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The Quiet Ones

nytimes.com

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Re: The Quiet Ones

#321

Post by halfwit »

gfodor wrote: post #68

Unless I missed it, the author fails to mention the other front line in this battle: the airplane. Sure, the roar of the engines can be deafening, but the cellphone ban more than offsets that. I've found that more than anything else flying reminds me of just how productive you can be when free of distractions. Heck, the nature of productivity itself changes: instead of measuring it by how many emails you've answered,…

Well, sometimes.

Other times you've got shrieking babies, large groups of school children on a field trip, people having inane conversations (loudly, to be heard over the background noise)... basically all the noise you could potentially find in a train car and more. Then there's the security announcements, unavoidable ads for products and the in-flight TV service... plenty of potential for distraction.

On a long flight, especially in the morning, it can be quite nice. But you also may be stuck next to the loudest baby you've ever heard, so loud that you cannot reasonably concentrate, for hours at a stretch.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#322

Post by pavel_lishin »

eshvk wrote: post #25
pavel_lishin wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can filter out 99% of the noise at a coffee shop, because I can be certain it doesn't apply to me. I can filter out 50% of the noise at work, because it probably doesn't apply to me. I can filter out 10% of the noise at home, because if my wife is talking or our cats are meowing, it's almost certainly directed at me.

> I can filter out 10% of the noise at home, because if my wife is talking or our cats are meowing, it's almost certainly directed at me. IMO the only advantage of working from home is that you can control all those free variables that make you distracted: E.g. Get a quiet study where you tell your wife, cat(s) etc that you cannot/will not be distracted during work hours. Doing that at work can be tried but depending…

> E.g. Get a quiet study where you tell your wife, cat(s) etc that you cannot/will not be distracted during work hours.

Well, sojacques already addressed the cat point, so they only thing I have to add is that I live in Manhattan, in a very spacious place by our standards, but one that doesn't really come with a study - not unless I wanted to tear down everything in the closet, toss my wife's things into a box, and have a space the size of a desk to work in :P

Re: The Quiet Ones

#323

Post by bonobo »

furyofantares wrote: post #114
thaumaturgy wrote: post #97

Earlier 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…

This reminds me of an anecdote from Feynman about what sorts of mental things he could and could not do while counting seconds, and how it was different for different people. His counting was internally verbal and he could do anything that didn't require him to speak or anything else that was internally verbal. On the other hand, a mathematician he knew was able to do lots of mental things while counting that Feynman…

Some nights, when I lay on my bed trying to sleep but my mind is still racing, I try to calm down by counting or something that requires concentration in order to forget everything else. I noticed how I cannot count without having another train of thought talking or replaying a song I was listening to the same day. It's like having two threads running in parallel.

Trying to count visually is almost impossible, I lose track before reaching twenty. As a friend of mine put this, “I can't count sheep to sleep because they are always cheating.”

Re: The Quiet Ones

#324

Post by scott_s »

furyofantares wrote: post #114
thaumaturgy wrote: post #97

Earlier 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…

This reminds me of an anecdote from Feynman about what sorts of mental things he could and could not do while counting seconds, and how it was different for different people. His counting was internally verbal and he could do anything that didn't require him to speak or anything else that was internally verbal. On the other hand, a mathematician he knew was able to do lots of mental things while counting that Feynman…

Related to this, I've discovered what I can and can't listen to depending on the task.

When I'm writing, I can't listen to music with lyrics or podcasts. That's not too surprising, since I'm obviously using the parts of my brain related to processing language for my work, so I can't process language in the background.

When I'm doing grunt-level programming or debugging, I can listen to music with words or podcasts.

But when I'm doing architecture-level program design, I can't listen to music with lyrics or podcasts. For me, this kind of thinking is too similar to writing.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#325

Post by gordonguthrie »

scott_s wrote: post #324
furyofantares wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of an anecdote from Feynman about what sorts of mental things he could and could not do while counting seconds, and how it was different for different people. His counting was internally verbal and he could do anything that didn't require him to speak or anything else that was internally verbal. On the other hand, a mathematician he knew was able to do lots of mental things while counting that Feynman…

Related to this, I've discovered what I can and can't listen to depending on the task. When I'm writing, I can't listen to music with lyrics or podcasts. That's not too surprising, since I'm obviously using the parts of my brain related to processing language for my work, so I can't process language in the background. When I'm doing grunt-level programming or debugging, I can listen to music with words or podcasts. B…

I read Oliver Sachs Musicophilia: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Musicophilia-Tales-Music-Oliver-Sack...

