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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)

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It drives me absolutely insane. I can’t record audio virtually anywhere unless I treat the hell out of the room. I shouldn’t have to turn my room into a soundproof bunker to be able to record some voiceovers. It’s ridiculous. My previous home office had spray foam insulation with double layer sheet rock and bass traps on the walls, yet I still had to have a small homemade box around the microphone when I was doing an…

Yeah - the joke is people say they move to suburbs to get 'peace and quiet' compared to a loud city, but city life is so much quieter (at least where I live). I'm sure that's not always the case, but I really hated the lawn equipment. Sure in a city a loud motorcycle may go by, but that's like 10 seconds of noise? Compared to a revving leaf blower for an hour (and usually there are a bunch of them going). They're eve…

> They're even banned in Palo Alto, but it's not enforced.

They only banned gas-powered blowers and they seem to rely on citizens to report use.

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

#152
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They may be louder but do you have a dump truck waking you up at 4am several times a week? I really don’t know what to do anymore. Obviously they need to pick up trash that early to beat the traffic and save a few bucks /s. But the city doesn’t care and I’m constantly told that condos/apartments are a more sustainable way of living. Thats great but I’m about done with this nonsense and about to move out to the burbs…

"Normal" suggestions: earmuffs or earplugs; soundproof your bedroom (IIUC certain types of window roller shutters can mitigate noise); move :/ Insane suggestion: record the dump trucks every night (using good microphones - maybe even hire some), build up a compendium of recordings, get a really good speaker and amp setup (absolutely no buzzing/hissing/hum etc), then play the recordings in a loop progressively increas…

From what I’ve read and experienced, exposure therapy to bothersome noises can have the opposite effect. Be careful trying that!

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

#153
post #43

Quoted post unavailable.

Perhaps if you and others who feel the same way would form your own communities around these common values, you could experience the lifestyle you prefer without it being forced on others.

(Alternatively, you may enjoy living in Europe, most cities here you don't even need a car. I get along fine with a bicycle!)

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

#154
post #47

there's a muscle called the tensor tympani the way I learned conscious control was through yawning. this muscle can be strengthened then can protect from hearing damage.

Can this be learned? i see that on hearing loud noise there is a reflex that uses this muscle to protect the ear. Can one learn to do this consciously?

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

#155

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…

I feel like the proliferation of cheap and loud bluetooth speakers has contributed to the scourge of noise pollution significantly in the last two years. The parks are filled with them. People also seem to walk and bike around cities confident that everyone around them really wants to hear their music above all else. It's a truly bizarre and recent-ish phenomenon, and it's full-grown adults. I'm guessing the prices maybe hit a tipping point or the personal public soundtrack is now a statement? I'm at a loss for how to explain it.

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

#156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Pro tip: one of the grey unlabeled buttons next to the screens on gas pumps mutes the audio. Muting those ads every time I pump gas feels like a subversive act in a dystopian Bladerunner-esqe society where ads are inescapable unless you know the hacks.

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

#157

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 gr…

I think the same thing has happened to me. I’ve lived in the same apartment for a few years. Pre Covid I did notice noise, but it never rose to the level of a problem. Now, I cannot stand the noise from the refrigerator, the baseboards heaters, or some loud neighbours, and am moving in large part to get a quieter place.

Something about being stuck in a place for however long lockdown lasted has changed what were minor annoyances into major stress inducers.

My pet theory is that we have a certain level of tolerance that is worn down and replenished in normal, free-movement circumstances. Forced subjection to annoyances simply wears down any tolerance that exists, and once that is gone it is hard to get it back.

That, or simply the mental categorization of the noises changed from something we voluntarily endure to a kind of punishment.

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

#158

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!

> 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.

With this one you're getting into the intersection with US cities' rabid opposition to actually building enough housing, so new units become labeled 'luxury' whether or not they're actually luxury, because zoning and permitting requirements push the prices of new units into the stratosphere.

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

#159

Anyone who has ever lived next to someone with a barking dog knows how the spikes of adrenaline at random times of the day and night can raise stress levels significantly.

I simply don't understand why we have to put up with this kinda shit. Dogs barking I mean.

The one thing i noticed when visited Dubai, there were no random dogs barking even in dense condos.

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

#160
I don't know what to do about airplanes, but I want to see cities be designed to rely much less on motor vehicles.

"Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTV-wwszGw8

"The Suburban Traffic Contradiction" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqQw05Mr63E

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