The noise we make is hurting animals. Can we learn to shut up?

Post by xnx » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 12:11 AM UTC

oblio wrote: post #35

everdrive wrote: post #4

Per Blaise Pascal, no they cannot: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” We need to keep growing, building, making, taking. Some people seem to really love the bustle and creative destruction. I'm in my 40s, and I've always hated it. When I was a child, I wondered if when I grew up, I would fit naturally into the world the way that so many others seemed to. The answer…

Nice philosophising, but it's vehicles. Primarily cars, but not only. By far the most common and the loudest source of noise, especially in cities, are vehicles, again, primarily cars. During the pandemic it became painfully obvious how loud cars are. Every time a city closes down streets, the same thing can be noticed. It can be shocking to some, but even the most crowded places on the planet are quite silent when v…

Post by oblio » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 5:50 AM UTC

pandaman wrote: post #54

oblio wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice philosophising, but it's vehicles. Primarily cars, but not only. By far the most common and the loudest source of noise, especially in cities, are vehicles, again, primarily cars. During the pandemic it became painfully obvious how loud cars are. Every time a city closes down streets, the same thing can be noticed. It can be shocking to some, but even the most crowded places on the planet are quite silent when v…

I don't know where you live, but I have lived in a few cities in the US and cars don't make much noise by themselves, other than people turning music up inside the cars. Car music, in turn, is eclipsed by people turning up music from their homes, which is outpaced by people just screaming on the streets or inside venues.

Post by pandaman » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 12:12 PM UTC

oblio wrote: post #63

pandaman wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know where you live, but I have lived in a few cities in the US and cars don't make much noise by themselves, other than people turning music up inside the cars. Car music, in turn, is eclipsed by people turning up music from their homes, which is outpaced by people just screaming on the streets or inside venues.

Use your favorite chatbot to find out how much noise cars make, at different speeds. And they make that noise constantly. I don't know where you live but people can't scream constantly unless you live in some sort of bazaar.

Post by pandaman » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 3:44 PM UTC

oblio wrote: post #66

pandaman wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I am not a bot, I can hear things myself without hallucinating chatbots. Try arguing instead of being a redditor.

There are studies about it[1]. Spend 5 minutes researching instead of being a cranky techbro. A car at 40kmph, and there are a ton more cars on the road than trucks or trains or whatever, already drowns out the average human conversation (68+dB vs ~65dB). And most roads are rated for 50kmph or even higher, even in city centres. Cars are the main noise pollutant in every city in the world (and not only in cities). The…

Post by pandaman » Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 10:28 PM UTC

oblio wrote: post #68

pandaman wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It drowns out average human conversation so what? Are you out of context tokens? We are comparing to people blasting music and screaming, not conversing in normal voice. Your knowledge of physics also seems to be lacking - sound levels depends on distance. Roads are much further away from places where humans and animals live than humans themselves (duh).

Sound levels fall off with distance squared. Also, if you think people can scream constantly, you're sorely mistaken. Ever heard of hoarse voices? Humans can't sustain screaming over long periods of time. Large groups of people can, but then, are we talking about concert venues? Let's be realistic. And regarding music, do you live in the Bronx in the 80s? In most places you can call the cops for music that's too loud…