Friday, May 1, 2015

Friday Factoid with Dr. Patty

Patty here. Though I don't have visible ears on my upper bun (makes little sense with these glasses, I know), it's still worth noting that I love music. That's something I share in common with a great deal of humanity. Music can define a generation, start a movement, be used to parody, to bolster a crowd, and to signal defeat. From days of tribal gatherings to mega concerts, we have used music to share, at times, things that not even words can sufficiently say. So it would only be fitting that in 1977 we launched the Voyager spacecraft into space with a golden record aboard, containing various music from all over the planet. This record, if it were found (estimated to pass through our closest galactic neighbour in 40,000 years), would share with that civilization a bit about who we are (and were), our similarities as a people, and also our diversity in cultures. The songs on the record include Bach, music from Zaire, Australian Aborigines, Japan, India, and even one by a charmingly named Blind Willie Johnson. 27 tracks in all, ranging from classical to Johnny B Goode, by Chuck Berry.

While that's your important Friday Fact, it also begs the question: what would we send today? We took the time back in 1977 to thoughtfully come up with a playlist, much as one would on their iPod, and chose a great range of musical samplings for our alien brethren. I would argue that if we were to arrange the same type of disc today, future aliens would get to cringe to such financially important hits as Justin Bieber's Baby, and The Black Eyed Peas' My Humps. Which would be a disservice to any future inhabitants of this planet, because I can only imagine that alien life would consider both of these tracks, and most of what's on the current popular radio, as a first strike in audio format, and attempt to destroy the earth as quickly as possible. That, or these same tunes that have done so well to destroy the minds of our young would likewise infiltrate their peoples and bring about calamitous ruin in the form of pop culture, spreading like a virus throughout the vast cosmos.