One Man's Mozart Is Another Man's Weapon

You've heard this one: the genius kid in the back of your class grew up listening to Mozart. And he's smarter than you. (Or you think he is). Mozart = intelligence. Correlation = causation.

Apparently, the whole thing started with a misleading article that summarized and distorted another article.

At least, that's what this refreshing little article implies. (Yes, I'm aware of the irony: but I trust this summary article for some reason: it has a citation). The original study seems to have indicated that the effects of listening to Mozart only lasted about 15 minutes anyhow. According Frances Rauscher, the researcher who did the original study, it's actually possible to have the equivalent of the "Mozart effect" with any kind of music. I'm already thinking of a Weird Al effect. Or a didgeridoo effect.

We can all be glad that there's no longer a reason to link Mozart's music with intellectual superiority. That kind of musical elitism doesn't help anybody.

If we're going to speak of elitism and Mozart, we might as well think about the use of Mozart's music as a means of punishment, as a way of clearing teenagers from the streets. Especially in Great Britain, Mozart's music is used as a weapon against youth culture. The implication is that "undesirables" can be driven from parts of the city by the use of music, reserving those places for the people who do enjoy Mozart...who just so happen to be the kind of people already in powerA vicious cycle, and if it spreads, I think we should expect Mozart's popularity to severely decline in Great Britain as the current youth matures. I'm not sure this trend has everything to do with the "Mozart effect," but I suspect there's some causation as well as correlation here.

Of course, compared to the use of music by American soldiers in battle, and as a form of torture, the civic use of Mozart as a weapon is comparatively mild.

But it's a difference of degree, not kind. While the army tends to use Metallica rather than Mozart, the concept is pretty much the same: people are forced to listen to music they dislike or change their behavior.

Mozart, who believed that music "must never offend the ear," would be horrified.