Big Ideas? Or Does James May Just Have Well-Trained Ears?

Flicking through freeview this evening, I stumbled across an episode of James May's Big Ideas. As the show gradually harnessed my ever-wavering concentration, May's confrontation with a hi-tech robot, capable of learning new words and making simple judgements, led him to ask if artificial intelligence would ever be capable of creativity.

To test this, he played two pieces of classical music on piano. One written by world-famous composer Ludwig Van Beethoven, the other produced by a computer, but in the style of the German symphonist.

May's argument was that the computer-penned piece was not "creative" as it had imitated previous patterns, randomly regenerating them to form a new score, whereas the real Beethoven piece contained emotion to which we can relate - to me however, both pieces sounded on a par (with the generated piece edging it in my opinion).

This got me to thinking, is there really emotion in music itself, or is it more to do with the emotion that we as individuals attach to it?

For instance, I know that Beethoven's most famous works were created in spite of his deafness, a remarkable achievement, instantly making the music more impressive to my untrained ears.

Again, fans of any musician who was brought up into poverty, has overcome illness or dealt with massive bereavement probably hang to his or her every word, whereas those unaware of the background story may listen and continue unaffected.

In fact, if you told me that James May's computer-generated symphony had been written by a blind 16-year-old boy as his father uttered his dying words beside him in the family home, then I would probably be fooled into finding the piece very emotive.

Maybe this is the future of pop music? Artifically produced music with a false background story to give it human interest. Maybe it's the present and we just don't know it.

Either way, having turned my mind inside out over-thinking the situation, I'm coming to conclusion that James May only included the segment on his programme to show that not only does he have an obscene knowledge of motor cars, a job to die for and a full head of hair, but he can also play the bloody piano.

A Headache The Size Of Europe

In my case, the finger of blame for a headache can usually be pointed squarely at the previous night and can be righted with an Aspirin and a fry-up. 

But this week, it was neither grape, grain, nor a bang on the brain which knocked me for six, but a five-minute segment of the evening news concentrating on the disadvantages of a British move into Europe. 

I could never claim to have an in-depth knowledge of this subject, as any articles read or information imparted always seems loaded with bias from one political extreme or the other, therefore I take it with a pinch of salt.

But traditionally, I have always been a supporter of the EU as a community in which members can share knowledge and expertise, learn from each others' mistakes and drive towards ambitions by competing to achieve common goals (lower carbon emissions, strong trade links etc)

The basis for this opinion comes partly from my understanding of a single European currency as the opportunity for a number of economies, some stronger and some weaker, to work together, helping each other out when a member runs into trouble.

However, if this was the root of my favourable stance towards the EU, then Thursday's news has hoisted me well and truly back up onto the fence by reminding me that along with a single currency, the objective of the EU is to have common laws for farming, policing and more.

This, to me, indicates a lack of logic bearing in mind just how delicately each different country must have tailored their farming and policing methods to suit their own climate, culture and traditions. 

Surely forcing sunny Spain to adhere to the same farming conventions as snowy Sweden will only result in the meltdown of one or other's crop cycle? And would applying the same policing to both laid-back Latinos and booze-fuelled Britons not result in one side of the coin descending into widespread carnage? 

As previously mentioned, I have never been a leading light on the subject, but thought I knew where my loyalties lay. 

Whilst I stand by the fact that the EU has the potential to bring our continent together both politically and socially, it now seems that a united Europe (essentially a socialist ideal) is becoming evermore nationalist in its outlook. Is it in danger of undercutting the very democratic values for which it originally stood? 

My answer: I don't know... But I do know I need an Aspirin.