51–60 of 169 posts
Three generations ago (and all prior generations of humans) had mostly silence. I regularly go and camp, work out there, etc. it’s shocking how different it is.
I question if we are really evolved to handle the world we built.
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With modern (unmodified) cars a lot of the time tyre noise is actually more significant than engine noise, so a switch to electric by itself won't do it.
It depends, rolling noise is more important at high speed, but engine noise is more important at slow speeds. If you are next to a highway, it probably won't make a difference, but if you live in a city with a lot of slow traffic, it will. Also, mopeds, even unmodified ones are way too loud, especially for the speed they are going.
Edit: Source https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Propulsion-noise-the-tyr...
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Only at speed.
At any speed you'd do on a road, even on suburban back roads tyre noise can match or exceed engine noise.
Residential roads here are max 30km/h (18mph) but also often 20km/h (12mph). Slow enough that the EVs should produce less noise, even though both produce tire noise.
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At any speed you'd do on a road, even on suburban back roads tyre noise can match or exceed engine noise.
You didn't specify a speed, so I'm curious how fast are your suburban back roads? I've seen signs from the US that show 40mph speed limits on purely residential back streets which is already faster than I can drive on literally any street within my city. Residential roads here are max 30km/h (18mph) but also often 20km/h (12mph). Slow enough that the EVs should produce less noise, even though both produce tire noise.
COVID brought silence, people enjoyed it, noise can be damaging, so let’s all keep an open ear to the cries of those in need? It’s all true, but it came across a bit jumbled.
The level of ambient noise at my house was shocking. I knew the airplane noise was there - we’re only a few miles from Dulles. The road noise was what shocked me. When people got back to life again, it was almost painful. We’re not near an interstate or anything, just a busy 2-lane suburban road.
I think of ambient silence as the most valuable sound of all. Think about what it'd cost you to get freedom from your neighbor's lawnmower, traffic, sirens, construction, dogs barking, and the rest of the mindless noise that involuntarily assaults the average person's brain all day. You might think you can move out to the country, but most of the homes you might buy still have plenty of it. Neighbors will have bigger…
We already have noise ordinances but police don’t enforce them. It is really hard to prove a person was making a noise I guess. Maybe with the right motivation they could just make certain vehicle modifications entirely illegal. Loud cars and leaf blowers are the bane of my existence.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
With modern (unmodified) cars a lot of the time tyre noise is actually more significant than engine noise, so a switch to electric by itself won't do it.
It depends, rolling noise is more important at high speed, but engine noise is more important at slow speeds. If you are next to a highway, it probably won't make a difference, but if you live in a city with a lot of slow traffic, it will. Also, mopeds, even unmodified ones are way too loud, especially for the speed they are going.
I thought double-pane windows would block city sounds out when I bought my condo. nope. now I wear noise cancelling headphones when I'm home
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More modern trucks use white noise instead of a beep anyway, it's both much easier to tell direction from a broad spectrum sound, and significantly less annoying at the same time.
I've never heard of a truck using white noise instead of a beep, but that might just be working as intended. Here's a video of what it sounds like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rwJ5NCf1Vw
I think I may have heard that noise, and just not known what it was. It could easily be mistaken for some sort of mechanical bit of the truck (slipping belt, various bits and bobs going around in the engine).
Attention. This, too, is a scarce commodity, with all the media competing bitterly for a piece. Watching the melee of money and politics, sports and art, technology, and advertising, leaves little attention leftover. Only the person who turns his back on these overbearing claims on his attention and turns off the roar of the channels can decide for himself what is worth his attention and what is not. In the barrage of arbitrary information our perceptive and cognitive capabilities decline, they grow when we limit our attention to those things and only those things that we ourselves want to see, hear, feel and know. In this we can see an occasion for luxury.
Quiet. This, too, is a basic requirement that has become harder and harder to satisfy. Anyone who wants to escape the everyday din must be very extravagant. In general, apartments cost more the quieter they are; restaurants that do not pour musical pollution into the ears of their guests demand higher prices of their discerning clientele. The raging traffic, the howling sirens, the clatter of helicopters, the neighbor's droning stereo, the month-long roar of the street fair—the person who can elude all of that enjoys luxury.