Recently, two incredibly talented people joined forces and created something amazing. A neuroscientist and a composer worked together to create music and poetry that expresses the mystery and miracle of the human mind. The resulting art is truly amazing: its layers express such beauty and intensity. You can close your eyes and visualize brain cells interacting and bringing thought to life. In the harmonies you can begin to imagine the complex process of a sea experience becoming images and words. It's a celebration of humanity -- a celebration of the miracle that is consciousness. It's about everything that makes us uniquely human. The ability to imagine. To become. To shape thoughts and futures.
One of the lines of poetry reads: "Once minds began blooming, nothing was ever the same." I love this image, the idea of the mind blooming, like a plant opening to life and possibility. And suddenly the entire landscape was changed. There are so many miraculous things that happen every day that we take for granted... especially within the worlds of our own bodies. This artwork reminded me of this whole complicated world that exists within my skull and makes me who I am. Listening to this music and imagining the intricacies of the mind, I am completely in awe of this vast mystery that is life.
We so often see art and science as separate and even competing fields, but this is a great misconception. Both the arts and sciences search for and express truth and mystery. Art is not just about feeling, and science isn't just about reason. Both are this incredible mixture of reason and feeling. Both are about a passion for discovery and creativity. Both are significant. Both make us human. One is not to be valued over the other. Artists and Scientists are not in opposition with one another. Both are in the business of expressing and revealing life's beauty. I think this collaboration that represents the music of the human mind is proof that science and art are deeply connected, and intimately intertwined in the most wonderful way.
To hear the music and hear the whole story, follow this link to NPR's website: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103713700
Happy listening.
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