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I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

nytimes.com

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Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#41

Post by anaphor »

jtreminio wrote: post #15

I tell every developer buddy I have that they should get a pair of Fuck Off Headphones [0]. They need to be big enough that people can't try to say, "Oh, I didn't see you had headphones on". I work from home now, and they work just as well for keeping my family at bay as they did for chatty coworkers when I had to be in an office. [0] http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Gaming-Headset-Surro...

I have a pair of Denon AH-D2000s and they work pretty well for this purpose. It doesn't do the job perfectly though it cuts out most idle chatter.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#42

Post by calhoun137 »

I personally find that I am much more distracted by people who are trying to get my attention than I am by background noise. This article reminds of an anecdote about Poincare that can be found on page 533 of the excellent book "Men of Mathematics"[1]

"...when a distinguished mathematician had come all the way from Finland to Paris to confer with Poincare on scientific matters, Poincare did not leave his study to greet his called when the maid notified him, but continued to pace back and forth - as was his custom when mathematizing - for three solid hours. All this time the diffident caller sat quietly in the adjoining room, barred from the master only by flimsy portieres. At last the drapes parted and Poincare's buffalo head was thrust for an instant into the room. "Vois me derangez beaucoup" (You are disturbing me greatly) the head exploded, and disappeared. The caller departed without an interview..."

[1]http://books.google.com/books?id=BLFL3coT5i4C&q=533#v=snippe...

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#43

Post by rachelbythebay »

IvyMike wrote: post #21

So I can't find an online reference to this anywhere, but years ago I read a relevant anecdote about (I'm pretty sure) Isaac Asimov. He used to go into the most noisy environments he could find to write; places like a noisy restaurant or cafe. He found that this forced him to focus in a way that a quiet environment did not. For example, in a quiet environment, you occasionally still hear sounds, but it's rare enough…

This isn't about Asimov, but purposely introducing noise showed up on HN earlier this year.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5325012

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#44

Post by stevenrace »

I have a problem with spoken words, not 'noise'.

I'm quickly removed from 'The Zone' when my brain starts to unconsciously process speech. Indistinct chatter, environmental noise, loud instrumental music, etc aren't bothersome. In fact my best sessions occur in bars, on public transit, or outside.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#45

Post by HCIdivision17 »

agumonkey wrote: post #18
HCIdivision17 wrote: post #9

I'll bite. From my biased viewpoint, based on who complains most, people prefer the quiet more as they get older. Kids don't seem to care, middle aged prefer some separation, and my elders can be derailed by a greeting. I've always assumed it was the skill to tune out, but perhaps theirs are weightier thoughts. Personally, I need some mindless noise in the background, but nothing with any meaningful signal. The noise…

In the noise/age relation lies a little frequency thing, when you don't have regular event of mind-flow, you care about not disrupting them. A dev I know and I experienced another strong disrupting setup: having unsimilarly thinking person near you (colleagues, parents). Their mere presence shuts you down even if they make no sound. As soon as they left, your mind fills the room. Comparing airport (place) with train…

You're absolutely right about the comparison. My bad.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#46

Post by vilhelm_s »

IvyMike wrote: post #21

So I can't find an online reference to this anywhere, but years ago I read a relevant anecdote about (I'm pretty sure) Isaac Asimov. He used to go into the most noisy environments he could find to write; places like a noisy restaurant or cafe. He found that this forced him to focus in a way that a quiet environment did not. For example, in a quiet environment, you occasionally still hear sounds, but it's rare enough…

Apparently the same was true for John von Neumann. Wikipedia says he

> did some of his best work blazingly fast in noisy, chaotic environments, and once admonished his wife for preparing a quiet study for him to work in. He never used it, preferring the couple's living room with its TV playing loudly.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#47

Post by anaphor »

sirgawain33 wrote: post #7

Interesting, but plenty of examples of just the opposite. "Von Neumann ... received complaints for regularly playing extremely loud German marching music on his gramophone, which distracted those in neighbouring offices, including Einstein, from their work. Von Neumann did some of his best work blazingly fast in noisy, chaotic environments, and once admonished his wife for preparing a quiet study for him to work in.…

He also got very little sleep apparently (This is according to Turing's Cathedral by George Dyson), which we also know to cause a drop in productivity/thinking skills for most people.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#48

Post by leoh »

Noise is a big deal for some people. It's one of the reasons why I dropped out of Columbia a few years ago. Not something I regret, but I can't help but wonder if quiet, still places are a cornerstone of the most innovative societies. A cornerstone of successful lives. Not quiet all the time. Not faccistic silence. Gentle, comfortable, quiet places to come to for a few hours a day to help cultivate peace in the mind. For if we see everything through a filter, as many of us claim, I think noise, disturbance disrupts the milieu our through which our senses travel.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#49

Post by HCIdivision17 »

crazygringo wrote: post #22
hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'll bite. From my biased viewpoint, based on who complains most, people prefer the quiet more as they get older. Kids don't seem to care, middle aged prefer some separation, and my elders can be derailed by a greeting. Or maybe, older people complain more about noise because they actually know what sane conditions are and how life was back when ADD wasn't a thing yet.

I was going to say something similar -- that it might not be because of age, but rather intelligence and self-awareness. "Kids don't seem to care", but kids also often don't have the slightest idea of what's good for them. They might prefer to study with the TV on instead of in silence, but that doesn't mean their studying isn't worse because of it.

My thought (ha!) is that as one ages, there's just more context to swap into to think about something. Kids can flit about because everything around them doesn't overwhelm with context, whereas the elderly have experienced enough that any context switch carries a burdensome overhead. (That's what I meant by weighty thoughts.)

I don't think intelligence has too much to do with it, except perhaps in overall speed in coping / filtering. (But here I'm just arguing about the number of teeth in a horse; the empiricist in me would like to be able to spend a few weeks with an academic article subscription to just survey the experiments that have been done. I bet there are lots!)

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#50

Post by eru »

hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #16
HCIdivision17 wrote: post #9

I'll bite. From my biased viewpoint, based on who complains most, people prefer the quiet more as they get older. Kids don't seem to care, middle aged prefer some separation, and my elders can be derailed by a greeting. I've always assumed it was the skill to tune out, but perhaps theirs are weightier thoughts. Personally, I need some mindless noise in the background, but nothing with any meaningful signal. The noise…

> I'll bite. From my biased viewpoint, based on who complains most, people prefer the quiet more as they get older. Kids don't seem to care, middle aged prefer some separation, and my elders can be derailed by a greeting. Or maybe, older people complain more about noise because they actually know what sane conditions are and how life was back when ADD wasn't a thing yet.

I read about some interview with people from before cars were common. They liked how much cleaner and quieter (!) the streets were with cars than with horses.
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