Is using this app a sin?

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I’ve recently been using this new music app on my phone to help me focus on my work. Something about the music seems to make me enthusiastic about getting work done and helps me focus. Also their sleep mode helps me feel relaxed at the end of the day. Here is a quote from their website:

“Brain.fm works by playing 30-minute clips of brainwave-altering sounds to help you focus on whatever it is you need to do: work, sleep, meditate – anything. Brain.fm holds patents on key processes for creating functional music, including technology to elicit strong neural phase locking—allowing populations of neurons to engage in various kinds of coordinated activity. This makes our music unique, purpose-built to steer you into a desired mental state.”

Basically the music alters brain waves. I’m somewhat concerned that by using this app, I’m committing the sin of “sorcery” or the occult. To be honest, it seems pretty benign, I mean what’s wrong with listening to music to get you in a certain mood? But I just want to be sure.
 
No but it can induce mind altered state. Which isn’t fun if goes in wrong direction.
 
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They describe its effect in purely neurological terms, which is not supernatural, sorcery, or occult.

Do they make any other claims about how it works?
 
From what I’ve read, it blocks out distracting noise, which is totally benign.
The second thing it does is have a certain tempo that causes “neuronal mirroring” during which your brainwaves go along with that tempo.
Their sleep mode has a gentle rocking motion. (basically musical sound goes from one earbud to the other and it is supposed to feel like you’re in a hammock or cradle). The exact way it works is proprietary so it’s hard to know the exact mechanisms.
 
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Also when I think of sorcery, I think of drug use, which is not supernatural.
 
There’s nothing supernatural going on, so it’s not sorcery.
 
The use of key (major, minor), tempo, and harmony/dissonance to set the tone for worship have long been used in church music so it’d be stretch to say it’s sinful.

Some of the apps claims might be suspect, but there is nothing immoral about using AI algorithms to generate music (unless the music is ripping off copyrighted works where the AI is used to alter the digital, but not perceived auditory, representation of the music).
 
Thank you that’s a good point about worship music. No their music is originial.
 
Beryllos said:
Do they make any other claims about how it works?
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What I was getting at is whether it induces a state of hypnosis, where the risk is that your mind is more vulnerable. This could be a problem if the audio program includes verbal suggestions or if someone else speaks.
 
Ah I see. Some aspects may be similar to hypnosis. There are 4 categories of music: Focus, Relax, Sleep and Meditate. The meditation section is has two choices, guided or unguided mediation (guided has a voice and is the only subsection that has a voice). Out of caution I have avoided using the meditation section, especially the guided one. The other 3 sections seem the most benign whereas the meditation one is somewhat suspect.
 
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Interesting. Your caution is commendable. Some meditation is self-hypnosis, e.g., transcendental meditation. I’m not saying that meditation is wrong, but only that one must practice it in a safe setting.
 
@johnz123 I just looked at app and I hope I won’t get headache because of colors… Lol :crazy_face:

It says this
While other music is primarily made to sound good and evoke feelings, Brain.fm works with teams of scientists and composers to engineer music specifically designed to help you enter particular mental states within minutes of use.
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The music is designed to have effects on neurophysiology via unique acoustic features woven into the music (Brain.fm holds patents for key aspects of this process). Examples include modulations optimized to evoke entrainment of neural oscillations, filtering to exclude distracting sound events, or smooth movement in virtual space to direct attention or avoid habituation.
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Brain.fm is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF-STTR#1720698).
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Research conducted by Brain.fm and other literature can be found here: Brain.fm: Music to improve focus, meditation & sleep.
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I don’t know enough about it to say if it can have positive/negative impact on your mental state but if you would trust them then it’s true that you enter altered states by listening sounds from their app.

Here you go
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1720698
It generates music designed specifically to stimulate attentional networks in our brain by exploiting the latest neuroscience concepts of how neurons entrain to stimulus rhythms. Our objective is for Brain.fm to become a validated, non-invasive therapeutic tool for Attention to help everyone who suffers from mind wandering, regardless of whether they meet diagnostic criteria for ADHD.
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The proposed project is aimed at experimentally demonstrating generalizable changes in attention through auditory stimulation. For decades, neuroscientists have observed wave-like activity in the brain and related them to attentional states. The ability to change attentional states, via noninvasive brain stimulation, would be greatly desirable for everyday functioning as well as crucial for understanding how brain waves relate to behavior. The proposed project tests a novel auditory neuroscience-informed platform solution for delivering noninvasive brain stimulation through music. In addition to establishing a revolutionary method to enhance attention noninvasively by tuning brain waves through comprehensive behavioral and fMRI studies, we test the efficacy of this method to treat inattention, especially in adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Key outcomes of this project are: 1) non clinical (but Institutional Review Board-approved) studies that determine how this auditory therapy impacts attention on an adult ADHD prone population, 2) a deeper understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms of attention and neuronal entrainment, and 3)optimization of our product by testing different versions of our algorithmically generated music on our existing customer base. Results are expected to show how purpose-built acoustic stimulation can support the neuronal oscillations underlying sustained attention, thus boosting productivity and well-being.
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johnz123 said:
I’ve recently been using this new music app on my phone to help me focus on my work. Something about the music seems to make me enthusiastic about getting work done and helps me focus. Also their sleep mode helps me feel relaxed at the end of the day. Here is a quote from their website:

“Brain.fm works by playing 30-minute clips of brainwave-altering sounds to help you focus on whatever it is you need to do: work, sleep, meditate – anything. Brain.fm holds patents on key processes for creating functional music, including technology to elicit strong neural phase locking—allowing populations of neurons to engage in various kinds of coordinated activity. This makes our music unique, purpose-built to steer you into a desired mental state.”

Basically the music alters brain waves. I’m somewhat concerned that by using this app, I’m committing the sin of “sorcery” or the occult. To be honest, it seems pretty benign, I mean what’s wrong with listening to music to get you in a certain mood? But I just want to be sure.
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I’m assuming you’re talking about binaural beats?


Yes, it’s okay.

Peace.
 
Hi TK421. From what I remember reading, Brain.fm doesn’t actually use binaural beats. But I think it is similar.
 
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