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The Quiet Ones

nytimes.com

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Re: The Quiet Ones

#381

Post by qu4z-2 »

marbletiles wrote: post #334
Muzza wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No, he should disregard them because as written they're sexist, and don't even have good methodology to try and stand in their defense. So... If he had a sufficiently good methodology which proved his assertions, they would cease to be sexist and you politically correct lot would approve of them? Somehow I doubt it.

Yes, if proven they would cease to be sexist, because they'd be discriminating based on facts, not based on his apparent prejudice. (However, since the conjecture does seem to come from a combination of sexism/ageism/confirmation bias, it would be surprising if they were proved.) BTW: Are you proud not to be in the politically correct "lot"? All it really amounts to is trying not to be unnecessarily hateful or demean…

I'm not sure that stating an observation that a certain tendency "seems to be" more common among a particular subgroup really counts as discrimination.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#382

Post by qu4z-2 »

MemorableZebra wrote: post #111

I'm surprised no one found this condemnation of a society "constantly getting louder with this new internet generation" to be oddly similar to the idea that "each successive generation is getting more and more immoral" -- an idea that I would argue has not only been thoroughly debunked, but also rather impossible as well. Of course I'm not saying that overall our cities haven't increased in their background volume by…

It seems plausible that with the steadily increasing population density the overall loudness or chances of being near a source of loudness is actually increasing.

Also, "more immoral" is a claim going back thousands of years, which is in large part what makes it unlikely. The claim that the internet generation is louder is only making a claim about a trend in the last 20 years or so.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#383

Post by purplelobster »

dsirijus wrote: post #217
purplelobster wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew on on the country side. On an island. In the middle of the Baltic sea. In the winter, it would get so dark that I couldn't see my hand before my eyes, and couldn't hear a single sound. Actually this had some strange effects on me, being sort of a sleep walker and all. I would often wake up in the middle of the night being confused, not knowing where I was. I had to feel my bed, find the floor, the walls, the f…

I grew up in similar conditions, and only now that you've mentioned it, I made a connection of awaking to not knowing where you are and confused to such sensory deprivation. I don't recall that happening ever in urban areas. Quite contrary, I'm now extremely light sleeper, and wake to full awareness almost instantly. Interesting.

Just as a curiosity, did the confused episodes last long? I'm sort of a light sleeper but I also have sleep walking/talking tendencies. When I wake up in a sensory-deprivated state, it can take what seems like 5-10 minutes before I'm back to normal. It's like waking up from that dream, but having nothing contradicting the dream you just had, so my mind sort of continues the dream line of reasoning until my logical abilities catch up. Very strange feeling.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#384

Post by bambax »

Jamiecon wrote: post #352
bambax wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think the fundamental problem with noisy people is (...) that they don't have any train of thought to interrupt I'm not sure I understand what you're saying: are you saying that noisy people don't think (or are stupid)? I'm a "quiet one" too, but I think noisy people are the opposite of "thinkless"; they appear to be afraid of their own mind and what it could tell them about the insignificance of the world in gen…

> I think the fundamental problem with noisy people is (...) that they don't have any train of thought to interrupt I must say that this choice of words rather took me aback as well. The problem is, it's difficult to call someone breathtakingly arrogant (which was my first reaction) when they have so much to be arrogant about! I'd love to see some more insight on this from pg. Edit: It's since occurred to me that pg…

> pg may have meant at that particular moment

That's plausible; however, the conscious brain is constantly thinking / wandering / conjecturing about the past and the future, so it's next to impossible to not have a train of thought while you're awake. (If you have years and years of training as a zen master, maybe; if not, not).

Therefore, saying that people don't have a train of thought at a specific point in time is a little like saying they don't have a brain.

The rest of the post from PG would tend to confirm this: "ordinary people can understand" (...) "what they don't grasp".

Re: The Quiet Ones

#385

Post by delian66 »

spectrum wrote: post #239
timf wrote: post #109

On a related topic: if you are a developer and are forced to deeply concentrate in public places, after three years of doing that daily I arrived at a system that could keep me coding. 1. Figure out what earplugs work well. Working well means good sound suppression but also means earplugs that you can have in your ear comfortably for long stretches. I can sleep the entire night in the ones I settled on (I buy them bu…

Good advice, but don't you think there is a possible danger in you not hearing outside noises? There is a reason we have ears you know, to alert us in case of danger when it is not necessarily visible to the eye.

Yes, of course there is danger, but the probability of a really hazardous event, which you may avoid by hearing, is very very low for most modern civilised environments where people spent prolonged periods of time, like sitting in plains/trains, or being in city rooms together with other people.

I would not consider reasonable using earplugs while walking in a jungle, or standing in a road/open space, or when driving a car myself :-) .

Re: The Quiet Ones

#386

Post by ganley »

innguest wrote: post #365
ganley wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... with noise-canceling headphones. I just discovered these a couple of years ago, and I was - am still! - positively shocked at how well they work.

Can you say which brand/model left you positively shocked? I'm still skeptical of those and would love to be proved wrong.

Bose QuietComfort. They're really expensive ($300), but one of the few products I find to be worth the seemingly ridiculous cost.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#387

Post by SkyMarshal »

>“I’m not talking about cellphone conversations,” he said, “I’m talking about your typing, which really is very loud and disruptive.”

I was at a loss. I learned to write on a typewriter, and apparently I still strike the keyboard of my laptop with obsolete force. “Well,” I said, trying to figure out which of us, if either, was the jerk here, “I don’t think I’m going to stop typing. I’m a writer; I sit in here so I can work.”

Funny, keyboard 'strikers' bug me too, but thought I was alone in that. Unless your keyboard is dying and requires force to operate, a light touch does less wear and tear, conserves your own energy (marginally, fwiw), and is much quieter for those around you. There's no apparent reason for the way some people almost attack their keyboard, other than misdirected zeal, eagerness, or angst.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#388

Post by cafard »

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 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."

A more polite, and perhaps more accurate rendering would be "Many noisy people work out what they think by saying it." To some of them the introvert who much prefers to think matters out before speaking may seem as thoughtless as they do to the introvert.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#389

Post by joe24pack »

The search for quiet and some peace, maybe that is why I like to go hiking in remote places during colder weather. Yes there is still sound, but for some reason I find the sound of water or a light wind far more peaceful than the sound of people and the machines and gadgets they bring along.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#390

Post by corywright »

brnstz wrote: post #314
greenyoda wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"This is must be a somewhat American problem. I once was at a Cheescake factory there, where it was so loud we could hardly talk with each other. We hypothesized that they do this for a higher turnover." I've heard that the loudness in restaurants isn't meant to increase turnover - it's actually used to attract people to the restaurant. The average restaurant-goer in NYC seems to have an aversion to places that are q…

There are plenty of quiet restaurants in NYC.

Would you mind offering up a few of your favorites? I'm always looking for quiet places to eat in the city, particularly around the village.
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