John Smyth writes ...

>Carl Sagan points out in his book, "Broca's Brain," that the brain filters
>out most ambient noise.  (Could you imagine if your mind processed and made
>you aware of every single peep, 24/7?)

The process, as you might know, is called habituation.  They did this
experiment.  A 2 week old baby was suckling (nursing) and they played
middle C.  The baby stopped momentarliy on hearing the sound.  When the
baby began nursing again, they played middle C again.  Again the baby
stopped.  After a few times at this, the baby ignored the sound and
continued nursing.  It had habituated to the sound.  Then they played
the D above midddle C and the baby stopped again.  Indicating that even at
that young age, the mind can distinguish between C and D.  Later C# worked
as well.  Sound is certainly fundamentally wired into us.  I think that
perfect pitch can be learned if one starts early enough.  Say 3 months
of age.  In fact, I think that the brain can learn anything including how
to think like Beethoven, Mozart, et.  al.  about music.  Many prodigies
happened because they came from musical atmosphere (filled with rich
musical sounds) and started at a very early age, IMHO.  We all start out
as geniuses and either either have it regimented out of us, or spend so
much time calculating to survive in a dog eat dog environment, that the
mind has no time for the luxury of imagination and creative thought.  As
Paul McCartney said on Sgt Pepper "I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets
in and stops my mind from wandering".  Sadly, many never get the hole fixed,
it just gets bigger with age and increased responsibility.

>So I would say that the city is a symphony only during the time that you
>designate it as such.

Agreed.  Only when you get the hole fixed, then it becomes rich with
sounds.

Bill Pirkle