If music vanished tomorrow, would we even know what we were missing? Explore this thought experiment with me.
What would your life be like without music?
Music has been a constant thread in my life. I grew up surrounded by musicians, dancers, and artists. For me, imagining life without music isn’t difficult to do— it can feel as though exploring new territory. But what if music had never existed at all? What kind of people would we be?
The question reminds me of an old story I once read about the Egyptians, who believed all human beings originally spoke Egyptian. To test this, they kept babies in isolation, without hearing human language, hoping the children would eventually speak Egyptian on their own. But when those children grew older, they couldn’t form words or sentences at all.
Without music, I think humanity would be just like those children.
The Egyptian Experiment: Babies Without Language
That Egyptian story has always stuck with me. It highlights how humans aren’t born fully “formed” — we’re shaped by the sounds, rhythms, and cultures around us. Language is one of them. Music is another.
If music had never existed, I imagine we’d grow up with something missing. Not a hole we’d notice, but one we’d feel if sound suddenly entered our lives. Like the Egyptian children, we wouldn’t even know what we were missing until it was too late.
Would We Freak Out? Or Adapt Like Adora?
This also makes me think of the Netflix She-Ra series. Adora grows up in the Horde, cut off from the wider world. When she finally leaves, she’s suddenly surrounded by new experiences, colors, and people. She adapts quickly — almost too quickly for my liking.
It made me wonder: did the Horde give her something similar so that she wasn’t completely overwhelmed? Or was she just unbelievably adaptable?
If I had never heard music, I don’t think I’d adapt like Adora. I’d freak out. It would be overwhelming, maybe terrifying, like suddenly stepping into a new reality.
Music as a Matrix Breaker
The closest metaphor I have is The Matrix. Imagine being unplugged, seeing the real world for the first time. That’s what it would feel like if someone introduced music into a life that had never known it.
Rhythm, melody, harmony — all of it would shatter the quiet order of a soundless existence. It wouldn’t just be “something new to enjoy.” It would be something that rewrote the very structure of reality.
Why Music Shapes Who We Are
I can’t separate who I am from music. From the start, I’ve been surrounded by it — not just songs, but the energy of people who live for it. Music taught me to feel, to reflect, to connect even when I didn’t want to.
Take it away, and I wouldn’t just lose entertainment. I’d lose a language of emotion. A way of making sense of the world. A way of imagining myself.
Imagining Life Without Music Isn’t Just Hypothetical
Of course, music does exist, and it always has. But imagining its absence makes me realize just how deeply it’s tied to being human. Without it, we’d be incomplete — like those isolated children, or like living in the Matrix without ever knowing there’s another world waiting.
So, what would life be like without music? For me, it wouldn’t be life at all.
Reflection & Call to Action
If anything here resonated with you — whether it sparked memories, ideas, or emotions — I’d love for you to engage. Share your thoughts, reflect on your own experiences with music, or even explore a few of my past daily prompts.
You can also check out some gifts I’ve created for readers who want to explore their creativity or inspiration alongside my writing.
Every share, comment, or reflection helps others in similar situations find this little corner of the internet — a space to reflect, imagine, and resist the quiet pressure to fade.
Keep exploring. Keep imagining. Keep letting music, creativity, and your own curiosity shape your reality.
