omenti

clues to the mind and the mind-body connection

We're all aware of cute optical illusions.  Some play tricks with our perception of color, size, or motion ...   This particularly beautiful example plays with our perception of brightness - both turn out to be equally bright inside and out.

 

 

Optical illusions are an interesting tool to study how our brain puts together sensory input sent by the eye and there have been some major surprises and there have been revelations that address the question of how much of reality do we sample through our senses as we observe the world.  To what degree are we sampling reality?

 

I stumbled across this example in a PNAS paper by Bruno Laeng and Tor Endestad of the University of Norway in Oslo.   The illusion is well known, but they looked at something else - how the pupil responded.  

 

If you look at something bright your pupils constrict to adjust to the new brightness level.  This takes place in about a tenth of a second - reasonably fast on our level of perception - and it was thought to be a pure reflex that helps protect the retina from damage.  Reflex mechanisms should be fast to prevent as much damage as possible and this one was thought to occur in in a few dedicated cells in lower brain structures.¹  What is curious with this illusion is our pupils contract even though there is no real brightness - the reflex is in response to what we think we see rather than what really exists! 

 

This is fantastic.  Perceptual errors behave more liked learned phenomena and may be adaptations.  Perhaps evolution has made us more adroit at encountering our environment.  

 

A lot of visual information is ambivalent and noisy.  Perhaps there is some contextual processing going on to construct a "reality" that is more useful.  Maybe the reality our mind assembles is a bit better for our functioning that what really exists in nature.

 

The same goes for other senses - particularly hearing, but taste also comes to mind.²

 

As I am writing this it occurs to me that there are many other evolutionary tricks that help us to deal with how we relate to the environment.   We read stories of animal athletes - cheetahs that can sprint to 70 mph, our cats and dogs that can make jumps that appear amazing - and sometimes think humans must be unathletic in the scheme of things.  But we are amazingly good at endurance running.  We probably evolved to this as our ancestors may have had to run down prey in order to get close enough to dispatch it, but whatever the reason we are wonderful aerobic machines.³

 

Many people report a "runner's high" after exertion.  I find it around the sixty minute mark with my rowing and, if I make it that far the resulting rush is enough to encourage me to continue for as long as an extra half hour.  It is a feeling of real euphoria.

 

It turns out the body under heavy aerobic load produces endocannabinoids which are substances that act as neurotransmitters.  The name probably rings a bell - endocannabinoids are chemically very similar to the active ingredient in cannabis.  

 

The runner's high is the real thing and the euphoria can be an excellent reward.

 

Recently it has been learned that a few mammals that are good aerobic athletes(humans and dogs) produce serious amounts of endocannabinoids during aerobic exercise while other mammals that aren't aerobic athletes (ferrets) don't.  It may be we have evolved a reward system to encourage this type of activity - I know it is one of the few things that keeps me on the rowing machine for lengthy periods.   Colleen is more geared towards bursts of power, but she notes that she loved the feeling of euphoria that came over her after an hour or so of intense training and the reward was enough to encourage her to go on for several hours more. 

 

My niece Magi is a runner.  A remarkable runner.  She is a single mom with two very little kids and is struggling with raising them, working a couple of jobs and going to nursing school.  A few years ago she took up running and found it came naturally.  She's done several marathons and does respectable three hour times - not bad for someone who can't run every day and rarely more than an hour at a time and also lacks the money to get coaching - shoes are a major expense for her.

 

She lives in the Phoenix area and has always been comfortable in the mountains.  A few races were in the back country and she found she really liked them.  Also she learned that she's good with distance. Her quarter times on the Boston Marathon were all within a minute with the last quarter being the fastest.   About a year ago she started trying the longer distances and did very well in several fifty mile runs.  

 

With those under her belt it was time to get serious.  Last Saturday she ran the Zane Grey - not a race for the faint of heart.  Rather than writing about it, I'll print the email she sent and add a few images.  Do read the links from the race director and another runner for more color...  like

...

The course runs along the base of the Mogollon Rim, constantly dropping in and out of the little canyons and crossing multiple creeks and streams.  The route is entirely single track trail and is extremely rugged.  Despite a ton of work our volunteers have done on the course, entrants will have to navigate over or under fallen trees, through thick wickets of Manzanita bushes, and over very rocky terrain.  There are also sections where the trail just disappears and route finding can be challenging.  The middle section of the course, known as the “burn area” had the trees burned down from the Dude Fire in the early 90’s. Runners are exposed to the heat of the Arizona sun and have to travel as far as 11 miles between some aid stations.  An unprepared runner can sometimes run out of fluids in these long hot stretches.

