Book · 2021 · Science
Of Sound Mind
How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World
- mentions
- 9
- person
- 1
- podcast
- 1
- episode
- 1
- recommendation
- 1
Her book and the subject of today's conversation is Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World.
What they say about it
- Examining brain and sound“how our brain constructs a meaningful sonic world”4
- Impact of reading the book“gave me the possibility”2
The best things said about it
But i think that one of the themes your book is that we greatly undervalue the importance of sound and and we only think of it as oh that's hearing stuff i get that i know what i hear.
But you suggested your book quite passionately that uh learning to play an instrument you include singing uh learning to play an instrument has vast impact beyond the instrument that sticks with us for a long time.
Reading your book gave me the possibility that it could be true.
But what you show in the book if tell me if i got this right that that the brain changes if you can't see once you can't see the parts of your brain that were used for sight now get gobbled up by sound.
I really do think that most people think of sound and hearing as this standalone thing.
Why people recommend it
Of Sound Mind by Nina Kraus is a fascinating exploration of how the human brain constructs a meaningful sonic world and why sound is so often undervalued in everyday life. On an episode of EconTalk, host Russ Roberts discussed the book extensively with the author, sharing several key takeaways and personal realizations from reading it. Roberts noted that people typically view sound and hearing as a standalone mechanism, but the book challenged that notion and opened his mind to possibilities he would have previously dismissed. Throughout the conversation, Roberts highlighted specific details and examples from the text, including interesting data points on letter combinations in English compared to Italian, and a striking example involving owls and a football field that left a lasting impression on him. Furthermore, Roberts summarized the passionate argument made within the book regarding how learning to play a musical instrument or singing can have a vast and lasting impact on a person far beyond the instrument itself. By the end of the episode, Roberts praised the depth of the insights contained within the work, demonstrating how the book successfully reframes our understanding of hearing and noise in the modern world.
Every mention
Russ Roberts i'm going to talk about what i got out of your book and then i want you to take us home with with anything… 9
“her book and the subject of today's conversation is of sound mind how our brain constructs a meaningful sonic world”
“but i think that one of the themes your book is that we greatly undervalue the importance of sound and and we only think of it as oh that's hearing stuff i get that i know what i hear”
“and sound as well as i learned from this book we know that very directly because people say aren't you listening”
“1120 different letter combinations according to your book as opposed to italian which has 25 sounds and 33 different letters”
“the thing i really liked about the owls in your book is that that an owl tell the example about the football field that just blew me away”
“but you suggested your book quite passionately that uh learning to play an instrument you include singing uh learning to play an instrument has vast impact beyond the instrument that sticks with us for a long time”
“but what i want to say is is that reading your book gave me the possibility that it could be true i would have dismissed it”
“but what you show in the book if tell me if i got this right that that the brain changes if you can't see once you can't see the parts of your brain that were used for sight now get gobbled up by sound”
“i'm going to talk about what i got out of your book and then i want you to take us home with with anything you want to add at the end i really do think that most people think of sound and hearing as this standalone thing”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (8: passing, ad reads, own books)
“and before introducing today's guest i want to let listers know there's a new version of the econ talk episode with nina krause about her book of sound mind”
“and the book the book is my love letter to sound”
“and so the first part of the book and it's just it's the first third and it's called how sound works”
“and one of the metaphors that i use in the book is a mixing board”
“it's only a small part of the book on alice about a page and a half there is a chapter on songbirds toward the end”
“and you know i give many many examples in the book that people can think about with respect to their own lives”
“and there is you know clearly i mean and as i say in the aging chapter i am so happy as an older person”
“so one of the things that that you know russ is that uh twenty percent of the book is references so you know for anybody out there who's listening and saying oh she's just saying um there there is a lot of science and a lot of converging evidence”