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Human evolution of gestural messaging and its critical role in the human development of music
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 September 2021
Abstract
By fostering bonding (Mehr et al.; Savage et al.), music illustrates marvelously its ability to induce emotional experience. But, music can induce emotion more generally as well. To help explain how music fosters bonding and induces other emotions, I propose that music derives this power from the evolution of what I term “gestural messaging.”
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References
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The subjective experience music provides (Dewey, Reference Dewey1934) is what fosters bonding (Mehr et al.; Savage et al.). Music builds bonding by inducing joint emotional experience, and also, as I now discuss, induces emotional experience more broadly.
Often neglected by psychology and brain research, brain development of subjective awareness and its functional significance is now receiving fresh attention (Damasio, Reference Damasio2010; Dehaene & Changeux, Reference Dehaene and Changeux2011; Edelman & Seth, Reference Edelman and Seth2009; Fuster, Reference Fuster2015; Griffin, Reference Griffin2000; Jaynes, Reference Jaynes1990; Lamme, Reference Lamme2006; Mashour, Roelsfsema, Changeux, & Dehaene, Reference Mashour, Roelsfsema, Changeux and Dehaene2020; Nieder, Wagener, & Rinnert, Reference Nieder, Wagener and Rinnert2020; Sperry, Reference Sperry1983, Reference Sperry1984). Jerison (Reference Jerison1973, Reference Jerison1989) has proposed that the nature of human awareness has evolved in ways that as now discussed may have been critical to the evolution of music.
Building from extensive study of fossil evidence, Jerison (Reference Jerison1973, Reference Jerison1989) proposes that the current composition of human subjective awareness was created from two periods of dramatic brain evolution. Four hundred million years ago, our vertebrate ancestors escaped heavily visual dinosaur enemies by becoming able to live in the dark. To do so, they evolved new brain design which constructed representation of external world by coordinating and integrating information from all the senses. This evolution developed brain function underlying what we now term sensory awareness. Then, 40–50 million years ago, social hominids through substantial further cortical development evolved verbal communication that separated them from primate ancestors. This communication allowed them to move into safer niches and migrate when necessary in especially challenging environments (Jerison, Reference Jerison1973, Reference Jerison1989; see also Jaynes, Reference Jaynes1990; Lieberman, Reference Lieberman2006, Reference Lieberman2017). I propose that evolution developing verbal communication catalyzed more general development of brain function as well that achieved more general capability for what I term gestural messaging which augmented human subjective awareness.
By a gestural message, I refer to a mentally composed act of communication felt to be initiated intentionally even if the mental actions starting the initiation appear to take place outside of conscious awareness (Libet, Reference Libet1985).
Verbal messaging probably began with individual spoken gestures (Jerison, Reference Jerison1989), but as verbal function developed messages became increasingly composed through sequential combinations of spoken verbal gestures. Then much later (Jaynes, Reference Jaynes1990), written verbal gestures were developed. This allowed verbally constructed gestures to pass information widely in historical space and time, and also to be developed more richly.
As we all witness, an essential feature of human evolution of verbal gesturing is that it brings much information received from a verbal message to conscious awareness thus augmenting and interacting usefully with sensory awareness. Jerison (Reference Jerison1989) proposes that the need to keep straight these different components of awareness required development of “self” which I interpret as a metaphor for awareness related to executive function (Damasio, Reference Damasio2010; Freeman, Reference Freeman1995; Fuster, Reference Fuster2015; Luria, Reference Luria1980). Sperry (Reference Sperry1984) in his analysis of non-verbal function implies need for such awareness, as well. Notably, our awareness concerning development of verbal messaging (Libet, Reference Libet1985) allows awareness not of formation, but rather of consequences of intentional actions such as messaging. This, for example, allows a writer to consider, correct, and compose a message even if not yet or even never sent.