 Not easy terrain down there. The Mogollon Rim is rough, tough and relentlessly difficult

...

 

with that, Magi's email:

 

Here is my first race report. I apologize in advance if you do not want to read this much about me, nevertheless this was an incredible experience and I am really excited to share it!

 

The Zane Grey 50 has earned a reputation for being one of the most grueling ultras out there. I had spoken with friends who had completed the race and the consensus was I could expect to add about 2 hours onto my avg 50M time (if there is such an avg) prepare to trip, get scratched, sprained, dislocated, lost, broken, etc.,, this all sounds like adventure right?! The race was a bit of a blur so I am sorry for the lack of detailed trail accounts.

 

 April 21st 2012 was the big day of the notorious race, in anticipation of this I had prepared with all sorts of hot, hilly, long, and really fun desert mountain runs. Emmet was prepared to crew for me race day, this made a huge difference. Knowing that someone 100% reliable is waiting for you at designated aid stations on the course with water and nutrition refills, sunblock, an icy towel to wipe down with, words of encouragement, and anything else you may possibly need is beyond words. I say this because when you are running 50 miles through some of the most unpredictable Arizona terrain, your entire life is narrowed down to the steps it takes to get your butt from aid station to aid station. Emmet has accompanied me on many training runs so he knows my pace, my weaknesses, my strengths, and he also knows how to tell me what I need when I may not realize it, this is important. The weather was predicted to be 90 degrees, I wasn't to concerned about this, by default I have to train in the heat and have learned to be very smart about hydration and electrolyte balance. Unfortunately the heat was by far the biggest hazard on the course that day for many of the runners, out of 126 starters only 84 finished.

 

this link is an interview with the race director

 

 

this link is by a runner, he has great pics of the course in his blog

 

 

In the two days prior to the race I have a total of 5 hours sleep, this was the only stimulus for self-doubt weighing in my head. The night of the race I was lying in bed with the "I want to cry but I'm so mad I can't" feeling. The alarm clock went off at 3:15 am and all that nonsense turned into baloney, it was race day, wheee! We arrived at the start 4:30am, just enough time to hit the bathroom, check in with race officials, and stay warm in the car until just before the 5:00am race start. And just like that the race started, off we went into the woods, all 126 of us with our headlamps beaming in the dark. Actually mine was lightly beaming, I think the batteries died just as the sun rose enough to see without it, lucky me! It was 8 miles to the first aid station, I was equipped with all the nutrition and water I would need to get me to the second aid station (mile 17) where Emmet was planned to meet me, the first 8 miles flew by, it took about 3 miles for the runners to spread out and about 40 minutes for the sun to rise. Running with a headlamp is really fun, the small illumination for your footfalls on new terrain makes me feel like a little kid exploring with a flashlight. Admittedly it really slows me down as the few falls I have had in the past all occurred while running in the dark, thus I now go a little slower. The logic is I'd rather be 5 minutes slower than broken. As we came into the 8 mile aid station we were greeted with cheers, and even better Emmet was there to make sure I was doing OK, (I had started the race with a new hydration pack and he wanted to make sure that it wasn't leaking) I ran through the station on my way to mile 17.

 

 

Miles 8-17 were beautiful, the morning was cool and this portion of the trail was through pine forest ascending to views of the Mogollon rim, I was on fresh legs and trying my best to hold back for the many many hills and miles to come. There were numerous river crossings over precarious rocks that really added to the adventure feeling, the course at this point was on an easy to follow single-track trail, well marked with yellow tape and glow sticks. Coming up on mile 17 I could hear the cheers as runners came into the aid station, this was so encouraging I cried a little! Emmet had prepared an area with everything I could possibly need, I quickly toweled off the crusty salt-sweat, exchanged my hydration pack for a freshly packed one, took 2 ibuprofen to help ward off inflammation and set off again----DANG IT! I didn't take my sunglasses, I was running without a visor on purpose as I didn't want to risk missing any trail markers in my periphery, the trail was now becoming more treacherous and it is very easy to get lost. Many experienced ZG runners have lost hours going in the wrong direction.

