The Neural Exploitation Theory of Music: A Recursive Complexity Framework

This paper proposes a novel framework for understanding musical cultural complexity through neural exploitation mechanisms. We argue that music represents the artificial activation of evolved neural reward systems using manufactured audio inputs, and that this foundational mechanism generates recursive complexity through nested feedback loops and memory cascades. This approach offers a mechanistic explanation for both music's universal emotional power and its explosive cultural elaboration without requiring specific evolutionary adaptations for music itself. The framework provides insight into how synthetic meaning systems achieve cultural persistence and elaboration through psychological mechanisms operating below conscious awareness.