Sound is primal.

In the beginning was the Word, then the word was sung; first by a man striding alone across the earth and later by armies marching into battle. Song and music were written by poets, composed by musicians, and performed by artists in celebration of life and death. We chanted and harmonized what we could not see.

In 2025, we call it vibing or streaming if you want to add the visual cue too. Everyone hums together in the key of C. Hmmm…

Scientists eventually entered the act and began questioning the nature of sound. Is there a relationship between electricity and magnetism? How do pigeons navigate?

Do we change our vibrational frequency when we sing?

Mankind sang and thought until James Clark Maxwell postulated the existence of electromagnetic waves, later proven and ultimately transmitted (pun intended) by Heinrich Hertz between 1887 and 1890.

Marconi invented the radio, a device to wirelessly transmit electromagnetic waves leading ultimately to Reginald Fessenden broadcasting the first public radio transmission on Christmas Eve in 1906.

Followers of Car Culture will know automotive history pulsed in tune with wireless technology during this transformative era. Wireless transmission and automobiles were joined at the hip (so to speak) when we embedded radios into our automotive dashboards. We were on a roll, and oh what a ride it was.

By the mid-1940s, we could sometimes listen to the radio as we drove through the world, gazing through our windshields endlessly, twirling the radio dial for powerful frequencies broadcast from remote stations. Sound frequencies were our beacons. Radio frequencies simultaneously drove the world through World War II. But when radios became embedded in our automotive dashboards and homes, they served a different purpose; they raised our collective consciousness.

Although we drove the white line, the radio vibes guided us on another journey, uncharted by any published map. Anyone who is a musician or an avid driver knows that vibrations excite certain areas of our brain, leading to insightful moments. That’s why we take long drives or immerse ourselves in music—to find the answer.

Scientists began taking note of the effect music had on our brain, and sometime after the birth of rock and roll, scientists began to formally investigate if there was a relationship between electromagnetism and consciousness. Time passed.

Money, media, celebrity, and the rise of the advertising model next entered the equation. Wurlitzers, jukeboxes, and transistor radios tickled our auditory canals when we were outside our automobile.

Science + Art = Money

Radio was always an “upsell” accessory in the early automobile marketplace, but once the radio became widely available, the advertising model ruled. Mass entertainment was embraced, and eventually, the motoring public found the AM-FM bandwidth wanting. The music industry pushed the development of the ad-free music cassette, and by the end of the 1960s, a plethora of different music devices were competing for dashboard space.

The history of technology is illustrated in the displays of the 20th-century automotive dashboard, like the illustration accompanying this article entitled, ‘Electromagnetism’. This 1948 Plymouth radio has it all: a kind of Swiss-army knife convenience dispenser. Analog clock, pushbuttons, knobs to pull and twirl, with fiber covering the speaker to let the radio waves flow unobstructed. In 1948, as the world was regrouping at the end of WWII, radios became a soothing balm on shattered nerves and psyches.

The number one top hit in 1948 was “Nature Boy”, by Nat King Cole.

“There was a boy, a very strange enchanted boy, they say he wandered very far over land and sea…a little sad, but very wise was he. And then one magic day, he passed my way, we spoke of many things, but this he said to me,

The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is to love and be loved in return.

One of ten NFTs, ready to mint...

Electromagnetism

Electromagnetism - NFT (Digital Object): Electromagnetism guides us on our way.

https://manifold.xyz

Through the radio, song and music tickling the EMF fields surrounding us, our collective consciousness began to heal from the horrors of WWII. We drove forward into new realities.

"It is worth noting that most physicalist theories of consciousness boil down to a type of EM field theory of consciousness, whether or not this is acknowledged. This is the case because the atomic basis of the material comprising our brains, our bodies, and our biosphere is intrinsically electromagnetic.

The specific role of EM fields in the brain has been debated for many years, with some scholars maintaining the view that they are largely or entirely epiphenomenal – like the proverbial train whistle on a steam-powered locomotive – and other scholars viewing them as integral to the workings of consciousness.

The General Resonance Theory (GRT) of consciousness, described in that paper, may be viewed as a type of electromagnetic theory of consciousness and posits that electromagnetic (EM) fields may be the primary seat of consciousness.

This research adds to the EM field theories of consciousness by highlighting the fundamental physics of neurons and glial cells in the brain, suggesting that a deeper investigation into the electromagnetic fields at the cellular scale could offer insights into the mechanisms of consciousness.”

—Excepted from Electromagnetic field theories of consciousness: opportunities and obstacles
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1342634/full

Layer upon layer of meaning has revealed itself through electromagnetism. Let us not forget our artists. Throughout the journey, poets have illuminated our journey, perhaps none better than our musicians. Joni Mitchell’s “ You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio” is perhaps the wittiest lyrics written about the artist’s quest to write a hit song and light up the Top 40 charts.

Driving into town

With a dark cloud above you

Dial in the number

Who's bound to love you

Oh honey, you turn me on

I'm a radio

I'm a country station.

I'm a little bit corny.

I'm a wild wood flower

Waving for you.

Broadcasting tower

Waving for you.

And I'm sending you out

This signal here.

I hope you can pick it up

Loud and clear.

I know you don't like weak women.

You get bored so quick.

And you don't like strong women?

'Cause they're hip to your tricks.

It's been dirty for dirty

Down the line.

But you know,

I come when you whistle.

When you're loving and kind.

If you've got too many doubts,

If there's no good reception for me,

Then tune me out, 'cause honey,

Who needs the static?

It hurts the head.

And you wind up cracking.

And the day goes dismal

From "Breakfast Barney"

To the sign-off prayer.

What a sorry face you get to wear.

I'm gonna tell you again now,

If you're still listening there.

If you're driving into town

With a dark cloud above you.

Dial in the number.

Who's bound to love you?

If you're lying on the beach

With the transistor going.

Kick off the sand flies, honey.

The love's still flowing.

If your head says forget it,

But your heart's still smoking,

Call me at the station.

The lines are open.

Songwriter: Joni Mitchell

In the 21st century, we have a new dashboard. It’s the cellular device in your hand. Old dog; new tricks. Glass with no knobs. Do you want to drive it? Stream music?

Art still twiddles the electromagnetic dials. Am I raising your consciousness? You may be happy to know that some seventy years later, scientists believe that consciousness may be a quantum problem. Turn up the volume and let that electromagnetism rip.

Tune in with us as we celebrate automotive dashboards, many of which are adorned with radios.

‎The Dashboard

A lavishly illustrated book for the car lover in everyone's life! Every time we open the car door and slide behind the steering wheel, we face the most important automotive focal point of all-the dashboard. This is where we make our most essential and intimate contact with the car. Array...

https://books.apple.com

You can download THE DASHBOARD now on iBooks, by tapping the button below. Once you arrive in iTunes, you can either choose to purchase the book for $14.99, or you can gift it to another car lover in your life.

Poof! Your holiday shopping is over.

Car Culture • the Art of the Automobile

Get it or Gift It--THE DASHBOARD

Sing along with us as you drive along.

“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is to love and be loved in return.