It is not an
uncommon thing nowadays that we find headphone or earphone-clad people singing
or just humming along the music while doing various daily activities, for
instance while waiting the bus at a bus station, working out at a gym, and
jogging at a park. In the past, listening to music was used to be closely
associated with vinyl, cd, and gramophone; but now, the ubiquity of
smartphone-integrated or standalone portable music players like Apple's iPod
has afforded people to not only listen to music anytime and anywhere, but also
to create the playlists of songs they want to listen to, within a single finger
touch. Music preferences may also differ between individuals; some may listen
to easy-listening music e.g. pop, jazz, etc while others prefer to listen to
upbeat music e.g. rock, post-rock, electro house etc. To some people, listening
to the music prevents them from losing focus when doing certain tedious and
exhausting work tasks like reading journals, working on reports, brainstorming,
writing essays, and number crunching. Music is no longer merely a pleasurable
activity done in spare time; it is now an integral part of people's everyday
lives (Schäfer et al., 2013). Over the years, however, many people have been
debating over the questions “In what ways music are affecting people? Why we
cannot skip a day without listening to music? Is it bad or good to listen to
music every day?” Some even consider music as a distraction when doing
activities that require people to memorize information. On the other hand, some
studies have proven that it affects people mentally and psychologically;
therefore, people should be encouraged to listen to music under some conditions
and requirements.
Many researchers believe that listening to
music provides emotional support. According to WHO, there are more than 350
million people suffer from depression around the world in 2012. Hectic
lifestyle and demanding jobs have been frequently considered as one of the
factors leading people to depression (Rosack, 2003). Office workers, for
instance, are prone to depression as they have to deal with repetitive works on
daily basis. Many people hence count on music as a method to unwind after a
busy day. Although listening to music seems like an easy task, Wilkins, et al.
(2014) has elaborated on how it actually involves some parts of the brain that
control sensory-motor processing, cognitive-related systems, and emotions to
work simultaneously. Throughout this activity, it is believed that music
influences the emotions and thoughts as they are connected to each other. Therefore,
it is possible to alter one’s mood during the process, as
it has been proven by a research conducted by Ferguson and Sheldon (2013) that
people who listen to upbeat music tend to feel happier. The result suggests
that self-wallowing in music works like a remedy, in which music helps diminish
the tension and anxiety, which prevent depression (Wilkins, et al., 2014).
Young (2007) emphasizes that positive feelings, or in this case is happiness,
are vitally required to maintain one’s health and longevity. Being emotionally unhappy and
stressed out due to life problems, however, is often a factor leading to
depression. Having piles of work to do plus the deadlines often stresses people
out, and it results in poor, hasty decision-making. (Klein, 2013) states that
when people face a long-term stress, the brain produces a hormone called
cortisol. In the normal state, cortisol is beneficial to sustain fluid balance
and blood pressure; but if people are stuck in an endless circle of problems,
the body will release cortisol continuously. The accumulation of cortisol will
affect the immunity and cause chronic diseases such as brain shrinkage
(Hathaway, 2012), obesity, as well as high blood and sugar pressure (Klein,
2013). Many studies, adversely, have proven that when people
are listening to the music, a part of the brain, namely ventral striatum, releases
a great deal of chemical called dopamine which affects emotions (Salimpoor, et
al., 2011). This chemical is known to create euphoria, similar to when
people are eating sweets, shopping, and being in
love. Salimpoor (2011) stated that respondents’ level of dopamine was found out to be 9%
higher when they listen to the music enjoy the most. When it comes to work, moreover, people who are
in the positive mood tend to take decisions better (Lesiuk, 2005)—and it helps people be productive and get their
tasks done quicker than those who do not.
Some people argue that listening to music decreases
people’s performance. They believe
that cutting down any background noise when doing activities that require help
them focus is a must. However, this idea is groundless. Several studies have adversely
shown that listening to music improves the quality of the work, if it is performed
under several circumstances—which genre of music should
be picked when doing particular activities. According to Harmon et al. (2008), when
doing cognitive-related activities such as reading, writing or studying, certain
genres of music without lyrics, or those with steady rhythm e.g. classical
music, has been proven to enhance simple cognitive skills such as comprehension
and memorization performance. When doing tasks requiring proof-reading and
problem-solving, dance music provides the best accuracy in solving logic
problems and spell-checking (Davidson, 2014). Pop music has also been claimed
to be the most efficient, amiable companion for those who need to get the work
done before the deadlines.
Other people argue that listening to music
makes people less productive. This idea coming from the fact that listening to
music is still a multitasking process—hence, it will disrupt their
productivity. However, the idea is quite illogical. There are many people who
rely on their creativity to get their work done; and listening to music is one
of the methods to keep their productivity flowing. To count, there are many
jobs such as writer, designer, comic artist etc, which demand people’s mind to wander in imagination in order to
find new ideas. More often than not, coming up with a fresh-from-the-oven idea
is not that easy as breeze; not everyone can do it in matter of seconds.
Writers, for example, often have writer’s block. Mehta et al. (2012), explains that
listening to soft, ambient music enhances creative thinking. It induces the
brain to have more abstract processing, leading the creative thinking to a new
whole level. From psychological approach, Guilford (1977) as cited by Isaksen
et al. (p22, 2011) suggests that being creative plays a pivotal role in people’s ability in problem solving. Thus, not only
listening is beneficial for those who rely on their creativity to make a
living, but also for other people as well.
In brief, listening to music has been proven to
give benefits more than not listening at all such as boosting the mood,
providing an emotional support, improving performance at work, and enhancing
cognitive skills. However, it is important to pay attention to the
circumstances i.e. what music genres suit activities that we are going to
perform. Therefore, to get the best results, I strongly suggest that people
should listen on daily basis.
Annisa Lista Sari
Argumentative Academic Essay (Toulmin-based)
References
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