release of pleasure chemicals (endorphins) in the brain, which may explain why we get those positive, warm feelings when we make music together.

Music is an essential aspect of all human civilizations and has the power to emotionally, morally, and culturally affect society. When people from one culture exchange music with each other, they gain valuable insight into another way of life. Learning how music and social bonding are tied is especially crucial in times of conflict when other lines of communication prove to be challenging.

As a cultural right, music may aid in the promotion and protection of other human rights. It can help heal, dismantle walls and boundaries, reconciliation, and education. Around the world, music is being used as a vehicle for social change and bringing communities together.

To understand Why Music is Beneficial to Society; we’ll need to take note of a peculiar yet important fact about humans A society consists of like-minded people governed by their norms and values.

The human race is highly emotional, but strikingly, not all of our emotions properly make way to the front of our conscious attention when needed. We’re always there, but only in a mutant and undeveloped way. There is a lot of noise both internally and externally we are under intense pressure at work, we need to get a lot of work done at home, the news is playing in the background, we’re catching up with our friends, and more.

Yet in the background, we might be storing up ingredients for a range of profound and potentially important emotions.

However, we might not have the sway we ideally might have in our lives because we cannot be sustained nor do we get enough attention or opportunity to develop. These feelings exist as confused, weak signals in our mind – hardly noticeable and easily disregarded blips of sensations that cannot be catalyzed. Hence the beauty, consolation, goodness, and strength we bring never quite emerge and bear within our legacy of unfelt feelings that pop up at specific moments.

This is why music is essential to human life. It offers encouragement and amplification. Specific pieces of music will give strength and support to valuable yet tentative emotional dispositions.

Jordan Peterson on the importance of music

Playing a euphoric track will amplify the faint but ecstatic feeling that we could love everyone and find delight in being alive or feeling things that seemed impossible yesterday is within our reach now. Day to day, these feelings exist but tend to be buried by the pressure to be cautious, limited, and reserved.

Now, the trash pushes us forward and gives us confidence. Moreover, it also provides the space for us to grow and with such encouragement, take music more seriously and give these songs a bigger place in our life.

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