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The Quiet Ones

nytimes.com

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Re: The Quiet Ones

#161

Post by [deleted] »

jrockway wrote: post #104
w1ntermute wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, in Japan it's considered rude not to slurp noodles, because that means you're not enjoying them, which would be an insult to whoever made them.

I experienced quite a culture shock when returning to the US after living in Tokyo for a year. I was at some noodle place with a friend and ate the noodles in the way I considered normal. Eventually he told me he was going to leave because I was eating so rudely. "Welcome back to the land of the Puritans," I thought to myself.

[deleted]

Re: The Quiet Ones

#162

Post by justlearning »

I had an interesting thought experiment after replacing "quiet" with "privacy".

While not everyone may not agree on the word replacement, I go through similar emotions (as the author describes) when someone posts a photo (that has me and others) on facebook without permission. I like to think that there are others out there like me. I am one of those "quiet" snobs.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#163

Post by noonespecial »

jseliger wrote: post #155
derekp7 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Are they really worth $12,580? I hate to be the other obnoxious guy that responds to the self proclaimed obnoxious guy, but I see the quite a bit lately, even paraded in XKCD. Is there a significant group of people that absolutely abhors all rhetorical figures of speech? Or is it only specific ones, such as metaphors and hyperbole, with simile being mostly OK? Just curious.

The deeper I get into writing, and what it means to write well, the harder it is. Reading Martin Amis's The War Against Cliche was a particularly pernicious moment for me. So was Lakoff and Johnson's Metaphors We Live By . I think the question is this: does a rhetorical figure of speech help the reader or writer see the things being compared or figurized in a new way? If the answer is no, then perhaps we should look…

Occasionally I enjoy attempting to communicate entirely with cliches. Its easier than one first imagines.

Your own little "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" moment.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#164

Post by Evgeny »

jgannonjr wrote: post #35

Did anyone else notice the hidden text "#@$%&!" at the end of the last paragraph? Does this have some kind of meaning or purpose, I can't figure out why it would be there... We’re a tribe, we quiet ones, we readers and thinkers and letter writers, we daydreamers and gazers out of windows. We are a civil people, courteous to excess, who disdain displays of anger as childish and embarrassing. But the Quiet Car is our t…

I think random special characters generally are used as a replacement for some profanity / rude words

Re: The Quiet Ones

#165

Post by jsolson »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #97
pg wrote: post #81

My life has been a search for quiet for as long as I can remember. I think the fundamental problem with noisy people is not that they're inconsiderate, but that they don't have any train of thought to interrupt, and they thus don't realize the havoc they're wreaking. When I was living in Providence, working on On Lisp , I told my loud but well-meaning neighbors that I was writing a hard computer book, and that made t…

I keep late hours in part because, once everyone else goes to bed -- not just housemates but my entire town -- everything becomes still and quiet, and in that stillness I'm finally able to think more deeply, more clearly, about anything. You've probably already had your fill of argument for the day, but I think that assuming that noisy people don't have a train of thought to interrupt is a little bit uncharitable. (I…

My office at work is a virtually silent team room. All of my coworkers are exceptionally quiet people. It drives me mad.

Most days I spend my entire productive workday in a coffee shop across campus, precisely because it is loud and busy. Only with the surrounding noise can I avoid being distracted by specific things. The environment is so noisy that it allows me to ignore to entirely.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#166

Post by juiceandjuice »

jgannonjr wrote: post #35

Did anyone else notice the hidden text "#@$%&!" at the end of the last paragraph? Does this have some kind of meaning or purpose, I can't figure out why it would be there... We’re a tribe, we quiet ones, we readers and thinkers and letter writers, we daydreamers and gazers out of windows. We are a civil people, courteous to excess, who disdain displays of anger as childish and embarrassing. But the Quiet Car is our t…

Ahh, a fellow highlighter. I noticed too.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#167

Post by richforrester »

bpatrianakos wrote: post #78
joezydeco wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to know how loudly you need to type to exceed the ambient noise on an Amtrak car, of all places.

Depends on your keyboard and force. For example, a MacBook is generally quieter than other laptops but then again once those keys get old they can get quite loose and clackety. What I can say for sure is that those train cars can be pretty damn quiet. I know the quiet car I ride in is possibly quieter than my own car. And when it's silent the ambient noise tends to sound even more faint until someone on the inside st…

And on which key. Spacebar oh spacebar, why areth thou so loud?

Re: The Quiet Ones

#168

Post by jacques_chester »

kgermino wrote: post #132
tobias3 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never had a problem here in Germany either. Smoking is luckily not allowed anymore, as well. There is a quiet car, too, but it is hardly necessary. Talking on the cell phone loudly is frowned upon everwhere, even in the underground train -- at least I haven't seen too many people doing it. Just don't take the same trains the drunken soccer fans take (if you're not in the mood). This is must be a somewhat American pro…

>We hypothesized that they do this for a higher turnover. I can (anecdotally) confirm that many places do this. One place where my friend worked adjusted the background music volume based on the wait time, and I know of several restaurants by me where the waitresses will say that the music goes up as the place gets busy to persuade people to leave after eating.

Bars have loud music because, during the lulls in conversation caused by the inability to hold a conversation, you drink.

And therefore you drink more.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#169

Post by miles »

Kuiper wrote: post #146
miles wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone starting a Kickstart project for a better system can have my money. No need to reinvent the wheel: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009LI4K

Looking at some of the reviews, it sounds like this hardware has its limitations, namely that it does a poor job of blocking out sounds in the frequency of human voices, which is the main thing that jhandl seems to be looking for.

I use a pair of these ear muffs almost daily; they pretty much block out all sound well for me. Here are a few reviews for the product that address your concern:

"you cannot hear what anyone is saying unless they shout, and even then, it is difficult to understand them." http://www.amazon.com/review/R20X9DNAJC9ZX3/

"I use to study while my 2 year old screams her head off (as long as someone else is watching her of course!)." http://www.amazon.com/review/R29TUUYEQY98W9/

"I use them while doing research in a library. It's unbroken silence despite screaming kids and adults talking into their cellphones. People no longer understand proper behavior in a library, but I don't care. I can't hear them. It's wonderful." http://www.amazon.com/review/RQBNEZ9CX3O19/

Re: The Quiet Ones

#170

Post by ctdonath »

nlh wrote: post #158
bpatrianakos wrote: post #75

Oh, the quiet car. I ride the quiet car every weekday to and from work into and out of Chicago (except ours is Metra, not Amtrak). His description of it is completely accurate. The people on the quiet car tend to be thinkers, readers, writers, and I dare say just a bit more intelligent than the average rider. I've had the same experience before. For some reason people think the signs and the announcements don't apply…

While we're on this subject, a related rant/question: Why are so many people so totally oblivious to so many announcements, signs, and otherwise? You've all seen it: Boarding a plane, for example. "Ladies, and Gentlemen, we're boarding rows 1 - 5 now. Thanks." And as sure as Spring, there will _always_ be someone from row 324 who gets in line. The staff are far more polite than I'd be: "Sir, we're boarding rows 1 - 5…

The profusion of announcements negates them.

Just yesterday I noticed that a single bus door had SIXTEEN warning signs on it. I dare suggest that nobody else noticed any of them that day.

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