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I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

nytimes.com

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Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#191

Post by MatthewPhillips »

nnq wrote: post #110
pg wrote: post #68

It's so true. I can do routine work with noise, but not the kind that requires insight. The sad thing is that noise is yet another example of the phenomenon of "the tragedy of the commons." Which means things tend to get noisier and noisier. In fact, what has surprised me most about living in Palo Alto is how noisy it is. You'd think living in the suburbs would at least be quiet. It is on weekends. But the problem wi…

Leaf blowers used by homeowners or the people paid to take care of their gardens are one of the most "typically American" and absurd and annoying things. You almost never hear/see these things around Europe, except some similar contraptions use to take care of very large city parks, for which they probably make sense, and even then they are used at reasonable hours. I mean, using a powered leaf blower to help clean u…

So do you have some incredible raking skills, or do trees not lose many leaves where you're from? Here cleaning leaves under a big tree in the fall, with or without a leaf blower, takes a solid hour. 2 if you've been lazy and not done it for a week.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#192

Post by jacquesm »

skore wrote: post #188
jacquesm wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Show me.

Well, a double walled enclosure with vacuum inbetween would seal out a lot. Plus you could market it as "the double vacuum". Profit!

The problem is the outflowing air. That's where the noise comes from.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#194

Post by amerika_blog »

anigbrowl wrote: post #99
pasbesoin wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this point, I'd gladly take the leaf blower. Car stereo sub-woofers and straight pipe Harleys: Two things that, in my opinion, should be outright outlawed. Live on a street where they are frequent, and your life will be difficult. Live next to someone who tinkers on them incessantly, and your life will be hell. Work is another problem. I wore out my health trying to cope with the "standard environment". (Which, of…

I live near both those things and can put up with the intermittent noise. Leafblowers are an invention of Satan and must be destroyed, preferably along with their owners and operators. They are the epitome of laziness.

To be fair, Satan also invented Slayer, which kind of evens out the leafblower damage.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#195

Post by kalleboo »

GigabyteCoin wrote: post #84

>...people who are not philosophers lose whatever ideas their brains can carry in consequence of brutish jolts of sound. This makes me wonder if the brutish jolts of sound being emitted from the many casinos throughout the world are accomplishing the same task (and emptying people's wallets more easily?) "I think I should be goi.. > BINGK! I can't agree with this article more, however. I should probably read it again…

I'm convinced the noise in casinos is intentional. I remember reading all the repeating pattern carpeting, garish lighting etc serves the same purpose: confusing and disorienting people in casinos in order to get them to make less rational decisions.

edit: link http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2010/09/ugly-vegas-carpets/?pid...

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#196

Post by msluyter »

Anechoic wrote: post #86
msluyter wrote: post #19

I'm extremely sensitive to sound, and I've been hoping that the the powers that be will eventually come to the realization that open seating plans are highly suboptimal ( http://www.infoq.com/news/2011/08/open-office-layout , for example). I've used a decibel meter on occasion and have observed that my current office sometimes averages 75-80 db. Which, were I in a coffee shop, I could tolerate for some reason[1] much…

and have observed that my current office sometimes averages 75-80 db. Is that A-weighted ("dBA") or linear? If that result is A-weighted, that noise level is dangerously loud - it may meet OSHA but it's almost certainly causing or contributing to hearing damage.

I'm not sure -- it was just a free meter off the apple app store. That level isn't constant; it's just what happens when everyone around you is having animated conversations simultaneously. I probably shouldn't have said "averages." More like, averages over short bursts of time.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#197

Post by cafard »

nnq wrote: post #126
Groxx wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you're paid to clean leaves off multiple front yards? 15 * yards * days used per year = a whole lot of time. It's really not surprising that they pick what works quickest.

So the root of the problem is that people are paying other peoples to clean their yards... guess it's the same "hidden cost / side-effect of externalizing things". That's why I try to stick to the "keep as many things in-house as possible", both for my household and family and for my business :) EDIT+: I think the so called "american way of doing things" is so successful business-wise exactly because of the "external…

No, it's not always the lawn services. I remember a dozen or more years ago driving down Wayne Avenue in Silver Spring, a neighborhood of small bungalows with lawns to suit, and seeing a man, evidently the owner, running his leaf blower.

I don't particularly mind raking leaves. Our yard is probably a 90 minute job two or three times in late fall. But I also mow the lawn, with a power mower, so I'm making some noise too.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#198

Post by swah »

cr4zy wrote: post #32

I wear earplugs. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033YLEGO?ie=UTF8&ref_=pd_... At work they're just enough for me to be able to concentrate while still allowing people to get my attention without raising their voice. At which time I take them out and repeat what I heard of their question.

Don't you hate how your "internal sounds" get loud?

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#199

Post by tomasien »

marban wrote: post #115
tomasien wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A mild level of ambient noise is proven to increase creative cognition aka make you a better CREATIVE thinker. Just saying http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/665048 from coffitvity.com

I usually do my best work with music, street noise and chatter from the TV at the same time. The more variety, the better.

That's what coffitivity suggests. The iPhone app even has a mixer to mix the ambient noise with your music.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#200

Post by slug »

tzs wrote: post #120
jmtame wrote: post #62

This used to be a problem when I started working at a company in 2009. Lots of office noises and conversations going on, I couldn't focus. Pretty sure I have an oversensitivity to noise too, as mentioned in this article. The solution for me was buying a (not cheap) pair of Bose QC15 noise-canceling headphones. One of the best decisions I've ever made.

That worked? I had to deal with conversations happening near my office a while back, and looked into noise-canceling headphones, but the reviews and articles I read claimed that they didn't do a good job on voice. They were designed for the kind of continuous noise you get from things like airplane engines, not for sporadic things.

I use QC-15 Bose headphones daily. You have to be listening to music (or your favorite white/pink/etc noise) while wearing them to be effective blocking voices nearby, don't believe anyone that tells you otherwise.

The paradoxical effect is that since they are effective blocking low frequency noises, the voices kind of stand up if not listening to anything.

I started by making one of these many years ago: http://www.instructables.com/id/Jackhammer-Headphones/

for $20 I think it's a good investment and worth a try. I made two of these, one to have at home, other at work and even took them on airplane traveling.

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