Tag Archives: wine

The Fatal Factory

by in Arithmetic, Mathematics, Prime numbers, Puzzles, Squares and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I can’t remember where I came across this clever little puzzle and what precise form it took, but here’s my version of it:

A famously eccentric inventor and recreational mathematician has invited you to tour the factory where his company manufactures locks, keys, safes, cash-boxes and so on. At the end of the tour he brings you to a conference room, pours you a glass of wine, and invites you to test your wits against a puzzle. He points out that a hundred numbered boxes have been set out on two long tables in the room. You sip your wine as you listen to him explain that each box is locked and contains a slip of paper bearing a number between 0 and 9. If you accept the challenge, the inventor will order a hundred workers to walk in turn past the boxes, using a master-key to unlock or lock the boxes like this:

The first worker will use the key on every box (boxes #1,2,3…), the second worker will use the key on every second box (boxes #2,4,6…), the third worker the key on every third box (boxes #3,6,9…), and so on.

Now, you can’t tell by simply looking at a box whether it’s unlocked or not, but it’s obvious that the first box will be unlocked when all that is over. Box #1 is originally locked and the master-key will be used on it just once. But how many other boxes will be unlocked? If you can choose nothing but the unlocked boxes, you get to keep the contents. Otherwise you get nothing. That is, if you choose one or more locked boxes, you get nothing.

And what good are the contents of the unlocked boxes? Well, if you take the numbered slips of paper they contain in order, they will give you the combination of a locked safe the inventor now points out in the wall behind you. The safe contains the antidote for the deadly but slow-acting poison he secretly slipped into the wine you have been sipping as you listened to him explain the details of the puzzle. So you have to choose all and only the unlocked boxes to save your life. Can you do it?

Solution

I’m sure there’s a simpler explanation of which boxes will be unlocked, but here’s my complicated one:

Whether box #n is locked or unlocked in the end depends on how many divisors the number n has. If it has an even number of divisors, it will be locked; if it has an odd number of divisors, it will be unlocked. Take box #12. The number 12 has six divisors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12. So workers #1, #3 and #6 will unlock it with the master-key, but workers #2, #4 and #12 will lock it again. Worker #12 will be the final worker to use the master-key on the box, so it will be locked.

Now take box #16. The number #16 has five divisors: 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16. So workers #1, #4 and #16 will unlock the box with the master-key, while workers #2 and #8 will lock it. Worker #16 will be the final worker to use the master-key on the box, so it will be unlocked.

In other words, the puzzle reduces to this: Which numbers from 1 to 100 have an odd number of divisors? To work out the number of divisors n has, you add 1 to the exponent of each of its prime factors and multiply the results. For example, 24 has eight divisors thus:

• 24 = 2^3 * 3^1 → (3+1) * (1+1) = 4 * 2 = 8, so 24 has eight divisors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24

But 36 has nine divisors thus:

• 36 = 2^2 * 3^2 → (2+1) * (2+1) = 3 * 3 = 9, so 36 has nine divisors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 36

36 demonstrates that a number has to have only even exponents on its prime factors to have an odd number of divisors (the only number without prime factors is 1, which has one divisor, namely itself). Numbers with only even exponents on their prime factors are square numbers:

• 4 = 2^2 → (2+1) = 3, so 4 has three divisors: 1, 2, 4
• 9 = 3^2 → (2+1) = 3, so 9 has three divisors: 1, 3, 9
• 16 = 2^4 → (4+1) = 5, so 16 has five divisors: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16
• 25 = 5^2 → (2+1) = 3, so 25 has divisors: 1, 5, 25
• 36 = 2^2 * 3^2 → (2+1) * (2+1) = 3 * 3 = 9, so 36 has nine divisors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 36
• 49 = 7^2 → (2+1) = 3, so 49 has three divisors: 1, 7, 49
• 64 = 2^6 → (6+1) = 7, so 64 has seven divisors: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64
• 81 = 3^4 → (4+1) = 5, so 81 has five divisors: 1, 3, 9, 27, 81
• 100 = 2^2 * 5^2 → (2+1) * (2+1) = 3 * 3 = 9, so 100 has nine divisors: 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 100

So if you choose boxes #1, #4, #9, #16, #25, #36, #49, #64, #81 and #100, you’ll get the combination for the safe and save your life.

