Reading Blog#1

In this article, David Dunn makes some powerful statement, asserting sound and music are at the cornerstone of understanding our external environment. Dunn first attempts to explain the "Grief of incommunicability". This phrase speaks to me deeply. Humans use language as the prominent means of communication, and as a result, many true meanings are lost in the complications of language. Explaining one's own emotions, for example, can be skewed by diction and connotation of language. Dunn goes on the emphasize the power of music: "It's a different way of thinking". Being a drummer and avid concert-goer, I could not agree more with the assertion. The power and connectedness I feel when playing with other musicians is unparalleled. Dunn also explains the science behind sound and the limits of human perception: "All of the sound we hear is only a fraction of all the vibrating going on in the universe". By understanding our own perceptual limitations, we can learn more about our external environment.

In terms of practical applications, many of the experiments Dunn conducted explored auditory connections to the environment. Most notably, studying mockingbirds and their way of replicating their auditory environment sheds light on how other species interact with their auditory environment. Additionally, mapping an environment with sound can create a representation of a space not immediately available to our senses.

Through these experiments and more, we can better understand our external environment. By studying sound, we can substantially add to our realm of knowledge about our world.