Scientists refute Pythagoras' opinion on music after 2,500 years | Sciences

The Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras stated 2,500 years ago that people like music when the sounds and notes go well together. But the scientists are from the prestigious universities of Cambridge and Princeton He says Now that this opinion is no longer true.

Pythagoras lived in the sixth century BC. He is best known for his famous theorem (a² + b² = c²) and many inventions, but he was also a philosopher.

Pythagoras had a mathematical explanation for why people love music. According to the ancient Greek philosopher, beautiful music depends on what is called harmony. The sounds and notes fit together harmoniously and are therefore easy to listen to.

But an international team of scientists claims based on their research that harmony is not at all necessary to find beautiful music. In a prestigious scientific journal nature The opposite happened, they wrote, after they surveyed more than 4,000 people.

“We like a little bit of deviation,” says lead researcher Peter Harrison. “Little imperfections give life to sounds, and we like hearing that.”

“Our results contradict the idea that harmony can only happen one way and that musical notes must have this mathematical coherence. There are actually many different harmonies. That's why music is different in every culture.”