The Quiet Ones • Hacker News Board

Re: The Quiet Ones

#391

Post by fsiefken » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 10:41 PM UTC

paulsutter wrote: post #282

__david__ wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can only speak for myself but I like to listen to music because when I don't my mind starts blaring its own music at me from within. On repeat. All day . It can actually get really distracting (I'll start singing instead of programming) and I have to start up some music to distract that part of my brain and let the rest of it work on whatever I'm supposed to be doing. I find that certain music (psytrance and goa, t…

I had the same problem for most of my life, I was unable to stop listening to music in my head. The solution was surprisingly simple. When I wanted to stop the internal music, I focused on ambient noise. The leaves rustling in the trees. Passing cars: their tires on the pavement, brakes, engine, the exhaust note. There are quite a few things to notice. While focusing, the music stopped. At first it took great deliber…

Thanks Paul, never thought I'd come across the name Gil Fronsdal name here. I used to listen to Zencast a lot, I should do that again some time.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#392

Post by BHSPitMonkey » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 6:35 PM UTC

ghshephard wrote: post #43

cyanbane wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ironic, in that what he was trying to communicate was some concepts regarding recognizing the moral reality of those around him, when, in fact, he was one of those clueless types who likely hadn't considered the possibility that his whacking-away at his keyboard was really annoying others. I think that was his point.

No, I suspect that he likely doesn't realize that he is "that guy." I'm almost certain that he believes he is one of the elite, civilized folks who recognizes the "moral reality" of those around him, and that this is just an exceptional situation, which is not a typical example of his behavior. In reality, he's probably a jerk that ignores others.

No, he explicitly describes the situation as finding himself on the "wrong" side of one of these conflicts. He understands that he was the bad guy that time.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#393

Post by brnstz » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 10:19 PM UTC

corywright wrote: post #390

brnstz wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm bad with restaurants in Manhattan, but Anella and Bozu are two favorites in Brooklyn.

I agree there are many loud restaurants in Manhattan, but that is mostly a factor of the bar and/or a large space (e.g., Buddakan). Look for places not trying to attract attention (a full curtain on the window, rather than trying to advertise their popularity / bar scene).

My main point was probably that Manhattan != NYC. :)

Re: The Quiet Ones

#394

Post by conjecTech » Thu, Nov 22, 2012, 5:47 AM UTC

FrojoS wrote: post #280

Imagine a future, where you could simply switch your hearing ability on and off. When I first thought about this, I got so excited, that I started writing a science fiction story around the implications. Unfortunately, I'm a horrible writer. I am not talking about noise canceling headphones or ear plugs but something like a neurological switch. I assume the "easiest" way to do this, would be a surgery in which one cu…

I've actually envied people with cochlear implants for having this ability. The idea of being able to turn on and off senses at will is kind of an amazing thought. I personally have a hypersensitive sense of touch, and it is an almost constant distraction. I can't count the number of times I've wished I could toggle or perhaps just filter my senses.

It's still undoubtedly far off in the wings. I'm not sure if anything has been done on the purely organic side, but I know that at least on the ECE side of things our ability to effectively interact with organic systems is still quite ineffective and brutish. The professor I had for digital signal processing last year does some work with cochlear implants. He spent a lecture talking about the current technologies, and the implantation and interfacing he described was very destructive. There would undoubtedly be severe ability loss if they were used on an otherwise capable person to try to enable this ability. It would be nice if we evolutionary developed some high-pass preprocessing. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that will take a good bit longer to develop than man-made alternatives.

I'd be interested to read what you've written if you'd like another set of eyes on it.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#395

Post by mgkimsal » Sat, Nov 24, 2012, 5:19 PM UTC

mgkimsal wrote: post #89

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…

"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…

NOTE: "MISOPHONIA" was/is the term I was looking for to describe this condition. (not "hyperacusis" as I noted below)

Re: The Quiet Ones

#396

Post by newscasta » Sat, Nov 24, 2012, 8:59 PM UTC

Fargren wrote: post #91

shawn-butler wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given our evolutionary history as a tribal species, perhaps the human brain and auditory system is predisposed for survival purposes to make it seem as though unfamiliar dialects/voices/sounds are louder than they actually are. Without taking an objective measure of the decibels involved you might just be giving in to a stereotype?

It is possible that it's some sort of auditory bias, but there's people from all over the world here (big tourist city and all), and it's almost always people form the US that I notice are loud. Even with the British, I can't normally hear them without being quite close, so it's not the language. Of course, I can't tell how many quiet Americans I've walked by without noticing because they are quiet.

That's interesting, I've had the opposite experience, so I'm guessing it's a perception issue. I'm from Buenos Aires and currently live in New York, both loud cities. I find Argentine tourists around here are especially loud. Maybe I'm tuned to pick up my own accent, or maybe tourists are louder than locals? (the excitement of the new?) Or maybe, as you point out, we just don't notice the quiet ones and assume they are locals...

Re: The Quiet Ones

#397

Post by kleiba » Sat, Nov 24, 2012, 11:10 PM UTC

curiousdannii wrote: post #247

kleiba wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a quiet car, too, but it is hardly necessary. Talking on the cell phone loudly is frowned upon everwhere Surely you must be joking?

It's the same in Japan. But sadly not in Australia.

I've lived in both Germany and Australia, and my experience is the exact opposite -- at least in suburban trains, I don't think I ever used a long distance train in Australia. And those are okay in Germany. But suburban trains? The two couldn't be more different! Where I was (small town in Germany close to France and Melbourne, Victoria) there was screaming (!), loud music from cell phones and general obnoxious and ruthless behavior all the time in the local suburban trains in Germany, while it was heavenly quiet and relaxed and enjoyable in Melbourne.