Do you have too much music on your iPod folks? I’m assuming you have an iPod. It’s like the generic name for portable music player. You know, like Kleenex is the generic for paper tissue? But I digress.

I know I have too much music on my iPod when I hear a song for the first time. We’re taking about ELO here so I’ve had it for a while.

So maybe I did hear the song for the first time or I maybe just heard it with new ears. The physical hearing apparatus have always been attached to me. So it’s got to be that I heard it with new ears, know what I mean? Let me explain.

I took in the same words and the same melody with the same senses as before but I experienced them differently because the filters through which I made sense of the song were different. Filters help us make sense of how we experience the world. When one’s filters are limited our experiences of the world are also limited. The opposite also applies.

It’s useful to remember that filters are also culture-specific. In interviews conducted with people from China and India asking if they were “happy” the response was that they hadn’t thought about it. In Western societies where the pursuit of happiness is seen as a right, the filter of happiness is widespread (NLPU Encyclopedia).

So what song led to this whole analysis of perception and filters. It’s ELO’s Ticket to the Moon. Here it is. Enjoy!

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