--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nobody talks about music as having…" description: "\"Nobody talks about music as having intrinsic meaning, how it engages the mind.\" — Tod Machover" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/139/tod-machover-12406_about_nobody-talks-about-music-as-having-intri_2217582.jpg" --- # Nobody talks about music as having intrinsic meaning, how… ![“Nobody talks about music as having intrinsic meaning, how it engages the mind.” quote by Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/139/tod-machover-12406_about_nobody-talks-about-music-as-having-intri_2217582.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/139/tod-machover-12406_about_nobody-talks-about-music-as-having-intri_2217582.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/139/tod-machover-12406_about_nobody-talks-about-music-as-having-intri_2217582.jpg) > “Nobody talks about music as having intrinsic meaning, how it engages the mind.” [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Music is often discussed for its emotional impact, but its intrinsic meaning and cognitive engagement are overlooked. **In simple terms:** Music’s deeper meaning and mental engagement are ignored. Key Takeaway Explore music’s cognitive effects. Themes music cognition meaning psychology artistic expression Mood curious thoughtful analytical Type theoretical philosophical When to use this quote - Education curricula - therapy sessions - creative workshops Key Concepts Intrinsic meaning mental engagement cognitive science Questions to Reflect On - How does music affect your thinking? - What does “intrinsic meaning” mean in art? A Different Perspective The claim may be contested by musicologists who find intrinsic meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Meaning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaning/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) ## Related quotes > [The southerner talks music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-southerner-talks-music/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Music has an intrinsic meaning, which has always been mysterious to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-peterson/music-has-an-intrinsic-meaning-which-has-always-been-mysterious-to-me/) [Jordan Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-peterson/) > [“We humans appear to be meaning-seeking creatures who have had the misfortune of being thrown into a world devoid of intrinsic meaning. One of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/we-humans-appear-to-be-meaning-seeking-creatures-who-have-had-the/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [In addition to all its rich offerings to the body and its five senses, gardening engages the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-lacy/in-addition-to-all-its-rich-offerings-to-the-body-and-its-five-senses/) [Allen Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-lacy/) > [“Nothing takes you out of yourself the way a good book does, but at the same time nothing makes you more aware of yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-lesser/nothing-takes-you-out-of-yourself-the-way-a-good-book-does-but-at-the/) [Wendy Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-lesser/) > [Conversion engages the mind as well as the emotions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-anders/conversion-engages-the-mind-as-well-as-the-emotions/) [Max Anders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-anders/) > [The poet Amanda Nadelberg puts it nicely in an interview when she says "often what I listen for in poems is a sense that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-d-ambrosio/the-poet-amanda-nadelberg-puts-it-nicely-in-an-interview-when-she/) [Charles D'Ambrosio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-d-ambrosio/) > [It's not just something that you do intellectually when you do music. You do it with your body, and you do it with your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-osborne/it-s-not-just-something-that-you-do-intellectually-when-you-do-music/) [Joan Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-osborne/) > [“Visualization engages the mind and encourages the body.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/visualization-engages-the-mind-and-encourages-the-body/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [The intrinsic path to success is to focus on being the person that you are, and put all of your energy and drive into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-buchheit/the-intrinsic-path-to-success-is-to-focus-on-being-the-person-that/) [Paul Buchheit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-buchheit/) > [Raising children with an emphasis on intrinsic rewards is not a technique, a method or a trick to get them to do what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mamie-van-doren/raising-children-with-an-emphasis-on-intrinsic-rewards-is-not-a/) [Mamie Van Doren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mamie-van-doren/) > [I think that whether someone is a Christian or not, the idea that a human life has dignity and intrinsic worth should be clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/i-think-that-whether-someone-is-a-christian-or-not-the-idea-that-a/) [Mike Huckabee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-huckabee/) > [The ideas which led to the Analytical Engine occurred in a manner wholly independent of any that were connected with the Difference Engine. These…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/the-ideas-which-led-to-the-analytical-engine-occurred-in-a-manner/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [We are now living in a post-Roosevelt, post-Reagan universe. What comes next will not be post-partisan, because faction is an intrinsic human impulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-meacham/we-are-now-living-in-a-post-roosevelt-post-reagan-universe-what-comes/) [Jon Meacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-meacham/) > [Failure doesn't have anything to do with your intrinsic value as a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-ellis/failure-doesn-t-have-anything-to-do-with-your-intrinsic-value-as-a/) [Albert Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-ellis/) ## More by Tod Machover > [Music seems to stimulate more parts of our mind than almost every other activity. It combines more parts of our minds. It synchronizes our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/music-seems-to-stimulate-more-parts-of-our-mind-than-almost-every/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [I