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The World Is Loud

EricD

Well-Known Member
Has anyone really thought about how loud everyday life really is? Sometimes I wish I could float in the quiet darkness of space to escape it.
 
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I wouldn't say that the world is loud, as in high volume levels. But rather, there is a lot going on that makes it too hard to tune-in or tune-out any of the background noise that surround you.
 
Yes, this has been on my mind an awful lot lately. So much noise pollution, just "junk noise" that distracts from the sanity available in any given moment.

My phone is always on vibrate because I hate the little ringtone jingles, and it's gotten to where even the sound of the buzzing is a big nuisance. When someone else's phone near me rings, I can feel myself bristle.

The other day, I went walking on the beach one morning, and these two women came up behind me talking to each other. The noise of their conversation was so distracting, I stopped walking and let them pass so I could have the white noise of the waves back to myself.

I now carry my Diskin headphones with me in my bag everywhere, and every chance I get, I'll pull them out and get some music going. The music is noise pollution, too, but it goes through a different part of my brain, and helps to drown out the noises of people talking.

And then there are the dogs who live across the street. Barking dogs...ugh.
 
I'm actually totally fine with continuous, steady white noise. I live right beside a major highway and there is some constant sound of cars that's like a "woooooshhhhhhhhhh" all day long. I don't even notice it until someone asks me whether or not the noise should bug me. The problem is noise (or really any kind of sensory input) that is sudden and/or intense. Sudden but not intense (a group of jabbery people walks in to a quiet cafe) is just as disorienting as continuously intense (being in a bar). My brain can't deal with being jarred or surprised at all. So I tend to feel uncomfortable with heavy use of percussion instruments in music, for example, because they produce sounds that are inherently discontinous. Each beat of the drum is "sudden" compared to the previous one.
 
I actually can't stand complete silence but it has to be smooth, quiet background noise that I can hear. There is a built in air quality system at home that forces fresh air around the rooms and takes the dirty air out (a bit like a/c but with no temp control), I have to have it on the max flow rate setting which sounds a bit like an aeroplane engine when you're inside the aeroplane, otherwise I can't sleep.
 
It's weird as I live around the corner from one of the main roads into central London, and 2-3 miles from central London, as well as 0.1miles and 0.3 miles from the closest rail stations-but my street you can hear a pin drop at night and during the day it is usually pretty quiet as well.
 
The world is loud, I agree. I was hiking a trail 2 days ago and came to a place that was Quiet. Then a group of people came along. I had to start running down the trail to regain the quiet.
 
Has anyone really thought about how loud everyday life really is? Sometimes I wish I could float in the quiet darkness of space to escape it.

i feel very much like you when it comes to sounds. when you said "Sometimes I wish I could float in the quiet darkness of space to escape it" i felt so much empathy, i have had the exact same wish myself.

i like to hear the silence in the middle of the night, it feels so soothing, i can sit outside with my laptop and soak up the healing night quiet, it is better than any drug i have ever taken. i get a kind of synesthesia with noise where i feel each sound as a physical sensation, it can be agony sometimes. sitting in the quiet of night is a relief i cant come close to describing. sometimes i feel like floating up and falling quietly through space forever, the relief of sounds absence emptying my head of any thoughts, tranquil silent peace.

i haven't thought of it before but maybe that peace is the way i hear/feel silence, every noise feels different maybe it's absence has a synesthetic feeling too. hmmmmm
 
Has anyone really thought about how loud everyday life really is? Sometimes I wish I could float in the quiet darkness of space to escape it.
Yes, it's horribly, intolerably, mind-numbing loudo_O *Get a good MP3 player; load it with your favorite tracks, and invest in a nice pair of "noise-reduction ear buds". A bonus, if you are female : Guys will try to chat you up less - or just in general, the NTs are less likely to pester you with small talk. ( See - every cloud does have a "silver lining" - LOL! )
 
This world - such a cacophony of ceaseless, mostly meaningless racket... I wonder... Is it just a clever "glamor", ( old world usage ), for the gulf of silence between individuals? Oh, how we prattle on, ( Twitter, Facebook, Instagram... ), but do we really ever say anything, anymore??? And, what goes unsaid/unnoticed in the enormity of the fearsome quiet?

