@Wombat_en_Fuego said:

I don't think I'm smart enough for Phish.

You're smart enough for Phish...because you like Phish! Even if all you're thinking is "This sounds really cool, let's keep listening," in the background of your mind all the things Jnan was talking about are happening. The main difference is just that we, as scholars, are trained to talk about this stuff, write about it, use a specialized vocabulary for it. But we all have the same ears, and we all are into Phish for the mostly the same reasons, whether we're conscious of them or not.