In the case of music, there is no evolutionary mechanism that I can think of or that anyone else can offer.
Some biologists hypothesize that Neanderthals sang, but did not speak.
Others hypothesize that singing evolved as language evolved, as a means of communicating, e.g., mothers singing to babies, very relaxing, stress-relieving, even in the womb. Another example, work songs, which keep groups in sync.
Others who have a bent for both math and music (the two go together) hypothesize that music ability is a side effect of the development of math abilities.
My opinion -- all of the above are possible, but it's also true that humans enjoy creating beauty. In fact, although it may be --- hmm, what's the word, something like "self centered" -- anthropologists use the deliberate creation of symbols and the use of decoration as the dividing line between "not human like us" and "human like us." Cave painting, tattoos, decorating the dead, making and wearing beads.
We create beauty because we can. |