Appendix

Here’s the full description of what happens to the boxes:

• box #1 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by no-one, therefore it’s unlocked
• box #2 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #2, therefore it’s locked
• box #3 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #3, therefore it’s locked
• box #4 is unlocked by workers #1 and #4, and locked by worker #2, therefore it’s unlocked
• box #5 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #5, therefore it’s locked
• box #6 is unlocked by workers #1 and #3, and locked by workers #2 and #6, therefore it’s locked
• box #7 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #7, therefore it’s locked
• box #8 is unlocked by workers #1 and #4, and locked by workers #2 and #8, therefore it’s locked
• box #9 is unlocked by workers #1 and #9, and locked by worker #3, therefore it’s unlocked
• box #10 is unlocked by workers #1 and #5, and locked by workers #2 and #10, therefore it’s locked
• box #11 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #11, therefore it’s locked
• box #12 is unlocked by workers #1, #3 and #6, and locked by workers #2, #4 and #12, therefore it’s locked
• box #13 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #13, therefore it’s locked
• box #14 is unlocked by workers #1 and #7, and locked by workers #2 and #14, therefore it’s locked
• box #15 is unlocked by workers #1 and #5, and locked by workers #3 and #15, therefore it’s locked
• box #16 is unlocked by workers #1, #4 and #16, and locked by workers #2 and #8, therefore it’s unlocked
• box #17 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #17, therefore it’s locked
• box #18 is unlocked by workers #1, #3 and #9, and locked by workers #2, #6 and #18, therefore it’s locked
• box #19 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #19, therefore it’s locked
• box #20 is unlocked by workers #1, #4 and #10, and locked by workers #2, #5 and #20, therefore it’s locked
• box #21 is unlocked by workers #1 and #7, and locked by workers #3 and #21, therefore it’s locked
• box #22 is unlocked by workers #1 and #11, and locked by workers #2 and #22, therefore it’s locked
• box #23 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #23, therefore it’s locked
• box #24 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #6 and #12, and locked by workers #2, #4, #8 and #24, therefore it’s locked
• box #25 is unlocked by workers #1 and #25, and locked by worker #5, therefore it’s unlocked
• box #26 is unlocked by workers #1 and #13, and locked by workers #2 and #26, therefore it’s locked
• box #27 is unlocked by workers #1 and #9, and locked by workers #3 and #27, therefore it’s locked
• box #28 is unlocked by workers #1, #4 and #14, and locked by workers #2, #7 and #28, therefore it’s locked
• box #29 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #29, therefore it’s locked
• box #30 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #6 and #15, and locked by workers #2, #5, #10 and #30, therefore it’s locked
• box #31 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #31, therefore it’s locked
• box #32 is unlocked by workers #1, #4 and #16, and locked by workers #2, #8 and #32, therefore it’s locked
• box #33 is unlocked by workers #1 and #11, and locked by workers #3 and #33, therefore it’s locked
• box #34 is unlocked by workers #1 and #17, and locked by workers #2 and #34, therefore it’s locked
• box #35 is unlocked by workers #1 and #7, and locked by workers #5 and #35, therefore it’s locked
• box #36 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #6, #12 and #36, and locked by workers #2, #4, #9 and #18, therefore it’s unlocked
• box #37 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #37, therefore it’s locked
• box #38 is unlocked by workers #1 and #19, and locked by workers #2 and #38, therefore it’s locked
• box #39 is unlocked by workers #1 and #13, and locked by workers #3 and #39, therefore it’s locked
• box #40 is unlocked by workers #1, #4, #8 and #20, and locked by workers #2, #5, #10 and #40, therefore it’s locked
• box #41 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #41, therefore it’s locked
• box #42 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #7 and #21, and locked by workers #2, #6, #14 and #42, therefore it’s locked
• box #43 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #43, therefore it’s locked
• box #44 is unlocked by workers #1, #4 and #22, and locked by workers #2, #11 and #44, therefore it’s locked
• box #45 is unlocked by workers #1, #5 and #15, and locked by workers #3, #9 and #45, therefore it’s locked
• box #46 is unlocked by workers #1 and #23, and locked by workers #2 and #46, therefore it’s locked
• box #47 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #47, therefore it’s locked
• box #48 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #6, #12 and #24, and locked by workers #2, #4, #8, #16 and #48, therefore it’s locked
• box #49 is unlocked by workers #1 and #49, and locked by worker #7, therefore it’s unlocked
• box #50 is unlocked by workers #1, #5 and #25, and locked by workers #2, #10 and #50, therefore it’s locked
• box #51 is unlocked by workers #1 and #17, and locked by workers #3 and #51, therefore it’s locked
• box #52 is unlocked by workers #1, #4 and #26, and locked by workers #2, #13 and #52, therefore it’s locked
