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Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

knowablemagazine.org

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Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#121
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had this "conversation" with my neighbor (it was more like me being yelled at) It kind of blew my mind they didnt care about noise interruptions at all hours and told me its my problem. Like maybe if you got a full night of sleep you wouldn't be so angry? I guess this study supports that. The noise in my current apartment is endless, car alarms, screaming and crying kids along with their loud toys, idling cars, the…

> instruments being practiced As a musician... although I understand that, in the end, instrument practice is still noise, it hurts to see this listed among the rest of your items. Last year, I had to move out of an apartment complex because our neighbors would not tolerate even 30 minutes of practice a day (in spite of the ~2 daily hours of lawn care racket, but whatever) and complained to building management. I get…

I think having control has a lot to do with it; even the most beautiful music is "noise" if you can't control when it starts and stops. Unpredictability also plays a part: it suddenly starts at a random time and okay, so your neighbour is playing loud music (or practising their instrument); is this going to be for 5 minutes? 30 minutes? 2 hours? All night?

It's very much a personal thing. My brother once lived above a pub, when I came over the pub was playing music and I asked him if the noise didn't bother him. He asked "what noise?" On the other hand he hates living next to a road, whereas I don't actually mind that so much.

Or another thing: some time ago X11 and Wayland were being discussed on HN and someone asked me if I didn't mind the tearing on X11. I had to find a YouTube video to find out what exactly it looks like. Now that I know what I looks like: yeah, X11 does tear a lot, I guess. But it doesn't bother me in the slightest, whereas other people are very bothered by it. I also watch 720p (and lower!) videos/movies and think it's just fine.

I guess my point is that different people are bothered by different things. Person A saying "it's not that bad" and person B saying "it's driving me up the walls" can both be true and genuine statements.

As for your instrument practice ... I don't have an answer. Details matter: are you practising 30 minutes or 2 hours every day? What instrument do you play? How well insulated is the building? Etc. As for "is it not a racket worth its trouble?", no, I don't think so, not if it's severely affecting your daily quality of life (and again, how much it affects people really depends on the person).

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#122

This is one of the things I struggle with the most in life. I feel like most people don't seem to care about noise pollution and zero care is put into designing living spaces or cities to minimize it. I've moved into apartments and nearly cried because I realized that there was some noise pollution that wasn't apparent when I visited it (e.g. a water boiler that ran constantly at night, road noise during the day, etc…

People are so unbelievably disrespectful with noise in the US. Peaceful hike? Here's Katy Perry crackling out of my iPhone at full blast! Luxury apartment at $4k a month? No insulation between units, and the guy above you comes home at 2am and never takes his shoes off. Small country street? Here comes Chad with his straight-piped civic with the muffler removed!

I've seriously thought about going hiking with a raspi running something that really wants to get friendly with any Bluetooth devices in range.

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#123
I'm not in a super quite place - apartment building so we will still hear neighbors occasionally - dragging chairs, kids running back and forth (nothing unreasonable).

One that that's helped a lot for us is white noise, good earplugs, and eye cover. Since adopting this 4+ yrs ago I've not even thought about the neighborhood at night.

I do wonder if white noise can be considered a stressor, but personally I believe I've had a lot better sleep.

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#124

This is one of the things I struggle with the most in life. I feel like most people don't seem to care about noise pollution and zero care is put into designing living spaces or cities to minimize it. I've moved into apartments and nearly cried because I realized that there was some noise pollution that wasn't apparent when I visited it (e.g. a water boiler that ran constantly at night, road noise during the day, etc…

One of my favorite privileges is renting in coveted neighborhoods or propertied for 10-30 days just to see what its really like

A “tour” or walkthrough doesn't assist with this at all

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#125

> road noise during the day My understanding is that the vast majority of road noise is caused by vehicles outfitted with non-standard tires. Where I live, 90% of the road noise is caused by lifted trucks using massive off-road tires on local roads and highways. It isn’t clear if this against the law all over the country, but in various US states, the police will issue tickets. There are several employees of local bu…

By law car companies have to certify pass-by regulations that include exhaust and tire noise, since the microphone doesn’t differentiate between the two.

We spend millions optimizing performance and efficiency. Then these guys throw a straight pipe at it :/

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#127
This is why I left New York City.

For some reason, being inside / covid lockdowns did something to my head and now I'm super sensitive to noise. Prior, I lived in Boston for six years generally in very loud (third to fifth floor) apartments with reasonable amounts of street / city noise. Oddly, for a time it actually calmed my ADHD and distracted me enough that I felt I could focus.

Initially I was lucky and had a great deal on a 26th floor apt in Hell's Kitchen with decent roommates - something clicked a few years later and I could no longer stand roommate noise (kitchen / dishes / gaming past midnight) and / or late night garbage collection / horns at all hours.

I had enough, moved to CO. Have my own space - it's quiet and I get measurably better sleep.

Does this make me feel old at 27 - yes. Do I care - no.

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's because almost all the noise in the modern world is caused by cars and motorcycles, and in the United States are prioritized over all other life forms.

The US preference for cars cuts DEEP, it’s at a cellular level. To share an anecdote, I went to order a sandwich at a fast food restaurant from the counter. After ordering I waited in the restaurant, watching the kitchen staff serve several cars in the drive through. After 10 minutes I just got frustrated, went back to the counter and asked for a refund. I got it and left. Later I talked to friends about the experien…

Opposing anecdata: the not-so-secret secret to beating the lines at In-N-Out is to park and order inside or at the window. That's just because the drive thru lines there are always insane.

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#129

This is one of the things I struggle with the most in life. I feel like most people don't seem to care about noise pollution and zero care is put into designing living spaces or cities to minimize it. I've moved into apartments and nearly cried because I realized that there was some noise pollution that wasn't apparent when I visited it (e.g. a water boiler that ran constantly at night, road noise during the day, etc…

People are so unbelievably disrespectful with noise in the US. Peaceful hike? Here's Katy Perry crackling out of my iPhone at full blast! Luxury apartment at $4k a month? No insulation between units, and the guy above you comes home at 2am and never takes his shoes off. Small country street? Here comes Chad with his straight-piped civic with the muffler removed!

Pumping gas? Have some meaningless commercials blaring at you. Wait at the doctors? Have some hospital commercials blaring at you. A/C systems are often brutally loud.

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> instruments being practiced As a musician... although I understand that, in the end, instrument practice is still noise, it hurts to see this listed among the rest of your items. Last year, I had to move out of an apartment complex because our neighbors would not tolerate even 30 minutes of practice a day (in spite of the ~2 daily hours of lawn care racket, but whatever) and complained to building management. I get…

I was a trumpet player for years in high school and college, practiced all the time at home and so did my brother so I experienced the situation from both sides. My opinion now is that it is irresponsible to make playing an instrument your hobby or profession (an instrument that can't avoid making noise that will bother others) unless you have access to an appropriate practice space. There are churches, music schools…

I once had a violin player as neighbor. It's bad enough when played well but violin mistakes are really painful to listen to.
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