I heard this on the radio the other day >>>
*Loved the orginal, but this is amazing, too. ( Awesome video.) Normally, I absolutely LOATHE "covers", but this is just so raw and edgy - I think perhaps, dare I say - even rivals the original? *Yes, I know I have mortally offended every "Simon and Garfunkel" fan in the known multiverse - sorry.
 
i feel very much like you when it comes to sounds. when you said "Sometimes I wish I could float in the quiet darkness of space to escape it" i felt so much empathy, i have had the exact same wish myself.

i like to hear the silence in the middle of the night, it feels so soothing, i can sit outside with my laptop and soak up the healing night quiet, it is better than any drug i have ever taken. i get a kind of synesthesia with noise where i feel each sound as a physical sensation, it can be agony sometimes. sitting in the quiet of night is a relief i cant come close to describing. sometimes i feel like floating up and falling quietly through space forever, the relief of sounds absence emptying my head of any thoughts, tranquil silent peace.

i haven't thought of it before but maybe that peace is the way i hear/feel silence, every noise feels different maybe it's absence has a synesthetic feeling too. hmmmmm
Yes, silence has a feeling - a bit like a echo in an empty room.
 
Yes, this has been on my mind an awful lot lately. So much noise pollution, just "junk noise" that distracts from the sanity available in any given moment.

My phone is always on vibrate because I hate the little ringtone jingles, and it's gotten to where even the sound of the buzzing is a big nuisance. When someone else's phone near me rings, I can feel myself bristle.

The other day, I went walking on the beach one morning, and these two women came up behind me talking to each other. The noise of their conversation was so distracting, I stopped walking and let them pass so I could have the white noise of the waves back to myself.

I now carry my Diskin headphones with me in my bag everywhere, and every chance I get, I'll pull them out and get some music going. The music is noise pollution, too, but it goes through a different part of my brain, and helps to drown out the noises of people talking.

And then there are the dogs who live across the street. Barking dogs...ugh.
Ooooh, I know... ( Little dogs are the worst! ) Chihuahuas can hit a pitch that just makes my brain cells curdle:mad:o_O
 
Yes, I have often wished the same thing! We recently moved away from unbearable, hellish noise and the only thing that bugs me now is the sound of my upstairs neighbors walking around. Especially when it is otherwise quiet. This is an older building, so the structure is such that the floor boards creak loudly every time they walk around, and over time it makes me edgy because I can't concentrate on whatever I happen to be doing and my body tenses for the next unlovely sound. Even worse, they are night owls. I am a night owl who now cannot enjoy the deep silence of the night because they stay up until the wee hours. Last week they were away, and it was such bliss!
 
It's strange, because my issue with being highly sensitive to noise (most recently) started my journey of history leading to my diagnosis.

I'm not bothered by direct noise, such as the TV or a video, and I often have stuff playing all at the same time. That stuff rarely annoys me. But, someone mowing the lawn, or talking so you just hear the drone of their voices, certain TV ad jingles, some songs, vibrations from walls, computers, lights .... I was never as sensitive as I was this year, but both my children were highly sensitive to noise. It's just now that things are falling all together.
 
Is there a way to measure noise pollution? ... I just had a quiet experience at Costco! It was very busy but so quiet! Kinda creepy cool
 
Yes, with a sound level meter, unit is dB (decibels). Noise Control officers use pro ones, but you can also get apps for your phone that will give an indication. As I believe most phones have automatic gain control, I'm sure how accurate they can be. Depends where the measurement is made. Of course it doesn't measure 'content' value, so if someone is just talking inanely, you might consider it noise pollution, but it won't register as such :)
 

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