​The influence of Mozart’s music is just a myth ● Why are so many people afraid of clowns? ● Does money bring happiness?

The influence of Mozart’s music is just a myth

Classical music, especially the music of Mozart, has long been said to have unpredictable beneficial effects. Those who listen to it increase their IQ, plants grow faster, cows give more milk, and even bacteria would work more efficiently. However, none of these claims have ever been scientifically proven.

In 1993, a study was published in the journal Nature, which said, for example, that students who listened to Mozart’s music before tests performed better. By the time the whole affair was demystified and the so-called “Mozart effect” was discovered, sales of CDs with the music of the famous Austrian composer increased dramatically.

On the one hand, it was good. On the other hand, buying classical music CDs just to suddenly become a genius negates any noticeable results from the start. Simply put, you have nothing to specify in this case.

In the same vein, two researchers from the University of Vienna tried to determine the possible effect of Mozart’s music on people suffering from epilepsy. It all started with another extremely popular myth that Mozart’s sonata KV448 has a sedative effect in the mentioned cases.

After analyzing all specialized literature and taking into account all relevant studies, two Austrian specialists Sandra Oberleiter and Jakob Pietschnig came to the conclusion that such an effect undoubtedly exists. Simply put, if you like Mozart’s music, you can at least relax listening to it. The same thing happens with the music of other composers. One might even think there is a “Gike Petrescu effect” if you like the maestro’s music. But look, this has not been mentioned in the specialized literature yet, and that is correct.

Why are so many people afraid of clowns?

You’d be surprised how many people are afraid of clowns. Please, you could already be among those who are afraid of them, that is, suffering from coulrophobia, and then it would not seem so special to you. It is interesting that this phobia is found all over the globe, in different cultures, and no one has analyzed its causes. At least until now.

There have been several attempts to explain the phenomenon, but without reaching a compromise in the scientific world. To at least partially clarify this mystery, a team of psychologists from the University of South Wales, Great Britain, compiled a questionnaire that was distributed in several countries. 987 people between the ages of 18 and 77 responded, and the results were published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

53.3% of respondents admitted that they are more or less afraid of clowns. But they are afraid. It is interesting that there are more people who suffer from coulrophobia than those who are afraid of animals, injections, heights, various natural phenomena or suffer from claustrophobia.

When they tried to find out the reasons, the researchers were in for another surprise. Traumatic childhood events involving clowns are not the primary cause as first thought.

Rather, it is about the fact that such characters, clowns, hide their facial expressions in hospitals with make-up, grimaces or have an unpredictable reaction. And not being able to read their intentions makes people feel uneasy. The mentioned researchers now state that their result is only preliminary. The problem is much deeper and requires more in-depth research than questionnaires. But it is still a starting point.

Does money bring happiness?

Since we can’t answer this question with our own example, we’ll have to trust a specialized study recently published in the journal PNAS, a study that aims to solve this millennia-old dilemma. In fact, the study we’re citing today is more of an analysis of two different studies with different results. More interestingly, both are right. Let’s see what it’s all about.

The first study, conducted in 2010, claims that the level of happiness increases in direct proportion to the amount of $75,000 per year (the study was conducted in the USA), then it stagnates. A second study, conducted in 2021, says that there is no stagnation, but that people are becoming happier as their incomes rise. How can both be right?

The 2010 study seems to have focused more on those with above-average incomes but who are unhappy. It’s like trying to detect signs of aging in a group of healthy people. He might be able to figure out the problems, but that won’t say much about the intelligence level of the test takers, since they will all have the maximum score.

On the other hand, the one in 2021 had a wider audience in mind. And the results showed that the level of happiness steadily increases with increasing income. And the correct answer is that there are both categories of people, so we have two seemingly contradictory results, but which do not contradict each other.

This study blew us away, but let’s recap! Money, yes, usually brings happiness, but not necessarily for everyone.

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