In it he points out how some people with Alzheimers or other degenerative brain damage can use familiar music to co-ordinate a sort of 'flow' a rhythm of activity.

When I am coding it is like this. I can put on a familiar record that know back to front and then suddenly it is over and I haven't heard any of it but it has marshalled my flow for me.

Put on an unfamiliar playlist or a 'radio' style thing from last.fm (or the radio even) where I don't know what is going to be played next) and it trashes my flow.

So to get stuff out of Spotify I have to make and learn playlists (as it trashes the order of all the LP's which I have burnt into my head from years of listening to them on vinyl....)

Re: The Quiet Ones

#326

Post by gordonguthrie »

fusiongyro wrote: post #153
thaumaturgy wrote: post #97

Earlier 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 mother is a pretty deep thinker and she requires constant TV chatter simply because she has tinnitus and can't stand the sound of it. But I think she's an exception.

I have tinnitus and needs background noise - but to be non interuptive it has to be background - a coffee bar, or the telly on low - what it can't require is any processing like music or something that is designed to be 'listened to'.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#327

Post by geebee »

m0nd0nger0 wrote: post #99

As I once heard someone say in Spain - I prefer the noise of life to the silence of death

Sometimes, the noise of life is silence.

I really enjoy hiking in the redwoods after a rainy day, preferably mid-week when nobody is there. The silence is kind of amazing.

That's nature, but there's also something kind of profound in the deep silence of old libraries, late at night.

Don't get me wrong, I love the noise of life. I love the way you can walk along the street in the Faubourg Marigny near Frenchman's street and hear amazing trumpets. I like the bustle. But I also deliberately wakes up early to walk around the French quarter and experience these old buildings in silence.

I prefer the noise and silence of life to the noise and silence of a life wasted. Sound is something something that you give to people, but silence is also something that you take away. And it can be taken from everyone from just one person. Usually, it is just inconsiderate, but from your comment, I'm almost starting to wonder if you feel that you have a moral justification in making sure that nobody ever enjoys a quiet library, forest, or sunrise. You really don't see that these things can be some of the most uplifting and serene parts of life?

Re: The Quiet Ones

#328

Post by ryanklee »

kellishaver wrote: post #202
mgkimsal wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I'm good on the quiet car (though I have had my moments I'll admit). There are people of all ages,miracles, and genders who behave this way..." You probably don't encounter the same people all the time. There's enough people out in the world such that each one can "have their moments" when they're around you, and nowhere else, and you wouldn't know the difference. I do sympathize with you though. I've got a sound se…

Do you get much flak from others for your sensitivity to noise? Some noises bother me a lot. Anything that's repetitive will annoy me to the point that I basically cannot function and get extremely angry, and it only takes a minute or two to get to that level. Sometimes sounds (and not necessarily loud ones) are physically uncomfortable. I have similar issues with some textures (in food, clothing, etc.) and am very s…

It's good to hear I'm not the only one out there with this condition in its more severe forms. (Not that I ever considered myself original in this regard.)

It's so difficult to communicate to others the level of my sensitivity to repeated noises (esp. oral/eating) - and the level of my sensitivity seems so flat out absurd, unjustifiable and irrational - that I've basically suppressed and internalized it as far as humanly possible and have come to consider it a best-to-be-kept secret, dogged malady.

There are very few things I wouldn't give to see myself freed of the condition. It turns what would normally be sitting down and eating dinner with my lovely significant other into a quotidian session of repressed frustration and anger at having to listen to her (oh, the humanity) chew food and handle utensils.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#329

Post by shanelja »

precisioncoder wrote: post #241
shanelja wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My trick is to use http://rainymood.com - the background noise of a storm is surprisingly peaceful.

Thanks for this, my office is often loud and constant music gives me headaches or distracts me so I'm always excited to find some alternatives.

Sorry for the late reply - You're most welcome, my girlfriend showed me this 6 months ago and I'm a convert now, to the point where I find it difficult to concentrate without it and I have to keep my window open at night or everything just feels wrong.

I hope you enjoy it, I know I for one find it hard to focus with music in my ears, I've even tried Beethoven at one point but nothing gave me the right vibe.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#330

Post by kemiller »

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…

Mine as well. I find the present startup culture to be extremely hostile to quietness, and I'm hoping I can lead a rebellion. Are there small still small tech companies that value deep, peaceful thought?
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