love the cello, I love the physical sense of an instrument that's about the size of your body that vibrates enough that even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/i-love-the-cello-i-love-the-physical-sense-of-an-instrument-that-s/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [You have to train your mind and your ears, but they're more like athletic skills. So, part of music you just have to learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/you-have-to-train-your-mind-and-your-ears-but-they-re-more-like/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [I went to the University of California, Santa Cruz for a year, which turned out to be a really vibrant, very intensive intellectual atmosphere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/i-went-to-the-university-of-california-santa-cruz-for-a-year-which/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [The basic idea of a hyper instrument is where the technology is built right into the instrument so that the instrument knows how it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/the-basic-idea-of-a-hyper-instrument-is-where-the-technology-is-built/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [Perhaps 25 to 50 years from now, I can design a piece of music, no so that it appeals to something common in millions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/perhaps-25-to-50-years-from-now-i-can-design-a-piece-of-music-no-so/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [I never liked opera growing up. I always liked chamber music or solo music even more than orchestral music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/i-never-liked-opera-growing-up-i-always-liked-chamber-music-or-solo/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [I like the idea of imagining a sound and feeling a sound and then having it come out through your body, through an instrument.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/i-like-the-idea-of-imagining-a-sound-and-feeling-a-sound-and-then/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [There were a lot of things happen in the mid-'80's that all of a sudden made it possible to do a lot of very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/there-were-a-lot-of-things-happen-in-the-mid-80-s-that-all-of-a/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [One of my interests in music has always been what it means, why it affects us the way it does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/one-of-my-interests-in-music-has-always-been-what-it-means-why-it/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [The Beatles realized that what they were making in the studio could never be performed. And they had already given up on performing because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/the-beatles-realized-that-what-they-were-making-in-the-studio-could/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [I love Bach, I love Beethoven, I love Mozart, I love the Beatles, I love you know, Stockhausen, I love many things. But for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/i-love-bach-i-love-beethoven-i-love-mozart-i-love-the-beatles-i-love/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [My message is to forget about dichotomies. The 'Brain Opera' is an opera, even if it does not tell a story in the usual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/my-message-is-to-forget-about-dichotomies-the-brain-opera-is-an-opera/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [I almost never these days sit down with a CD or my laptop and just listen to a piece with a score. I probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/i-almost-never-these-days-sit-down-with-a-cd-or-my-laptop-and-just/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [I listen to a lot of music that teenagers are listening to because I'm around them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/i-listen-to-a-lot-of-music-that-teenagers-are-listening-to-because-i/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) [Explore all 55 Tod Machover quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) ## More About quotes > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. 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That means I write about guys - so far. I'm interested in the people closest to them, the people they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-write-about-presidents-that-means-i-write-about-guys-so-far-i-m/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [That's something a lot of folks don't know about me - I'm pretty darn funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jai-white/that-s-something-a-lot-of-folks-don-t-know-about-me-i-m-pretty-darn/) [Michael Jai White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jai-white/) > [I learned a lot about myself at Oakmont.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-lowry/i-learned-a-lot-about-myself-at-oakmont/) [Shane Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-lowry/) > [I don't think about the press or the crowds or the other leaders of the race. The focus is only on myself. As soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magdalena-neuner/i-don-t-think-about-the-press-or-the-crowds-or-the-other-leaders-of/) [Magdalena Neuner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magdalena-neuner/) > [Sport is not just about entertainment. It is equally about winning and losing, pooling and galvanising the energy of the youth, upgrading people's physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-ambani/sport-is-not-just-about-entertainment-it-is-equally-about-winning-and/) [Nita Ambani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-ambani/) > [One of the ways that I discovered my confidence and my ability to overpower is becoming a mother. Suddenly, my world wasn't about myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lights/one-of-the-ways-that-i-discovered-my-confidence-and-my-ability-to/) [Lights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lights/) > [I didn't want to do 'Fashion Police' because I thought, 'This is stupid, this is beneath me, who wants to talk about fashion?' It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-didn-t-want-to-do-fashion-police-because-i-thought-this-is-stupid/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [I just worried about my weight. Worried about my appearance and thought I wan't pretty enough to be a pop star. 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