Len Fehskens writes in response to Satoshi Akima: >>The consequence of this is it means nothing that some peopole may see >>a piece of music as being "happy" whereas others see it as "sad". > >This is precisely the substance of my question. What kind of a language >is it that means one thing to one person and the opposite to another? A flexible language? Verbal language can also often be misunderstood or interpreted in an opposite manner primarily because one language is covering multiple cultures. I've read that body language is the primary means of communication among people, and that can also lead to frequent misunderstanding. These things happen all the time. I don't see music as inhabiting some kind of special dysfunctional area concerning communication, and I still consider music to be a language in that it communicates to the listener. Don Satz [log in to unmask]