 

Mile 17-33 was brutal, I was told to expect the worst during this part, the majority of the trail is an old exposed burn area. Tons of direct sunlight (grrr no sunglasses) lots of elevation to climb, and lucky you if you don't get lost as you have to be super aware of trail markers. This part of the trail has to recover from a harsh winter so the area has a ton of dead tree fall, new dry grass/shrubby growth, and lots of crumbly unsteady soft red rock. At mile 23 there is an aid station only assessed by the official race crew, this aid station is an oasis---it's called Hell's Gate from mile 23-33-- as I ascended into the station the volunteer shouted out "Welcome to Hell, how you doin'? I was doing pretty good considering all the runners were in the same hot boat, I was conditioned for the heat so I knew as long as I kept hydrated I would have no problems. I filled up my pack with water, chugged another few cups of water, and threw a handful of ice down the back of my shirt, off I went into Hell. At this point in the race runners were beginning to drop, many people started out to fast, spent their energy, and were not prepared for the heat. I was not really going to fast but I managed to pass many people during this stretch. The race is organized so that there are rescue workers stationed on the course about every 7 miles with radios, their job is to account for each runner as they pass and make sure nobody goes missing. About mile 25 I came up on a man who had passed me around mile 20, he was hunched over on the side of the trail, he was obviously unprepared with not enough water or calories, as I was offering him some of my water he vomited, nothing I could do for this guy except for run on ahead to tell the next rescue crew they had a runner in trouble. There were some pats of trail during this leg where I would think to myself "seriously?? I am supposed to run this?" and other parts where I had to remind myself that I had trained to go faster and harder, hiking was the only option for many parts of the trail, however dragging my feet was not. My head needed to be reminded to move my feet!

 

Whoo-hoo I made it to mile 33 aid station! The delirium sets in completely about this point, as I came into the station Emmet was yelling "go this way, now go this way, now this way" leading me from the check in to the car where all my gear was. This is where it makes a difference for someone who knows your habits to intervene, I was spot-on for nutrition and hydration but with the heat every ones sweat factor was major--Emmet made sure to impose upon me the importance of taking saltstick caps--these are electrolyte tabs to swallow--if you had seen all the salt crusted on my face/shirt/body it's pretty obvious I was depleted, I now swear by these caps! Seriously, all I could tell you at this point was which way is up or down. My brain was only focused on watching my footfall to not trip and keeping a keen eye on trail markers. A funny note here, about a week prior Max had told me in his cutie voice "Good job Mommy" when I pointed out a local peak I ran to during a training run. During the race I had his cute little voice in my head rewarding me with a "Good Job Mommy!" every time I came upon a trail marker!

 

 

So onto miles 33-44, Emmet loaded me up with 2L of water on my back, 32oz in my hands, about 800 calories in my pack (all of which I would use) and I was on my way! This was serious fun, the trail was about 60% run-able so now I know I need to improve my hiking skillz, other than this I was focused on the next 11 miles of adventure. I think my most proud accomplishment for this race was not falling once, I don't fall often but still this terrain is really 'trippy' (funny right?) so now blur blur blur, hill, hill, up , up , up , and I arrive at mile 44!

 

 

The crowd is cheering all the runners as we descend into the station, Emmet leads me to the car and preps me for the last 6 miles. Hmmm 6 miles, how long might this take...try 1 hour and 40 minutes...uuuuuffffff. This last 6 miles was long and exhilarating, and hard. The terrain was pretty pine forest but my legs were shot, there was spot about mile 42 where some thin ice patches were still frozen on the ground, it just made sense to me to come to a stand still stop to look at them and contemplate lying down on one--I chose to keep on trucking but now I was day dreaming of cold pools to dip in and icy drinks. After what seemed like an endless stretch of trail I rounded a corner and was in earshot of the finish, what a rush! I picked up the pace as best I could and finished strong, the 35th finisher and 8th female to be exact. The whole race took me 12:40 minutes and every second was great!

 

 

I will definitely do this race again, it was a total adventure! Thank you so much for all the encouragement

For many reasons I'm very proud of Magi:-)  Today - a week later - she's running a regular marathon "for fun"

She obviously is mostly slow twitch or red muscle.  This comes from both sides of her family, who tend to be gracile and endurance/non-sprinter types.  I'm really slow and a terrible jumper, but I can go for a long time.  In college I would regularly ride "centuries" (100 mile bike rides) on most weekends and never had any exhaustion problems.  Even now when rowing I specialize on going for an hour to an hour and a half rather than intense five minute intervals of burst effort.

