Music is an outburst of the soul: Frederick Delius    Â
It is highly unlikely that Taylor Swift, prior to greeting 70,000+ adoring fans, could imagine that she is about to personify perhaps the greatest fallacy in modern biology.
The fallacy was first revealed by Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer of the concept of evolution. Wallace was a Darwin contemporary and was asked by Darwin to read his manuscript before he published, “On The Origin Of Species.†Wallace consented and agreed with much of Darwin’s work, however, he challenged Darwin by suggesting that surely beings as exquisite and infinitely complex as modern humans could not be the result of chance and competition. Furthermore, he pointed out that Darwin failed to explain the origin of human linguistics, mathematics, creative/artistic skills and music.
Darwin angrily responded, “I differ grievously from you and am very sorry for it,†yet offered no rebuttal to Wallace.
Because neither man could explain the origin of the complex phenomena, Wallace preferred to call them “gifts†from the Creator while Darwin remained recalcitrant.
Although Darwin and Wallace may have been vaguely aware of Gregor Mendel’s studies, neither could have predicted the huge impact Mendel would have by creating the new science of genetics. As it turned out Wallace was correct by suggesting that the “gifts†he identified were not transmitted genetically.
Meanwhile, in England, Naturalist Thomas Huxley coined the term “agnosticism†and glommed on to Darwin’s Theory as a means of extending his agnostic agenda. He created the “X Club†of like-minded scientists who met weekly with the common goal of promoting Darwin’s Theory and discrediting and suppressing Wallace’s inclusion of the role of spirituality in human evolution. Even though Huxley’s position on human “gifts†was erroneous, in an increasingly secularized world Wallace’s opinion has been marginalized and mostly forgotten.
Educator/author, Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, describes eight pathways of learning that merge to create every unique human being. One of those pathways is “musical intelligence.â€
Even though Egyptian art depicts harps being used circa 3,000 BC, the first musical instruments were probably used over 100,000 years ago. Two hardwood sticks could be clapped together which yielded a resonating sound. Sticks were also used to beat hollow logs to produce a drumming sound. Later, animal hides were stretched over hollow logs and lashed on with cured animal guts to become drums. Animal bladders were also used to make drums. Later, the animal guts became “strings†that were stretched over hollow logs or gourds which eventually became the early lutes and guitars.Â
The earliest flutes known are the Native American duct flutes (also called love flutes or courting flutes) and date back over 20,000 years. There have been countless variations using bamboo shoots, reed stalks and willow branches. The culmination of woodwind evolution may be the Midmer Losh organ with 33,113 pipes.
Perhaps, not surprisingly, the evolution of musical instruments has been closely associated with funerals. Drumming, songs and chants have been used by shamans, healers and “medicine men†probably as far back as 100,000 years ago.
It is stupefying to try to imagine modern human beings without complex language skills (including literature, drama and poetry) mathematics (including biology, physics, chemistry, geology and astronomy) creative arts (including crafts, sculpture and the use of pigments) and music.
Helen Keller lamented that, although her loss of vision presented a profound challenge for her, what was even more disheartening was her loss of ability to hear music. There are an infinite number of musical sounds in Nature and over 2,000 genres of music; merely mentioning the titles Tosca, Aida, Turandot and Messiah can send chills up music lover’s spines.
Anthropologist Loren Eiseley understood this when he wrote, “As a modern man I have sat in concert halls and watched huge audiences floating dazed on the voice of a great singer.â€
In 2023, with over 100 million fans, surely Taylor Swift will qualify as one of the world’s truly great performers. She is an extraordinarily gifted composer, singer, dancer, choreographer, guitar/piano player and motivational speaker. Like Eiseley’s “great singer,†she has the ability to facilitate the transcendence of huge audiences to higher levels of passion, camaraderie and jubilation. She represents the epitome of what Alfred Wallace was referring to and may cause millions of her admirers to consciously or subliminally reconsider soulless Darwinism.
Taylor Swift 1.
Charles Darwin 0.