• box #53 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #53, therefore it’s locked
• box #54 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #9 and #27, and locked by workers #2, #6, #18 and #54, therefore it’s locked
• box #55 is unlocked by workers #1 and #11, and locked by workers #5 and #55, therefore it’s locked
• box #56 is unlocked by workers #1, #4, #8 and #28, and locked by workers #2, #7, #14 and #56, therefore it’s locked
• box #57 is unlocked by workers #1 and #19, and locked by workers #3 and #57, therefore it’s locked
• box #58 is unlocked by workers #1 and #29, and locked by workers #2 and #58, therefore it’s locked
• box #59 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #59, therefore it’s locked
• box #60 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #5, #10, #15 and #30, and locked by workers #2, #4, #6, #12, #20 and #60, therefore it’s locked
• box #61 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #61, therefore it’s locked
• box #62 is unlocked by workers #1 and #31, and locked by workers #2 and #62, therefore it’s locked
• box #63 is unlocked by workers #1, #7 and #21, and locked by workers #3, #9 and #63, therefore it’s locked
• box #64 is unlocked by workers #1, #4, #16 and #64, and locked by workers #2, #8 and #32, therefore it’s unlocked
• box #65 is unlocked by workers #1 and #13, and locked by workers #5 and #65, therefore it’s locked
• box #66 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #11 and #33, and locked by workers #2, #6, #22 and #66, therefore it’s locked
• box #67 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #67, therefore it’s locked
• box #68 is unlocked by workers #1, #4 and #34, and locked by workers #2, #17 and #68, therefore it’s locked
• box #69 is unlocked by workers #1 and #23, and locked by workers #3 and #69, therefore it’s locked
• box #70 is unlocked by workers #1, #5, #10 and #35, and locked by workers #2, #7, #14 and #70, therefore it’s locked
• box #71 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #71, therefore it’s locked
• box #72 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #6, #9, #18 and #36, and locked by workers #2, #4, #8, #12, #24 and #72, therefore it’s locked
• box #73 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #73, therefore it’s locked
• box #74 is unlocked by workers #1 and #37, and locked by workers #2 and #74, therefore it’s locked
• box #75 is unlocked by workers #1, #5 and #25, and locked by workers #3, #15 and #75, therefore it’s locked
• box #76 is unlocked by workers #1, #4 and #38, and locked by workers #2, #19 and #76, therefore it’s locked
• box #77 is unlocked by workers #1 and #11, and locked by workers #7 and #77, therefore it’s locked
• box #78 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #13 and #39, and locked by workers #2, #6, #26 and #78, therefore it’s locked
• box #79 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #79, therefore it’s locked
• box #80 is unlocked by workers #1, #4, #8, #16 and #40, and locked by workers #2, #5, #10, #20 and #80, therefore it’s locked
• box #81 is unlocked by workers #1, #9 and #81, and locked by workers #3 and #27, therefore it’s unlocked
• box #82 is unlocked by workers #1 and #41, and locked by workers #2 and #82, therefore it’s locked
• box #83 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #83, therefore it’s locked
• box #84 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #6, #12, #21 and #42, and locked by workers #2, #4, #7, #14, #28 and #84, therefore it’s locked
• box #85 is unlocked by workers #1 and #17, and locked by workers #5 and #85, therefore it’s locked
• box #86 is unlocked by workers #1 and #43, and locked by workers #2 and #86, therefore it’s locked
• box #87 is unlocked by workers #1 and #29, and locked by workers #3 and #87, therefore it’s locked
• box #88 is unlocked by workers #1, #4, #11 and #44, and locked by workers #2, #8, #22 and #88, therefore it’s locked
• box #89 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #89, therefore it’s locked
• box #90 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #6, #10, #18 and #45, and locked by workers #2, #5, #9, #15, #30 and #90, therefore it’s locked
• box #91 is unlocked by workers #1 and #13, and locked by workers #7 and #91, therefore it’s locked
• box #92 is unlocked by workers #1, #4 and #46, and locked by workers #2, #23 and #92, therefore it’s locked
• box #93 is unlocked by workers #1 and #31, and locked by workers #3 and #93, therefore it’s locked
• box #94 is unlocked by workers #1 and #47, and locked by workers #2 and #94, therefore it’s locked
• box #95 is unlocked by workers #1 and #19, and locked by workers #5 and #95, therefore it’s locked
• box #96 is unlocked by workers #1, #3, #6, #12, #24 and #48, and locked by workers #2, #4, #8, #16, #32 and #96, therefore it’s locked
• box #97 is unlocked by worker #1 and locked by worker #97, therefore it’s locked
• box #98 is unlocked by workers #1, #7 and #49, and locked by workers #2, #14 and #98, therefore it’s locked
• box #99 is unlocked by workers #1, #9 and #33, and locked by workers #3, #11 and #99, therefore it’s locked
• box #100 is unlocked by workers #1, #4, #10, #25 and #100, and locked by workers #2, #5, #20 and #50, therefore it’s unlocked

