The opening quote particularly caught my attention. Picasso states that humans will attempt to solve and understand things like portraits (and presumably, artifacts, sculptures, etc. as well). But he also says humans ignore birdsongs – which are perhaps a more natural, even primal form of art that dates back long before the dawn of man. What does he mean in this statement? Does he imply that certain art forms, maybe those created by humans, are seen as superior to others, and are thus worthy of our attention, while others are not? Is this a form of elitism within art that Picasso is acknowledging? Maybe he’s saying that more modern forms of art are representative of a higher intelligence – is the advancement of art indicative of an advanced society?