It seems like the human brain automatically sorts noises into patterns across 4 beats… But is this instead a cultural thing (nature vs. nurture)? For both answers: how and why did it develop in that way?
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As with most things in music it’s very hard to tell what is a result of society and what is the result of nature. Many cultures have different approaches to rhythm. Some types of music don’t have a steady rhythmic beat. Balkan music has steady beat, but those beats have different lengths, some are short some are long. Our ideas about rhythm in the west come from Africa and Cuba (usually called afro-cuban) combined with traditional western European music.
Grouping 4 beats together isn’t universal, but it does provide a lot of benefits. Groups of 4 are symmetrical. Almost always 2 of those 4 beats will be emphasized, 1 and 3 for more European styles 2 + 4 for more afro cuban styles (I’m speaking like super duper generally here). Where as a group of 3 has 1 emphasized beat and 2 unemphasized. A group of 5 or 7 would also not be symmetrical. A big advantage of 4 is you can have a really steady rhythm that’s not as unbalanced as other groupings.
Personally I think that when you start combining multiple rhythms at the same time and making those rhythms fairly complex, like afro cuban music it is helpful to have a steady underlying beat. The actual rhythms are so complicated you want that steadiness of a symmetrical rhythm rather than one that that has a natural unbalance to it.
To your point your brain certainly does group noises into 4 beat patterns, but that’s because you’ve heard 4 beat patterns grouped together your entire life. How often have you heard anything different? If you grew up listening to music that didn’t primarily feature this type of rhythm would your brain still group 4’s together? I don’t know, but its hard to say definitively.
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