The music professor Martin J. Bergee and his team found out that there is a close connection between musical and mathematical (as well as other academic) abilities. Moreover, not long ago scientists and musicians who gathered at the exciting Festum π event in August 2022, which took place on the Aegean islands and marked the beginning of the collaboration between the University of Paris-Saclay and the University of the AEGEAN, spoke a lot about this connection and even illustrated it.
So, Bergee`s research was published in the Journal of Research in Music Education. It is interesting that initially scientists wanted to refute this statement above. Still, they came to a completely opposite result. They studied more than 1,000 high school students.
The scientists have always believed that there is a connection, but it is correlational, not causal. They wanted to demonstrate that there are a lot of different variables that affect a student’s success in a particular field, for example, the educational level of family members, race and area of residence. The scientists wanted to prove that such “background” signs affect much more strongly than others, but found exactly the opposite.
Martin J. Bergee named the alleged reason for the connection mentioned above. Perhaps the differences in musical abilities function on a more subtle level: pitches, intervals, sizes. And they have the same cognitive basis as differences in speech abilities. Scientists come to the conclusion that the process of academic learning in different disciplines (music, mathematics or reading) is based on the same characteristics.
The scientists believe that a person needs, first of all, general development. If you want to train kids and develop their mind, you should give them a general education. In other words, education may not be as modular as many people think. Martin J. Bergee believes that one should not sacrifice some ways of learning in favour of others, and the mind of children and adolescents should be developed by all possible methods and means.
In this regard, the idea to build a center for mathematics and music on the island of Samos in the Aegean Sea is consistent. Why was this particular place chosen? Since ancient times the West and the East have looked at each other here. It is because in ancient times, active scientists and mathematicians lived on the same islands. Traditions continue.
