Live data from Hacker News

Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

ekin.substack.com

121–130 of 158 posts

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was about to say, it's very easy to establish boundaries if you have someone enforcing them for you

The boundary that the OP needs to enforce is actually with the caregiver more than the children (although even young children are capable of learning and respecting boundaries). The caregiver needs to buy into the fact that it's beneficial for the bread winner of the family to have uninterrupted work periods. When I read your statement it feels like you're saying you think the OP is just throwing proclamations over t…

Both parents are caregivers in a marriage, there's no single caregiver.

What happens if both work during regular office hours (as in my marriage)?

If you have very young kids, it's impossible to have a distraction free work environment at home unless you find someone to take care of the kids and enforce the no distractions rule.

People often assume, somewhat unfairly, that this person should be the mother. But what if mommy also has a professional career and ambitions?

During the pandemic, people who found working from home enjoyable tend to

a- not have very young children of an age they need constant watching or get bored if left to play alone, or

b- someone in the couple is a stay at home parent (usually the mother) who watches the children.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we need to feel certainty that we will not be distracted. This, so, much. Working from home with a young kid around, it always feels like something's gonna fall, the cat is gonna fight back, mom is gonna get mad at him for some reason, or simply he needs me to go play with him. I never know if I have 5 minutes or 3 hours. Nowadays I tend to not work so much during the day as I don't have the means to focus, then wo…

Sounds like you guys haven't established any work boundaries. It can be impossible if both of you work. But if not.... I've worked at home for about 17 years now. I have a 6 year old, two 3 year olds, and my wife is a stay at home mom. I don't get interrupted, and there's never been an age range where I would regularly get interrupted. At the most frequent, maybe once per week. Definitely not even once per day though…

I like seeing my child. We often open the study door because it’s not fair for her to almost be with us but have a separation. When we need to work then the other will make sure there is separation but I want her to know that she’s our top priority. I also may never work at home in future so embracing having her around.

I’m not good at this, I certainly don’t think I have the answer, that’s just the current thinking in our context.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why, but this feels like an accusatory response and uncharitable take on their statement. Establishing boundaries like "don't interrupt the person who's working" needs to be a discussion that happens between the whole family. Of course, the caregiver will be responsible for the physical enforcement but the caregiver should understand that it is in the long-term best interest of the whole family that the…

I didn't take it that way. They're just pointing out that it's impossible to set those boundaries with young children. The poster they're replying to has a full time stay-at-home spouse providing for the kids during the day so they don't have to be interrupted, yet they're implying it's something that anyone could easily do. A 4 year old might not be capable of leaving you alone for a solid hour as time seems to pass…

Ya, my 3 year old's absolute maximum wait time is however long it takes her to count to 20.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may have established boundaries, but you almost certainly have your wife to thank for 99% of the enforcement of them.

I'm not sure why, but this feels like an accusatory response and uncharitable take on their statement. Establishing boundaries like "don't interrupt the person who's working" needs to be a discussion that happens between the whole family. Of course, the caregiver will be responsible for the physical enforcement but the caregiver should understand that it is in the long-term best interest of the whole family that the…

The problem isn’t that by the age of 4 most kids don’t understand boundaries (they totally can and do).

It’s that as a parent it’s hard not to just have some part of your brain constantly scanning for any sign of your 4 year old trying to get themselves hurt or break something (as 4 year olds naturally do).

In other words, the boundary crossing is done by the adult and is really hard to turn off if you have any interest in your kid staying safe, fed, and entertained throughout the day.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#126
post #2

This article does everything except actually answering the question in the title.

It isn't a good article. Some of the things don't make sense. And it shies away from anything in depth. It really may be a GPT3 blog post, as others suggest.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#127
I experimented a lot with different audio backgrounds during the writing phase of my phd. While music could be energizing, it quickly became a diatraction, while in a silent environment I easily felt tired or even sleepy.

What worked best was an endless loop of 'brown noise', (similar to 'pink noise' or 'white noise') , it blankets out all other sounds but I don't hear it any more after a few minutes.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we need to feel certainty that we will not be distracted. This, so, much. Working from home with a young kid around, it always feels like something's gonna fall, the cat is gonna fight back, mom is gonna get mad at him for some reason, or simply he needs me to go play with him. I never know if I have 5 minutes or 3 hours. Nowadays I tend to not work so much during the day as I don't have the means to focus, then wo…

Sounds like you guys haven't established any work boundaries. It can be impossible if both of you work. But if not.... I've worked at home for about 17 years now. I have a 6 year old, two 3 year olds, and my wife is a stay at home mom. I don't get interrupted, and there's never been an age range where I would regularly get interrupted. At the most frequent, maybe once per week. Definitely not even once per day though…

That sounds like you live in a relatively large suburban house instead of an apartment in an urban area :)

I know, I'm doing it wrong, but my position wasn't remote before the start of the pandemic.

Re: Why noise is necessary for our brains to perform at a high-level

#129
post #2

This article does everything except actually answering the question in the title.

I think it may be a GPT3 blog: > Noise is necessary for our brains to function in an orderly fashion. In the book The Signal and the Noise, Nate Silver says that “The signal is the truth. The noise is what distracts us from the truth.”7 Andrew Smart adds that “there are many circumstances in which the addition of the right amount of noise actually boosts the signal.” So within the randomness of the noise, we can achi…

It's insane to me that we have already got to a point where we are struggling to differentiate CG text from real articles.
Post reply on HN