H₂Oenometry

by in Mathematics, Puzzles and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

You have two glasses each filled with exactly the same amount of liquid. One contains water, the other contains wine. First, take a teaspoon of water from the water glass and pour it into the wine glass. Next stir the wine and water until well mixed. Then take a teaspoon of the water-and-wine mixture and pour it into the glass of water.

The question now is: Is there more wine in the water glass than water in the wine glass, or is there less? (from World’s Most Baffling Puzzles, Charles Barry Townsend, Sterling, New York, 1991)

(Scroll down for answer)

Post-Performative Post-Scriptum

Oenometry means “wine-measurement”, from ancient Greek οἶνος, oinos, “wine”, + μετρία, metria, “measurement”. Its standard pronunciation would be “ee-NOM-ett-ry”, but you could conceivably say “oh-een-NOM-ett-ry” or “oi-NOM-ett-ry”.

Discussion of the answer

The original question is fair but worded to send you astray. By using the words “glass” and “teaspoon”, it creates distinct images in your mind: those of an unvarying teaspoon and of two glasses with identical-but-varying amounts of wine and water in them. So you’re guided away from considering that the contents of the glasses can be measured in teaspoons too. If you think not in teaspoons but in unspecified units (of liquid measure), it’s easier to see the truth.

If the two glasses each contain n units of liquid, by transferring water to the wine you’re adding 1 unit of water to n units of wine.

Therefore the wine glass contains n+1 units of mixed wine-and-water, of which n units are wine and 1 unit is water. Let’s say n+1 = n1.

Consider that 1 unit of that mixture contains n/n1 parts of wine and 1/n1 parts of water: n/n1 + 1/n1 = (n+1)/n1 = n1/n1 = 1 unit.

Now, if one unit of the mixture is transferred to the water glass, you take n/n1 units of wine from n units of wine in the wine glass: n – n/n1 = n-1 + 1/n1. You also take 1/n1 units of water from 1 unit of water in the wine glass: 1 – 1/n1 = (n1-1)/n1 = n/n1. So the wine glass now contains n-1 + 1/n1 units of wine and n/n1 of a unit of water.

When you add that unit to the (n-1) units of water in the water glass, it will contain (n-1) + 1/n1 units of water and n/n1 of unit of wine:

Wine glass: n-1 + 1/n1 units of wine and n/n1 of a unit of water
Water glass: n-1 + 1/n1 units of water and n/n1 of a unit of wine

Therefore, however much water and wine you start with, in the end there will be as much water in the wine glass as there is wine in the water glass. For some concrete examples:

Example #1

1. Start

Water glass: 2 teaspoons of water
Wine glass: 2 teaspoons of wine

2. Transfer water to wine glass and mix:

Water glass: 2 tsp of water – 1 tsp = 1 tsp of water
Wine glass: 2 tsp of wine + 1 tsp of water = 3 tsp of which 2/3 is wine, 1/3 is water

3. Transfer wine-and-water mixture to water glass:

One tsp of wine-and-water mixture = 2/3 tsp of wine + 1/3 tsp of water

Therefore:

