THURSDAY THOUGHTS: Is It Me Or Is It Noisy In Here?
How tech is making the world noisier and charging you for silence
I just ordered a pair of Loop Earplugs. Let me first say that this is not a sponsored post (though I’m open to it) - but I did, I just ordered Loop Earplugs and you know what’s worse? I’m really excited about their arrival. Why? Not just because I’m getting old but because the world is getting noisier and that’s not good for any of us.
Next to family and friends the most important thing in the world to me is music. I play it, write it, collect it, listen to it and watch it live. Music is the closest thing we have to a non-verbal universal language. It is nature and spirit captured in note form, the intangible rendered tangible through sound. And most of it is shit!
As my wife and daughter will shamefully admit, I am a frequent complainer about music in cafés, restaurants, gyms, malls and, increasingly, in the streets whether from inconsiderate smartphone users listening without headphones to inconsiderate screens blasting their irrelevant ads at me. I am always polite but if the proprietors refuse to turn it down (or even better, off) I will leave and drag my hungry family with me.
I just don’t understand why any restaurateur believes they have the right to pollute my ears in the first place. When I enter their establishment they don’t force-feed me food and drinks, they give me a menu and ask me what I would like. But music, apparently, is mandatory and generally it’s terrible too; just a generic Spotify playlist of aural slurry that adds nothing to the ambience except stress, at least according to John Stewart (not that one), author of the 2011 book ‘Why Noise Matters’
At around 50 decibels people begin to get annoyed with daytime noise (at night, it is 30 decibels). At around 55 decibels (a 10 decibel increase represents a doubling of sound levels) people become extremely annoyed. Above 130 decibels is the human threshold of pain, although the gradual loss of hearing from continuous noise is a greater worldwide problem.
Since then world has gotten even noisier and not just because of obvious sources such as piped muzak or increased traffic and construction. According to this brilliant article in The Atlantic, technology is creating a rising din to which our bodies cannot adapt. It’s the true story of a man driven insane by a hum in his neighbourhood, which he tracks down to a giant data centre. As A.I. accelerates we’re only going to need more of those, so it stands to reason that the hum will get louder and more widely distributed as data centres start popping up all over the place. Can you imagine that?
Try this for an experiment; tonight, just before you go to bed, sit in silence and count the noises you can hear from your living room or bedroom. Excluding external traffic noise this is what I can hear:
The aircon roaring
The ceiling fan whizzing
The wine-fridge buzzing
The watch-winder spinning
The cat purring (not so bad)
A faulty ceiling light pinging
A phone occasionally vibrating (at least I hope it’s a phone!)
Now I’m focusing on it, it seems cacophonous but the fact is that even when I’m not focusing on it, that noise is always there subtly inflicting itself upon my nervous system beneath the sounds of traffic and cooking and conversation and TV, all of which must become infinitesimally louder to compete with the undertone thereby pushing up the overall volume.
Just as advertising has been described as a tax only the poor must pay with their eyes, so noise is a tax the poor must pay with their ears and, consequently, their peace of mind. Why do you think the rich buy houses in the country to get away from the city? Stay in private villas and not hotels? Eat in private rooms rather than the dining hall? Travel in private cars rather than on public transport? Pay for lounge access rather than hanging about in the airport? Privacy and convenience, of course, but also silence. All luxury spaces promote themselves as being the source of “calm” and “tranquility” and “solitude”. A place to “unwind” and “get away from it all”. A place to, in the words of Depeche Mode, ‘Enjoy The Silence’.
As the noise gets louder do we lobby for quietness? Of course not, we create yet more expensive tech solutions for something that should be ubiquitous and free. Active Noise Cancelling or ANC Headphones are the latest must-have accessory for office-workers, gym-goers and frequent-travelers who want to maintain their focus and sanity for just a few hundred dollars a pop (plus the power).
That’s why I bought me some Loop Earplugs; analogue, inexpensive and non-electric yet discreet and thoughtfully designed, these are how I intend to save my sanity. Once again my family will be free to eat in any restaurant they choose, so long as they don’t mind me ignoring them for the whole meal!