In Search of the Common Chorus

 This presentation is part of a panel event entitled Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus.  It took place June 12, 2009 at the annual World Science Festival. Bobby McFerrin was a featured presenter.  For those of us that haven’t kept up with him, we may have a dated impression of this man.  Though most famous for a little song he wrote called, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” he is a world famous musician, composer and conductor.

This was quite cathartic for me.  My background includes choral music so I’ve been a part of a group of people making something out of nothing.  I’ve heard phantom tones ring in Grace Cathedral.  There is nothing like ending a note abruptly and after nine seconds of natural reverberation looking around to see watering eyes everywhere.

This demonstration is so much more than an amusement.  It was beautiful and fun and increasingly amazing.  It was genuinely interesting and it raises so many questions about what exactly it was that that Bobby McFerrin did.  This is a biological connection; a mass consensus.  I think it’s very rarely seen.  Only in unrehearsed moments is it demonstrated that underneath our hopes and claims of control, we are truly ruled by instinct.  Whether in business or in our personal lives, finding this connection between human beings is what makes for success.  When you can identify examples of this connectivity your work can really touch people. 

For related content, please view all 5 parts of the full “Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus”program at their website. 

Comments

[Heidabelle]

THis is wonderful, babe. I love your mind. I am plagiarizing for Drake Du Jour.