Wine glass: 2 tsp of wine – 2/3 tsp of wine = 1 and 1/3 tsp of wine; 1 tsp of water – 1/3 tsp of water = 2/3 tsp of water
Water glass: 1 tsp of water + 1/3 tsp of water = 1 and 1/3 tsp of water; 0 tsp of wine + 2/3 tsp of wine = 2/3 tsp of wine

4. Finish

Wine glass contains: 1 and 1/3 tsp of wine, 2/3 tsp of water
Water glass contains: 1 and 1/3 tsp of water, 2/3 tsp of wine

Example #2

1. Start

Water glass: 10 teaspoons of water
Wine glass: 10 teaspoons of wine

Transfer water to wine glass and mix:

Water glass: 10 tsp of water – 1 tsp = 9 tsp of water
Wine glass: 10 tsp of wine + 1 tsp of water = 11 tsp of liquid of which 10/11 is wine, 1/11 is water

Transfer wine-and-water mixture to water glass:

One tsp of wine-and-water mixture = 10/11 tsp of wine + 1/11 tsp of water

Therefore:

Wine glass: 10 tsp of wine – 10/11 tsp of wine = 9 and 1/11 tsp of wine; 1 tsp of water – 1/11 tsp of water = 10/11 tsp of water
Water glass: 9 tsp of water + 1/11 tsp of water = 9 and 1/11 tsp of water; 0 tsp of wine + 10/11 tsp of wine = 10/11 tsp of wine

4. Finish

Wine glass contains: 9 and 1/11 tsp of wine, 10/11 tsp of water
Water glass contains: 9 and 1/11 tsp of water, 10/11 tsp of wine

Performativizing Papyrocentricity #29

by in Aesthetics, √2, Biology, Book Reviews, Civilization, Geometry, History, Irrational numbers, Literature, Mathematics, Notices, Science, Square root of 2, The Sea and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Papyrocentric Performativity Presents:

• Sky Story – The Cloud Book: How to Understand the Skies, Richard Hamblyn (David & Charles 2008)

• Wine Words – The Oxford Companion to Wine, ed. Janice Robinson (Oxford University Press 2006)

• Nu Worlds – Numericon, Marianne Freiberger and Rachel Thomas (Quercus Editions 2014)

• Thalassobiblion – Ocean: The Definitive Visual Guide, introduction by Fabien Cousteau (Dorling Kindersley 2014) (posted @ Overlord of the Über-Feral)

Or Read a Review at Random: RaRaR

Tattoo Your Ears

by in Album Art, Biology, Boredom, Genetics, Music, Music reviews, Psychology and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“The most merciful thing in the world,” said H.P. Lovecraft, “is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.” Nowadays we can’t correlate all the contents of our hard-drives either. But occasionally bits come together. I’ve had two MP3s sitting on my hard-drive for months: “Drink or Die” by Erotic Support and “Hunter Gatherer” by Swords of Mars. I liked them both a lot, but until recently I didn’t realize that they were by two incarnations of the same Finnish band.

Cover of "Die by the..." Swords of Mars
They don’t sound very much alike, after all. But now that I’ve correlated them, they’ve inspired some thoughts on music and mutilation. “Drink or Die” is a dense, fuzzy, leather-lunged rumble-rocker that, like a good Mötley Crüe song, your ears can snort like cocaine. But, unlike Mötley Crüe, the auditory rush lasts the whole song, not just the first half. “Hunter Gatherer” is much more sombre. Erotic Support were “Helsinki beercore”; Swords of Mars are darker, doomier and dirgier. They’ve also got a better name – “Erotic Support” seems to have lost something in translation. Finnish is a long way from English: it’s in a different and unrelated language family, the Finno-Ugric, not the Indo-European. So it lines up with Hungarian and Estonian, not English, German and French. But Erotic Support’s lyrics are good English and “Drink or Die” is a clever title. They’d have been a more interesting band if they’d sung entirely in Finnish, but also less successful, because less accessible to the rest of the world.

Es war einmal eine Königstochter, die ging hinaus in den Wald und setzte sich an einen kühlen Brunnen. Sie hatte eine goldene Kugel, die war ihr liebstes Spielwerk, die warf sie in die Höhe und fing sie wieder in der Luft und hatte ihre Lust daran. Einmal war die Kugel gar hoch geflogen, sie hatte die Hand schon ausgestreckt und die Finger gekrümmt, um sie wieder zufangen, da schlug sie neben vorbei auf die Erde, rollte und rollte und geradezu in das Wasser hinein.