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¹ This is similar to what happens when you burn your finger. Your finger touches a red hot burner and a signal races towards the closest area that can make a decision - the spinal cord in the case of the finger.  A response is quickly generated and sent back causing the muscles to jerk your finger out of the way.  This happens "reflexively" - long before signal can be processed by the brain and long before pain is even felt.

² By taste I am referring to flavor which really isn't the conventional five tastes on the tongue, but the mixture of taste, touch and smell that generates "flavor" in our mind.

Also color is generated in the mind as is music.

³ This is one of the reasons why our bodies respond so well to aerobic exercise and why we tend to fall apart when we become sedentary.  At risk of sounding preachy, your body and brain with greatly benefit from regular aerobic exercise so find an excuse to just do it.

_____________________

A Very Simple Simple Pea Soup

 

Ingredients

° 2 tbl unsalted butter

° 1 diced medium sweet onion

° 1 clove garlic, sliced

° Kosher salt to taste

° 2 c thawed frozen sweet peas (fresh only if picked on the same day!!)

° 1/2 c lightly packed fresh tarragon leaves

 

Technique

° Melt butter over medium low heat.  When it foams add onion, garlic and salt. Cover and cook until the onions are soft, but don't brown!  Stir frequently - not a walk away and forget it stage

° Add a quart of water and bring to a boil. Add peas and tarragon and cook 'til tender - a few minutes

° take off heat, purée and strain.  

° Reheat if necessary and serve.  I like to garnish with a few whole raw peas and a bit of plain greek yogurt

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bonus non-recipe

After 80 or 90 minutes of hard rowing I'm soaking with perspiration and am in need of something cold with a lot of protein.  Here is my current favorite - not vegan friendly though.  "Shake" is tongue in cheek - I can make a quality milkshakes.  Ask if you visit and we'll do one.

Berry Yogurt "Thickshake" with Nuts and Chocolate

Ingredients

° A good handful (about 100g) of slightly thawed frozen blueberrys or raspberries

° About 200g plain greek yogurt - I like to use 2%

° a half frozen banana - I remove the skins on very ripe bananas and tightly wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze.  A great way to deal with ripe bananas

° 2% or whole milk.  Start with 100g and adjust

° something sweet - maple syrup, honey, sugar

° 15 to 30g of dark chocolate broken into small bits

° 15 g broken pecans

Technique

° Blend banana, fruit, and about 50g of milk.

° Add the yogurt and milk as necessary to get a good enough consistency.  Add sweetner if necessary

° Pour into a serving glass or bowl depending on thickness.  Stir in pecans and chocolate

 

 

the paganini strad...

I have a great fondness for artists and musicians.  For me their approach to work is very similar to some of the most enjoyable aspects of science.  Engineering and the natural sciences may be tied by a common mathematical language, but the approaches to the two sports are quite different - again for me, but I know others who share this view.  It is neither here nor there and variety in approaches to disciplines is important.  Others may find different kindred spirits and approaches - it is a fun area to ponder...

 

It turns out I’m a terrible musician.  The cello is my favorite instrument, so my gift to the world is refraining from playing.  I content myself with a bit of theremin building and fooling around with a strumstick - one is obscure enough that no one cares and the other simple enough that even I can achieve a bit of music.

 

But I love being around real musicians - from serious students to the masters.  Stony Brook, where I did my Ph.D., had a good music program.  They were particularly strong in the stringed instruments and the flute.  The Beaux Arts Trio was resident there creating some wonderful concerts and it was possible to find good music several times a week.  

 

There are  lot of fond memories from the music at that place.  As a grad student I co-founded a classical music series at Stony Brook that still exists to this day.  We were able to book the Beaux Arts Trio.  They offered a good price (I think it was about $4,000) as the trio was in residence at the school.  I had a friend who was a cello grad student and Professor  Greenhouse used to let me sit in on classes and master classes - he said it was critically important to connect with the audience, so why not.  

 

The D Major Suite

 

There was an amazing night when he was showing something to Amy (my friend) - something out of the Bach 6^th suite.¹  He played it a few ways, had her play it, play it another way and sighed - "this won't do" ..  then he performed the entire suite from beginning to end.  Sublime is not an adequate description.  Time simply ceased to exist for me and I think everyone else in the room.

 

He was still performing at the highest levels and teaching well into his 90s and only stopped playing about three weeks before he died.

 

Such an amazing person.

