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I'd argue enjoying the absence of music doesn't qualify as musical anhedonia. "Enjoyment" is a valent measure so "negative enjoyment" is still enjoyment, but ne

I'd argue enjoying the absence of music doesn't qualify as musical anhedonia. "Enjoyment" is a valent measure so "negative enjoyment" is still enjoyment, but negatively impacted. If the absence of music is pleasurable, then you are perceiving and responding to the sound. Otherwise you could argue there exists "silence anhedonia", "cake anhedonia", or that everyone has passive "breathing anhedonia". I'd need to read through the article, but the Wikipedia link sounds they are conflating "enjoying" and "responding to". Instead, I'm assuming musical anhedonia is referring more to "apathy of sound".

dan-robertson 8y ago
I disagree. For an example I would say that roadworks or traffic or other people’s conversations do not really elicit an emotional response however many people would likely prefer quiet. I think it is unreasonable to assume that if someone were to say “well I prefer quiet, I guess,” they mean that they have some great emotional response to being in the quiet making them love it. It would be more reasonable to assume that they are basically indifferent and would rather not have the distraction/noise.
- tsumnia 8y ago
  > It would be more reasonable to assume that they are basically indifferent and would rather not have the distraction/noise. We are actually agreeing; however I'm saying that this is a preference. Wikipedia refers to anhedonia as an inability to have pleasure about something. However, valence [1] as a measurement identifies affect dimensions as a polar system - (to quote Wikipedia) "Stress is negative valence and opposite of this is pleasure or happiness." My claim is that "pleasure" can be positive or negative - in that music would cause happiness or stress. Adding genre only furthers my statement that you could claim someone is "R&B anhedonia", "death metal anhedonia", or "classical anhedonia" if anhedonia only refers to positive affects. I, however, am saying anhedonia should be for the positive and negative degrees of an affect. "No sound" is still sound - its the difference between null and zero. My original post says I'd say anhedonia is more linked to "null", while preferring no sound is more linked to "zero". Holding a positive or negative preference is a measurable attribute and therefore not what I would claim anhedonia; however, being purely apathetic (void) of preference would. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valence_(psychology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valence_(psychology)
  - irrational 8y ago
    So, if I neither like, nor dislike music, but simply don't care whether it exists or not, then that is anhedonia?
    - tsumnia 8y ago
      Medically diagnosed apathy was the term I was thinking of while driving
      - irrational 8y ago
        Musical apathy? This really only applies to music. I derive great pleasure from other artistic works, just not anything auditory. On a perhaps related note, I can recall almost 100% of what I read, but I can recall only about 10% of what I hear, no matter how closely I am paying attention. Someone can tell me something, but it won't make sense. But if I read the exact same words I will have complete comprehension and recall.
  - Retric 8y ago
    I disagree. I don’t enjoy or listen to music, but it’s still sound. And I like many people I dislike loud sounds, a subset of which is loud music. I may not fall into this group. But, I suspect these people still have emotional responses to sounds loud enough to be causing dammage.

dan-robertson 8y ago

I disagree. For an example I would say that roadworks or traffic or other people’s conversations do not really elicit an emotional response however many people would likely prefer quiet. I think it is unreasonable to assume that if someone were to say “well I prefer quiet, I guess,” they mean that they have some great emotional response to being in the quiet making them love it. It would be more reasonable to assume that they are basically indifferent and would rather not have the distraction/noise.

tsumnia 8y ago
> It would be more reasonable to assume that they are basically indifferent and would rather not have the distraction/noise. We are actually agreeing; however I'm saying that this is a preference. Wikipedia refers to anhedonia as an inability to have pleasure about something. However, valence [1] as a measurement identifies affect dimensions as a polar system - (to quote Wikipedia) "Stress is negative valence and opposite of this is pleasure or happiness." My claim is that "pleasure" can be positive or negative - in that music would cause happiness or stress. Adding genre only furthers my statement that you could claim someone is "R&B anhedonia", "death metal anhedonia", or "classical anhedonia" if anhedonia only refers to positive affects. I, however, am saying anhedonia should be for the positive and negative degrees of an affect. "No sound" is still sound - its the difference between null and zero. My original post says I'd say anhedonia is more linked to "null", while preferring no sound is more linked to "zero". Holding a positive or negative preference is a measurable attribute and therefore not what I would claim anhedonia; however, being purely apathetic (void) of preference would. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valence_(psychology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valence_(psychology)
- irrational 8y ago
  So, if I neither like, nor dislike music, but simply don't care whether it exists or not, then that is anhedonia?
  - tsumnia 8y ago
    Medically diagnosed apathy was the term I was thinking of while driving
    - irrational 8y ago
      Musical apathy? This really only applies to music. I derive great pleasure from other artistic works, just not anything auditory. On a perhaps related note, I can recall almost 100% of what I read, but I can recall only about 10% of what I hear, no matter how closely I am paying attention. Someone can tell me something, but it won't make sense. But if I read the exact same words I will have complete comprehension and recall.
- Retric 8y ago
  I disagree. I don’t enjoy or listen to music, but it’s still sound. And I like many people I dislike loud sounds, a subset of which is loud music. I may not fall into this group. But, I suspect these people still have emotional responses to sounds loud enough to be causing dammage.