Are the random white characters at the end of the last paragraph a message about blending in? http://a7d0f80a5fa1647cdaad-1414aef150de5db27755b8a53ed3a9c0...
Hm. Interesting. Might it be 'quiet!'?
The Quiet Ones
181–190 of 397 posts
Re: The Quiet Ones
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
My wife is the same way: she works best in a coffee shop, with background noise. My hypothesis is that people who are able to multitask (ie. not me) need a certain level of stimulation to absorb the attention that would otherwise crystallize into distractions.
For me, when I'm able to concentrate, the background noise is irrelevant. I simply do not hear it.
Re: The Quiet Ones
#183Earlier 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.
> Eventually he told me he was going to leave because I was eating so rudely.
Does this happen in a jovial manner, or people really take serious offence to simple inconveniences?
Re: The Quiet Ones
#184I sympathize with whoever criticized the guy for loud typing. Seriously, it's distracting/disruptive. I learnt to type on (manual) typewriter too but laptops and keys don't need to be stabbed with the force of a thousand suns to register the press. It can be just as loud as people talking and (IMHO) can be harder to tune out. After all, we're used to hearing people talk all the time. Oh and while I'm in the mood for…
>I sympathize with whoever criticized the guy for loud typing. I actually don't mind typing: to me, it sounds like ideas. It's also regular enough to become part of the background, whereas something like music isn't, because it's too variable. >my Bose noise cancelling headphones are worth their weight in gold. I'm going to be that obnoxious guy: Amazon lists Bose QC 15s (the model I have) as 7.4 ounces. The spot-pri…
Silence is golden.
Deal with that one.
Re: The Quiet Ones
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am the same way. I always find it perplexing how most people can't spend literally 10 minutes in complete silence with their own thoughts without getting anxious. I notice this mostly with the younger generation these days (young women especially). They literally feel the compulsion to always have some sort external stimuli coming in, usually in the form of a constant stream of music from their phones/MP3 players.…
"young women especially" really?
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Re: The Quiet Ones
#186I sympathize with whoever criticized the guy for loud typing. Seriously, it's distracting/disruptive. I learnt to type on (manual) typewriter too but laptops and keys don't need to be stabbed with the force of a thousand suns to register the press. It can be just as loud as people talking and (IMHO) can be harder to tune out. After all, we're used to hearing people talk all the time. Oh and while I'm in the mood for…
Things aren't always like what they seem. Here's my perspective.
I use a ThinkPad that has a noisy keyboard. When I type on a Macbook Pro, my typing is silent. The noise in my case is because of keyboard design, not because of my typing force, I prefer the audible feedback. If I'm in a shared space where all I can hear is my typing, I try not to type.
I have slight breathing problems due to a small nasal passage. When I eat, I sometimes have to breathe through my mouth. I try not to, because eating with your mouth open is considered rude.
Re: The Quiet Ones
#187Oh lord, yes. My particular nemesis: leaf blowers. My office is in a residential neighborhood. The sound of a gas powered leaf blower is at just the right frequency to penetrate the double-pane windows, my noise-isolating earbuds, and it somehow overcomes all background noise. The whine and revving is audible. All. Day. Long. From every direction. I imagine to the operators it seems like a sensible choice -- What har…
Agreed. Those things are the worst. Hopefully the broom and rake have a renaissance.
Doubt it.
The person using a leaf blower isn't using one because they enjoy it. They have another 5000 places to manicure afterward—a rake no longer enters the equation since its coefficient of expedience is so low. This in turn, of course, impacts price. The employer of said manicurist passed the buck because they didn't have the time to rake it themselves.
I'd imagine that for those irritated by things of the sort, when it comes to irritants, unkempt yards would also somehow find a way to break concentrations as widely as loud leaf blowers.
Re: The Quiet Ones
#188Quiet spaces are important to some of us, but my bbrother always has music or the TV on. He admits disliking quiet. The small town where I live has strong no noise laws. You can't generate sound that can be heard outside your yard unless it is gardening noise - during business hours. Noise is one reason I no longer want to live in a city.
Where do you live? I need to move there.
Re: The Quiet Ones
#189I prefer the moderate din of places like coffee shops for this reason. There's usually enough background chatter, music and random noises going on that it's easy to not actually listen to any of it. It's only when there are but a few noises that it becomes a problem, I think.
Re: The Quiet Ones
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
My wife is the same way: she works best in a coffee shop, with background noise. My hypothesis is that people who are able to multitask (ie. not me) need a certain level of stimulation to absorb the attention that would otherwise crystallize into distractions. For me, when I'm able to concentrate, the background noise is irrelevant. I simply do not hear it.
There's something to this, but there's also the fact that any given sound gets literally lost in the noise.