 

His favorite cello was the Paganini Cello - more properly known as the Countess of Stainlein Cello.  One of the few Stradivarius cellos and considered the best example of the breed.²  He started playing and time stopped until the last note had faded and we were all jarred back to Earth.

 

He was not a young man at the time.  He died last year at 95 - still playing almost until the end.  I have been lucky enough to have broken bread with Yo-Yo Ma a few times and he maintained a good cellist lacks the chops to do a really great job on the Bach Suites until he has the perspective of age.  He said he felt he could seriously attempt them for real when he is about 70.  Bernard was probably near the height of his powers when I heard him play. 

 

I know this cello well.  It surprised me to see an article in about it appear in this week's NY Times Magazine.   A great instrument is looking for a great caretaker for several more generations before it will be passed down through time.

 

Greenhouse died at 95 early last May - here is the NPR remembrance.  I feel lucky to have known him.  Such an incredible sense of humor and playfulness.  Cellists tell me he was a natural teacher - he was certainly a natural performer.  

 

sigh ..

 

Time is such a funny thing.  My world line has wandered through time and space and somehow managed to intersect with his world line on several occasions.  Those intersections became wonderfully colorful bits of thread for me.  You live for those colorful and lyrical threads that make up your path and they can even bring life to the fabric of spacetime.   I often feel my life is charmed and special.

 

Imagine the 305 year old world line of that cello as it embarks upon yet another segment.

 

____________

 

Recipe time.  Several people have encouraged me to continue with recipes.  This is something I have been doing for breakfasts for the past few weeks.  Basically whole wheat with scallions and a bit of olive oil and soy sauce.  It is really excellent and holds me well until lunch.  Use whatever ratios you like - I prepared a batch and measured for a guide.  I also like to use khorasan wheat which has a large kernel.  Kamut is the variety I like - mine is from Montana although it also grows in Alberta.  You can use any good olive oil, but I find rosemary infused oils add quite a bit - you can make your own, but start with a good olive oil.  I like Sciabica’s as I know where it is coming from in California and it is excellent - as good as any fine oil I’ve tried.  You pay a lot for good olive oils, but they are worth it is you care about your food.  Here is their rosemary evoo.  We've been using them for about 15 years now and find them to be very friendly with great service.

 

° 150 grams of whole wheat kernels

° 4 scallions - chopped

° 25 grams of rosemary infused olive oil 

° 30 grams pecans - chopped

° soy sauce to taste

° a finishing salt like Maldon (optional)

 

° Simmer the whole wheat for about 90 minutes in “enough” water.  I use a crock pot and enough water is something like 350 grams.  It should still have some texture when finished. 

 ° Drain the wheat and mix in the pecans and scallions. Mix in the olive oil and add soy sauce to taste.  I like to get it almost salty enough and then add a bit of Maldon salt at the end.

 

This makes about two servings.  Scale it as you like 

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¹ I can't make a recommendation for a single best set of Bach Cello Suites.  I just did the survey and find I have seven on vinyl, one reel to reel tape and four CDs ....  It is important, when you really love a piece of music like this, to hear as many great interpretations as you can.

² Yes - I realize that new great instruments may be as good as the old greats even to the performer - although I was not terribly impressed by the methodology of the paper.  Even if it is true,  there is a real magic of sorts being in the presence of musical history.

 

 

trees falling in the woods and surfer music

If a tree falls in the forrest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

 

It all depends on definitions. 

 

If sound is a mechanical wave that is a periodic compression and rarefaction of pressure that travels through a medium like a solid, liquid, gas or plasma  a sound is indeed made.  An observer is unnecessary.  But most of us restrict sound to a range of frequencies that can be detected (usually by us) and are given meaning in the brain.  We are surrounded by an extremely complex field of these waves of mechanical energy that are interacting with each other and their surroundings.  Our ears turn these pressure waves into electrical impulses that are conducted to our brain which manages to make sense of all of this.  We hear crashing trees, crickets chirping in the evening, the distant bark of a dog and music.  A neuroscientist might use a definition of sound that is information processed by and listened to by our brains.  With this definition we need an observer and a brain.

 

I’ve been thinking a lot about music today.  I’m a terrible musician, but that doesn’t diminish my enjoyment and the question of perception is fascinating.  Perception is central to digital music compression¹, but and you find your self wading into territory that is still being explored.

