Most of our metaphors for knowing and thinking are based on the power of sight; for instance, the ancient Greek word eidenai means "to have seen", i.e., the past perfect of idein (whence our word "idea"). Less commonly, knowing is held to come from hearing what is said - especially hearing the word of god as in the Hebrew tradition. Yet all indications are that music predates language. What depths of wisdom could we sound if we were to base our metaphors on actively and collaboratively making music? Consider some of the primeval phenomena of music: the living pulse of rhythm and its resulting entrainment of the music makers; the importance of harmony, both internal and interpersonal; the striving, movement, and completion of melodies and chord progressions. Beyond these fundamentals there is much more to explore: timbre and coloration in different instruments and keys, consonance and dissonance, the stretching of time in rubato and syncopation, tempo and its relation to human activities and emotions, improvisation and spontaneity, active listening and responding as crucial to cooperative music-making, making music as a form of meditation, and much else besides. I intend to ponder these matters as I delve more deeply into music in the years ahead.
(Cross-posted at philosopher.coach.)