I enjoyed the video. I think many always assume(d) everyone hears, sees, feels, etc pretty much the same. I have such strong memories from sitting in classrooms with those fluorescent lights humming and blinking and wondering why it wasn't getting on other people's nerves. How was I to know that not everyone was hearing or seeing what I did? And I can remember being amazed at how someone could pick up single conversations in a restaurant when, with all the talking around us, I could hardly pick up on what the person I was with was saying. One thing I don't understand, though, is how a simple buzzing of a light can drive me crazy while (again when I was a child) lying in a ditch next to a busy 2 lane highway, the loud trucks roaring by seemed to be relaxing? Or thunder being relaxing while the sound of rustling sheets keep me awake?
It's an interesting one which I touched on briefly in the video. The feedback I'm getting so far from here and elsewhere shows it's a topic we're all interested in.
When it comes to sound it rarely seems to be just volume. Factors which seem to play a part both in hyper and hypo sensitivities seem to be:
volume/amplitude
Pitch/frequency
timbre
rhythm
In my own case I've mentioned a particular sensitivity and discriminatory ability with human voices. I recognise voices very easily and do so far better than I do faces. I'm also very aware of peoples movements sounds, gait, habits etc...
That translates to timbre and also rhythm. Pitch is only an issue for me when it's people's voices too. Play me a sine wave or a musical instrument at the same pitch as "cootchie coo" baby-talk and it doesn't bother me, but when a bunch of women gush over a baby or about someone getting engaged it drives me up the wall. Literally I feel pain.
Working in an open office with people talking on the phone all around me was awful. When I was feeling strong it was difficult to shut out the conversations I couldn't help overhearing. When I wasn't strong I couldn't
not hear the gabble. Either way it impinged on my concentration.
Much of my career I've worked in a laboratory/manufacturing environment, next to and around machines used for grinding and polishing. That was incredibly noisy - ear plugs/defenders are common place, but no matter how loud that was it was never unpleasant. I actually like going back to the labs at work to hear it sometimes. I plan to get a recording soon to help me concentrate when I'm working
Hypersensitivities are complex and unique to the individual. We can discern
some patterns, but there is still so much to be learned.
