441–450 of 531 posts
And helicopters, those are incredibly loud. I don't understand why we allow non-emergency trips in those things.
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…
When earbuds came on the market, Audiologists said "this is going to be a disaster in 20 years time" and guess what: tinnitus and high frequency hearing loss levels are through the roof. I think its to one side of your concern, but related: we truly don't socialize the needed guarding of our eardrums. It's a vicious cycle: unexpected mechanical noises stop us sleeping, leads to weight gain, diabetes, heart problems,…
My theory is that audio engineers are mixing live venues after already having hearing loss, thus normalizing hearing damage for everyone else as well.
I strongly believe regulation is needed to combat these problems. Firstly, a venue should not be allowed to damage one’s hearing with loud speakers. I think it’d be reasonable to require nearly all of any auditory experience to be under 80db.
Secondly, city noise pollution is a huge health problem as well. Most of it comes from car tire noise or strangely loud engines (like Harleys), so preventing that should be a priority. Walk along the waterfront in any city, and the overwhelming audio source is the white noise of car tires on the uncovered freeways. It’s hard to imagine how wonderful these places could be if those sounds were much more muted.
I have no problem if you want to have fun with a loud thing, but do it out in the middle of nowhere! Like any kind of pollution, we have a right to live without others negatively affecting us. I think law has not really caught up in these areas of human rights.
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…
Not only do people not care, they actively push down and belittle people who do. They'll say it's just something that's notmaly and anyone trying to change it should move. Most source of noise pollution wouldnt be that hard to fix. Society just doesn't want to.
The venn diagram of "people willing to lift a finger about noise pollution" and "people who think they know what car you should drive, how long your lawn should be, how much water your washing machine should use and what temperature you should set your thermostat" is only a sliver away from being a circle. It's not at all surprising that people take a mental shortcut and just skip straight to the belittling step.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Suburbs are louder than cities imo because there is always a leaf blower, lawn mower, and weedwacker going at all times during the day within 100 yards of you. That's hugely hyperbolic. But in the city there really are constant sirens, car horns, diesel trucks, construction noises, roadway noise etc... The most comprehensive study done on this (admittedly a long time ago in 1970) shows a clear correlation between po…
round me its just leaf blowers for ~4 hours everyday a few months a year Its really annoying for WFH
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 wish we would take car caused health impacts as serious as we did covid. We have a never ending stream of research and yet no one cares. We can’t even take action against modded motorbikes and cars which damage peoples health for zero functional gain.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
One thing I remember from living in Puerto Rico for a few years was the vans with huge loudspeakers on top that would go around blaring political messages. This was 30 years ago, so maybe it is different now. I’m so thankful that kind of thing doesn’t fly on the mainland.
This used to be a more common thing, including on the mainland. It's still depicted in TV and film, sometimes. There's a (probably intentionally goofily anachronistic) political ad van featured in Steven Universe, for instance. There's also one (in the "present day", that is, 1985) in Back to the Future.
Puerto Rico and much of Latin America is basically how the USA itself was in the 50s, so you get more of that.
Blues Brothers also has an example of the elevated rumbling by every second of the night.
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…
Something I've noticed about real estate agents and especially leasing agents is that they tend to try to keep the conversation up, and in an empty house that can be a couple decibels louder than normal conversation. If you have a partner, take them with you and collude so that the more sensitive person can escape to the other end of the space and just listen. If you are single, take a friend who is 'helping you' house/apartment hunt and use them as a meat shield.
Something I keep saying I'll do and never actually do is take a day off and just be in the neighborhood outside, because some places are quiet during business hours and a cacophony during rush hour or due to night life.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe you don't need to track down and collect every single leaf? Like it's okay if things have a slighty not perfectectly tended to appearance. There's beauty in chaos.
Lots of HOA's will be right up your ass if you don't take care of the leaves on the lawn. That's one of the reasons I won't buy anywhere that has one, but a leaf free lawn requirement with a leafblower ban seems punitive.
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…
Not only do people not care, they actively push down and belittle people who do. They'll say it's just something that's notmaly and anyone trying to change it should move. Most source of noise pollution wouldnt be that hard to fix. Society just doesn't want to.
I have reports from multiple neurodiverse people about how much better they can deal with (loud) social obligations. One person diagnosed with ADHD is practically a different person with their earplugs in.