kat, I don't thing John in Brisbane was arguing against research. As I understood it, he was arguing against overstating the results of research -- taking certain indicators and preliminary impressions from a research project, and reporting them as if they are "facts". As I said, I think he has a point.

Does music have an impact on our intellectual abilities and pyschological well-being? I believe it probably does. But does listening to Mozart make us more intelligent? That's a more specific question, and one that I would be reluctant to answer with any certainty unless it was better established. Anyway, I think we're still struggling with the definition of "intelligence," so we really shouldn't be too presumptuous about this.

I'm all in favor of research, but I'm also in favor of reporting the results with appropriate honesty and humility. I think this was the same point John was trying to make.