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About Me

I was born from my two lovely parents, Glenn and Terri Coleman, in White Plains, New York in the year 1994. From there I developed as any average kid does - it was a childhood filled with smiles, tears, amusement parks, and Pokemon. Along my travels through space and time, I picked up a few siblings (Chelsea (1997) and Julie (2000)), some pets, and a fondness for music. In 2004, our family moved to Brookfield, Connecticut. That was the year I picked up the trumpet, which would later be my gateway into the world of music. The jazz band was what first caught my ear. It was so different and there was something so intriguing about the form - it was different to any other kind of music I've heard of. And, because my parents loved me, I grew up with the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, and Black Sabbath. Jazz was totally foreign to this child of classic rock. Over the course of my time in school, I've been involved in every kind of ensemble from pit orchestras to marching bands to brass choirs to short-lived indie rock experiments. Every kind of music had a different kind of attitude and a different feeling. I emerged out of junior year inspired to make this my profession; feeling things this way for money. It's the only thing that made sense. So I applied to Berklee College of Music, and to my delight was accepted to study for a degree. I currently reside in the dormitories at this one-of-a-kind college as I trudge through the somewhat daunting task of re-discovering my identity in a world where everyone is like me. Who am I? What am I doing here? Am I going to be important? One of my goals in life is to make a TED talk so I figured that interacting with the TED community is a great way to get ideas flowing through our heads. I look forward to hearing your insights. Have an enlightened day.

Location:
United States, Boston, MA
Gender:
Male
Areas of expertise:
Poetry & Writing, Lyric Composition , Music Composition & Performance
Languages:
English
My website links:
Brian Coleman's Soundcloud
Universities:
Berklee College of Music, Boston
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More About Me

I'm passionate about

Cognitive psychology, music, artistic expression, poetry, lyrics

An idea worth spreading

We seem to think our creativity can only be limited to expression in a certain field; almost as if we are made to choose between the endless indulgences a creative mind can enjoy. I play music so, logically, I'm often labeled as a musician but I'd like to think that, if I decided to, I could become a respectable cook (if I didn't want to make everything spicy), an established author (if I had an attention span that lasted more than two minutes) or a talented artist (if I weren't colorblind). The circumstances and my personality just happened to jive with playing music so a musician I became. But what's so different between the smell of pasta sauce, a shade of crimson, the heat of the sun, or an F Major chord? Nothing! They evoke the same mental images and feelings of passion, of love, of warmth. They're all the same feeling just fleshed out by people that focus on different senses. So what if we tried to figure out how to relate all the senses to one another? What are the stimuli?

Talk to me about

Anything! No idea isn't worth listening to!

People don't know that I'm good at

Video games.

Comments

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  • A reply on Talk: Neil Harbisson: I listen to color

    Mar 10 2013: This comment makes me think a lot of the psychological story arc of the video game Deus Ex: Human Revolution. In the game, you're living as a cyborg who gets enhancements based upon a morality system. So, by the end of the game, depending on your choices, you can become better equipped for stealth (because murder goes against your character's morality) or a cold-blooded killer (because you had a particularly itchy trigger finger).

    A plot like that is really reminiscent of the central transhumanist conflict. Sure, society can benefit from a longer lifespan and augmentations in our genes and physiology but at the same time there'll be those of us who invariably will take advantage of the advances. So, I think, before we start making little Master Chiefs with glocks built-in to their arms, we should consider the ethics HEAVILY.

  • A comment on Talk: Neil Harbisson: I listen to color

    Mar 10 2013: This man has completely validated my recent trains of thought. Every sense is related to each other; and this is just one link that has been discovered.

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