With musical messaging, it is emotional reaction both by the sender and receiver to the created message that is of greatest interest. Similar to verbal messaging, musical messaging may have started with single gestures, such as sound made by hitting a rock or tree or vocally that seemed interesting or enjoyable or scary to producer, listener, or both. Once such acts began to be used to generate emotional reactions, reactions to composed single and then multiple simultaneous sequences began to be explored, and finally, with the development of written notation musical messaging could be sent broadly across historical space and time.
Emotional reactions concern reorganizations of physiology of body and brain according to need that are essential to survival (Damasio, Reference Damasio1999). They are largely controlled outside of conscious awareness (Damasio, Reference Damasio1999; Darwin, Reference Darwin and Wilson1872, 2006) but music takes advantage of evolution of gestural messaging to initiate, develop, and communicate emotional experiences under voluntary control. We become aware of consequences of emotional change by perceiving changes in bodily activity and behavioral capability (Damasio, Reference Damasio1999; James, Reference James1890). The perceived changes in ways being explored are integrated into awareness we term feelings (Carvalho & Damasio, Reference Carvalho and Damasio2021; Damasio & Corvalho, Reference Damasio and Corvalho2013; Habibi & Damasio, Reference Habibi and Damasio2014).
Darwin (Reference Darwin and Wilson1872, 2006) already discussed in detail the importance of evolved expression of emotion at signaling emotional state of one animal to another. Witnessed effects of emotion on perceived action can accomplish such signaling as well (Gardiner, Reference Gardiner2016). A mother calming a crying child by physical actions, speaking soothingly or singing is not signaling, but rather inducing emotion (Juslin, Reference Juslin, Hallam, Cross and Thaut2016; Juslin & Zentner, Reference Juslin and Zentner2002). Music's emotional induction appears to depend on the choice and organization of music creating gestures in time (Epstein, Reference Epstein, Rentschler, Herzberger and Epstein1988; Gardiner, Reference Gardiner2012, Reference Gardiner2015; Turner & Pöppel, Reference Turner, Pöppel, Rentschler, Herzberger and Epstein1988) and the manner of music creating performance (Gardiner, Reference Gardiner2012, Reference Gardiner2016; Juslin & Lindstrom, Reference Juslin, Lindstrom, Hallam, Cross and Thaut2016). As seen with verbal messaging, the acts of generating the musical messaging bring the nature and consequence of what is produced into awareness. Indeed a musician may respond still more deeply than a listener to a musical message.
General characteristics appear to allow listeners to distinguish with some reliability basic emotions indicated by music (Juslin & Lindstrom, Reference Juslin, Lindstrom, Hallam, Cross and Thaut2016). I have witnessed consistent basic induced effects when playing music to newborns (unpublished data). Music that arouses warriors, builds bonding, or advances love illustrates quite specific emotional induction. As discussed previously (Gardiner, Reference Gardiner2015), research by Clynes implies that not only general characteristics, but also very specific details of music messaging gestures as created individually and together are affected by emotion and thus may well influence emotion when heard. Western Classical music, as an example, shows what rich complexity of emotional induction can be created by artful composition of extended musical messaging (Aldrich, Reference Aldrich1966; Meyer, Reference Meyer1956; Rattner, Reference Rattner1962, Reference Rattner1980). Our evolved capacity for esthetic judgment, and evaluation of beauty is a type of emotional reaction with great evolutional significance (Darwin, Reference Darwin and Wilson1871) that can be explored through specific properties of music (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Reference Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Rentschler, Herzberger and Epstein1988; Epstein, Reference Epstein, Rentschler, Herzberger and Epstein1988; Hodges, Reference Hodges, Hallam, Cross and Thaut2016; Huron, Reference Huron, Hallam, Cross and Thaut2016; Levy, Reference Levy, Rentschler, Herzberger and Epstein1988; Turner & Pöppel, Reference Turner, Pöppel, Rentschler, Herzberger and Epstein1988). Our development of musical messaging opens important windows on ourselves (Gardiner Reference Gardiner2020a, Reference Gardiner2020b; Gardiner et al., Reference Gardiner, Fox, Knowles and Jeffrey1996; Winner et al., Reference Winner, Goldstein and Vincent-Lancrin2013).
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