---
title: Sekhmet  Hypothesis
date: 2004-03-26T15:19:06Z
modified: 2020-11-14T01:40:41Z
permalink: "https://dogwonder.co.uk/2004/03/sekhmet-hypothesis/"
type: post
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 15
categories:
  - General
tags:
  - Thoughts
---

[Far Out](http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/farout/)

In 1610, shortly after viewing the sun with his new telescope, [Galileo Galilei](http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/) made the first European observations of Sunspots.

Monthly averages of the [sunspot numbers](http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/images/zurich.gif) since 1749 show that the number of sunspots visible on the sun waxes and wanes with an approximate 11-year cycle.

A theory \[[Sekhmet](http://www.per-sekhmet.org/) Hypothesis\] believes that musical trends follow solar cycles, i.e. every 11 years there’s a quantum shift.

- 1966//[Psychedelia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_music)
- 1977//[Punk rock](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punk_rock)
- 1988//[Acid house](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_house)
- 1999//[NuMetal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nu_Metal)

Apparently this is due to cyclical development of movements in “youth culture” which emerge with fresh strength and get absorbed by business within a decade. Suggesting therefore that ‘Uth Cultr’ when at its ‘peak'(or most its ideas prove the most appealing?) matches the peak of sun spots and within time get absorbed by the mainstream. So that means for example that the origins for punk rook started around 1967-70? [Well yes apparently](http://mt.essortment.com/punkrockhistor_rapl.htm)

So could sun spots really affect us here on earth? Sun Spots are defined as _‘Relatively cool regions in the solar photosphere that appear dark. They contain intense magnetic fields which provide the energy for solar flares. Sunspots occur in groups.’_.

So its magnetism eh? And what effect may these have on “youth culture” I hear you type?

- Changes in neural electrophysiology
- Changes in neurotransmitters (which affect motivation and pain perception)
- Decreased memory, attention, and slower reaction time in school children

Sooo Psychedelia/Punk rock/Acid house/NuMetal could be the resultant effect of huge amounts of magnetism on young brains? I have to admit there is more a passing resemblance between ‘Changes in neural electrophysiology’ and those music types, especially in reference to drug taking.

Of course all this is a fairly arbitrary theory. What makes a scene ‘good’, how do we define what the scene is? Indeed there may very well be a correlation, but as with everything, it is difficult to pin things such as this down to absolutes as there are always going to be other effects on the collective creationist tendencies of youth.