Want to relax and be happy? Listen to Death Metal

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the psychological effects of listening to death metal music, particularly in relation to how it influences the perception of violent imagery. Participants explore the implications of a study on binocular rivalry and the emotional responses elicited by different music genres.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Dr. Sun describes a psychological test involving binocular rivalry, where participants see a violent image in one eye and a neutral image in the other, leading to a bias towards the violent image.
  • Prof. Thompson suggests that the brain's response to violent images may have a biological basis related to threat perception.
  • Some participants express skepticism about the desensitization argument, noting that fans of violent music showed the same bias towards violent images as non-fans.
  • Several participants express personal preferences for melodic or symphonic metal over death metal, indicating a subjective view on music enjoyment.
  • One participant humorously notes their limited listening of death metal due to family preferences, suggesting a social context to music choices.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the effects of death metal music, with some agreeing on the psychological insights while others prefer different music genres, indicating a mix of agreement on the study's findings and disagreement on personal music preferences.

Contextual Notes

The discussion does not resolve the implications of the study on desensitization or the subjective experiences of music listeners, leaving these points open for further exploration.

BWV
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Each participant was played Happy or Eaten through headphones, while they were shown a pair of images - one to each eye. One image showed a violent scene, such as someone being attacked in a street. The other showed something innocuous - a group of people walking down that same street, for example.

"It's called binocular rivalry," explained Dr Sun. The basis of this psychological test is that when most people are presented with a neutral image to one eye and a violent image to the other - they see the violent image more.

"The brain will try to take it in - presumably there's a biological reason for that, because it's a threat," Prof Thompson explained.

"If fans of violent music were desensitised to violence, which is what a lot of parent groups, religious groups and censorship boards are worried about, then they wouldn't show this same bias. "But the fans showed the very same bias towards processing these violent images as those who were not fans of this music."

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-en...Bi6l5DTXb_FeH8j3hHjMbI-o56y-nGTO8TIZvKbGyOlZY
 
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Interesting, but I'd rather listen to Melodic or Symphonic metal 😄
 
Greg Bernhardt said:
Interesting, but I'd rather listen to Melodic or Symphonic metal 😄

well you must go further to the dark side if you wish to obtain enlightenment ;)
 
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BWV said:
well you must go further to the dark side if you wish to obtain enlightenment ;)
This had to be you
 
Well, that's quite right for me. However, I don't listen to death metal often now. My wife and child always ask me to change the music if I play them too long. LOL.
 

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