Some Indo-European

Mieleni minun tekevi, aivoni ajattelevi
lähteäni laulamahan, saa’ani sanelemahan,
sukuvirttä suoltamahan, lajivirttä laulamahan.
Sanat suussani sulavat, puhe’et putoelevat,
kielelleni kerkiävät, hampahilleni hajoovat.

Veli kulta, veikkoseni, kaunis kasvinkumppalini!
Lähe nyt kanssa laulamahan, saa kera sanelemahan
yhtehen yhyttyämme, kahta’alta käytyämme!
Harvoin yhtehen yhymme, saamme toinen toisihimme
näillä raukoilla rajoilla, poloisilla Pohjan mailla.

Some Finno-Ugric

All the same, being inaccessible sometimes helps a band’s appeal to the rest of the world: the mystique of black metal is much stronger in bands that use only Norwegian or one of the other Scandinavian languages. Erotic Support haven’t joined that rebellion against Coca-Colonization and tried to create an indigenous genre. They’re happy to reproduce more or less American music using the more or less American invention known as the electric guitar. But amplified music would have appeared in Europe even if North America had been colonized by the Chinese, so I wonder what rock would sound like if it had evolved in Europe instead. It wouldn’t be called rock, of course, but what other differences would it have? Would it be more sophisticated, for example? I think it would. The success of American exports depends in part on their strong and simple flavours. “Drink or Die” has those flavours: it’s about volume, rhythm and power. It’s full of a certain “drug-addled, crab-infested, tinnitus-nagged spirit” — the “urge to submerge in the raw bedrock viscerality of rock”, as some metaphor-mixing, über-emphasizing idiot once put it (I think it was me).

Cover of "II" by Erotic Support

Erotic Support are “beercore”, remember. Beer marks the brain with hangovers, just as tattoos mark the skin with ink. And just as loud music marks the ears with tinnitus. There are various kinds of self-mutilation in rock and that self-mutilation can have unhealthy motives. It can be an expression of boredom, angst, anomie and self-hatred. Unsurprisingly, Finland has the nineteenth highest suicide rate in the world. Beer, tattoos and tinnitus are part of the louder, dirtier and loutier end of rock: unlike Radiohead or Coldplay, Erotic Support sound like a band with tattoos who are used to hangovers. “Drink or Die” is a joke about exactly that. But what if rock had evolved in a wine-drinking culture? Would it be less of a sado-masochistic ritual, more a refined rite? Maybe not: the god of wine is Dionysos and he was Ho Bromios, the Thunderer. His brother Pan induces panic with loud noises. But black metal looks towards northern paganism: it’s music for pine forests, cold seas and beer-drinkers, not olive groves, warm seas and oenopotes.

Erotic Support don’t create soundscapes for Finland the way black metal creates soundscapes for Norway, but they do create beer-drinkers’ music, so they do express Finnishness to that extent. Swords of Mars, being darker, doomier and dirgier, are moving nearer an indigenous Finnish rock, or an indigenous Scandinavian rock, at least. This may be related to the fact that genes express themselves more strongly as an individual ages: for example, the correlation between the intelligence of parents and their children is strongest when the children are adults. Erotic Support create faster, more aggressive music than Swords of Mars, so it isn’t surprising that they’re the younger version of the same band. In biology, the genotype creates the phenotype: DNA codes for bodies and behaviour. Music is part of what Richard Dawkins calls the “extended phenotype”, like the nest of a bird or the termite-fishing-rods of a chimpanzee. A bird’s wings are created directly by its genes; a bird’s nest is created indirectly by its genes, viâ the brain. So a bird’s wings are part of the phenotype and a bird’s nest part of the extended phenotype.

Both are under the influence of the genes and both are expressions of biology. Music (like bird-song) is an expression of biology too, as is the difference between the music of Erotic Support and Swords of Mars. As brains age, the behaviour they create changes. Swords of Mars are older and not attracted to reckless self-mutilation as Erotic Support were: it’s not music to precede hangovers and induce tinnitus any more. Sword of Mars aren’t trying to tattoo your ears but to educate your mind.