 

Our silvermitt ferret Telemna loved music.  Some how we gave her a little toy piano and found she loved to make sounds by striking its keys.  A week or so saw her progress from random notes to strings that were more musical.  Soon she was only playing what we called music.  We got her an eight key piano and she quickly figured out how to make what we heard as music on it. I would play an unresolved chord and she would run up and play the "right" note.  An astonishing talent.

 

Telemna was fascinated by any music in the house and loved loud Ethel Merman types who could belt Broadway tunes.  She would hear something and later would play up to about eight notes of what she must have liked.  

 

Stephen Pinker of Harvard believes music is an accident of evolution - it serves no purpose, but it is nice to have around.  For him it probably only exists in humans.  A few years ago I read Daniel Levitin’s  delightful This is Your Brain on Music.  (If you haven’t read it take a break and order a copy. While you're at it pick up a copy of Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks.)  Levitin suggests it is deeper and more important.  I sent this video of Telmena working out a tune (pardon the messy room and the low quality Flip video):

 

his reply:   “In your face Stephen Pinker!”

 

Unlike sound, music is clearly a construct of the brain.  A stereo left playing in the woods sans audience is not producing music.  Some of us can read sheet music and “hear” it in our heads.  Most of us can listen to memories of music and a few can even create new music - starting in our heads, but then translated to something that produces the bits of acoustic energy that make up sound. 

 

The emotional power of music can be enormous.  Today I was reminded of this directly.  On Friday I will be in a high stress situation and have been reaching out to friends.  A very close friend told me she would spend time meditating with some music - specifically some wonderful surf music by the Duo Tones².

 

I give an enthusiastic recommendation to the group.  Two master guitar players and some amazing performances.  She had no way of knowing that I was familiar with them as they are a bit obscure, but she knew enough about me to know what type of music would be appropriate.  The choice of music is important as it covers a terrifically wide emotional range.  The niches filled by recommenders and DJs are important and the gift of a playlist can be rich and important.

 

Music is a component of how I handle stress.  As an undergrad in Pasadena I rarely made it to the beach, but somehow I relaxed with pieces ranging from surfer music to piano trios.  My technique was to spend the day before an intense event (say a major test) by listening to music and taking long walks or bike rides rather than last minute cramming.  The matching of music to the task was important and surfer music  works well for quantum field theory and particle physics and the Duo Tones offer the purest performances I've encountered.  Why they also are perfect for my current issue is a mystery to me, but she sorted it out and recommended them without any knowledge of my history with the genre.  I took a walk in the dark chill of the evening is a sea of swilling colors from performances nearly a decade ago by these masters and as I walked knowing she was doing the same knowing it would support me I was struck by how moving and beautiful this gift of suggestion and action was.  I suspect music is a common glue for many of us as we communicate beyond the limits of speech with others.

 

There is so many things to yet learn about music.  An anthropologist friend and I were looking into this a decade ago. She observed that all known cultures in the world had percussive music and all but a tiny handful had singing.  We thought it would be fascinating to learn enough to compile a book On Music that would be similar in Sontag’s On Photography. Of course we were far to naive on our part.  Even so there were a series of real epiphanies and I'll probably write about a few as time goes on.³

 

So find a nice chair, sit down and carefully listen to a favorite piece or three of music today.  If you are lucky perhaps you will make some new discoveries as I managed with Wipeout tonight.

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¹ If you are worried about compressing CD quality music using Apple's AAC codec anything over 256 kilobits per second is overkill and if you are over forty anything over 160 is overkill - trust me on that one ...  The subject of what accurate audio reproduction is happens to be a rich subject and CD quality stereo isn't a great match, but is pretty good for most of us.

² Highly recommended is their acoustic album Surf Music.  Their electric work is also amazing, but you also need their purely acoustic music.

³ A good example is that the enjoyment of music often is decoupled with the quality of reproduction.  I was in a classic restored Mustang near Cleveland with the head recording engineer from Telarc Records and a seriously good musician from the Oberlin Conservatory.  We were talking about where music reproduction might go with sound field reconstruction and dramatically more information than CDs could provide when a favorite Beatles tune came up on the 8 track (gasp! - it was an authentically restored Mustang).  The volume came up and the two of them were soon singing along to the music in pure delight.  There is something transcendent about the music - even with the awful reproduction in that noisy environment.  This taught me home stereos might die if we could only give people good enough music that was always with them.  Portable music players with cheap headphones would be good enough.

There were also many cultural learnings.  Music does not exist in a vacuum and there is a rich and fascinating interplay of music and culture.