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Creativity and tradition: Music and bifocal stance theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2022

Psyche Loui Open the ORCID record for Psyche Loui [Opens in a new window]  and
Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis Open the ORCID record for Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis [Opens in a new window]
Psyche Loui
Affiliation:
Department of Music, Northeastern University and Princeton University, Boston, MA 02115, USA p.loui@northeastern.edu www.psycheloui.com Woolworth Center of Musical Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA margulis@princeton.edu www.elizabethmargulis.com
Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis
Affiliation:
Department of Music, Northeastern University and Princeton University, Boston, MA 02115, USA p.loui@northeastern.edu www.psycheloui.com Woolworth Center of Musical Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA margulis@princeton.edu www.elizabethmargulis.com
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Abstract

We argue that music can serve as a time-sensitive lens into the interplay between instrumental and ritual stances in cultural evolution. Over various timescales, music can switch between pursuing an end goal or not, and between presenting a causal opacity that is resolvable, or not. With these fluctuations come changes in the motivational structures that drive innovation versus copying.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e262
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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