Why you can't get that damn ringtone out of your head

Certain kinds of music are more memorable than others. But why? Stanford music professor Jonathan Berger uses a common ringtone to explain why we can't get certain tunes out of our minds.

Berger has a fantastic, music-laced essay on Nautilus about how music can confound our expectations, and worm its way into our minds. The most attention-grabbing music leads us to believe we'll hear one sound, but provides us with another. Or it provides us with a sound we can't quite identify. Here, he talks about how that works in this terrific explanation of the default Nokia ringtone:




or on a downbeat:


Why you can't get that damn ringtone out of your headRUBIN’S VASE: This image, developed by psychologist Edgar Rubin, is a famous example of visual ambiguity.




This is just one little taste of an incredible essay, which you must go read and listen to right now. If you've ever wondered why music sticks in your mind, read Berger's essay on Nautilus.