Jan, this is such a brilliantly written and thought provoking piece! Silence for me as well has been an absolutely necessity, and I could resonate with what you have written.
Growing up in Manhattan, I was acculturated to a constant background noise. It didn't feature loud, abrupt bursts of sound. It was just there and very familiar...so that when I moved away I missed it and found the lack of it "disquieting."
I LOVE this post! I wish I could read that Atlantic article, but also don't have a subscription...some are free though, so I'll try.
I do prefer quiet, but also don't mind the sound of city noise. The place you lived in Idaho looks extraordinary! In my next (and final home), I hope to have some property with lots of trees and more sounds of nature than anything else.
Hey did you attend the Black & Blue concert in 1980? Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult. I was there. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, REO Speedwagon, Rush, and my favorite, the scorpions. Those were my high school soundtracks. 😁
I've always yearned towards silence. I grew up in a huge, loud family that I loved and still love but I learned early on to insulated myself in a crowd. It's hard to unlearn. I have to remind myself to play music which I love. My ears have grown more sensitive rather than less over time. I asked the doctor if this meant I was getting ready to go deaf and my ears were trying to pick up everything they could ahead of that. Turns out, no. Hyperacusis is a "psychological" diagnosis. So now I don't mention it much and just pack ear plugs.
I do think the ability to create a sound -buffer may be linked to income or, if you live in a rural area, maybe not as much.
I take the quiet any time. This morning here in Hailey, Idaho, it was snowing, again. I didn't think the snow was affecting the visibility, but it was. There were NO airplanes, ( which I don't mind, I wonder, why). It made me stop, think, listen = quiet. I enjoyed my coffee in silence. Thanks again Dr. Jan P for your insightful, entertaining posting. Keep them coming. Renae
Omg I read that Atlantic article earlier this morning. How weird. If you still need it, I have a sub but I don’t know how that works--can you still see it from a link? ANYWAY I’m obsessed with noise pollution right now. And no, I don’t agree with with that article.
Quiet is a luxury, for me. I don’t need or seek it out. But when I have it, I luxuriate in it. Thanks for a thoughtful piece.
Hi, Jan. Wanted to share a cool resource regarding accessing websites that have a pay wall. In more cases than not, 12ft.io can be used to remove it. Sharing the article hosted on The Atlantic that you are hoping to read: https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fmagazine%2Farchive%2F2022%2F09%2Flet-brooklyn-be-loud%2F670600%2F (pay wall removed via 12ft.io). Hope this helps!
Jan, this is such a brilliantly written and thought provoking piece! Silence for me as well has been an absolutely necessity, and I could resonate with what you have written.
Growing up in Manhattan, I was acculturated to a constant background noise. It didn't feature loud, abrupt bursts of sound. It was just there and very familiar...so that when I moved away I missed it and found the lack of it "disquieting."
Wait, you told the movie theater to turn the sound down? We can no longer be friends. ;)
I LOVE this post! I wish I could read that Atlantic article, but also don't have a subscription...some are free though, so I'll try.
I do prefer quiet, but also don't mind the sound of city noise. The place you lived in Idaho looks extraordinary! In my next (and final home), I hope to have some property with lots of trees and more sounds of nature than anything else.
Unique. I’ll take it!
Hey did you attend the Black & Blue concert in 1980? Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult. I was there. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, REO Speedwagon, Rush, and my favorite, the scorpions. Those were my high school soundtracks. 😁
I've always yearned towards silence. I grew up in a huge, loud family that I loved and still love but I learned early on to insulated myself in a crowd. It's hard to unlearn. I have to remind myself to play music which I love. My ears have grown more sensitive rather than less over time. I asked the doctor if this meant I was getting ready to go deaf and my ears were trying to pick up everything they could ahead of that. Turns out, no. Hyperacusis is a "psychological" diagnosis. So now I don't mention it much and just pack ear plugs.
I do think the ability to create a sound -buffer may be linked to income or, if you live in a rural area, maybe not as much.
I take the quiet any time. This morning here in Hailey, Idaho, it was snowing, again. I didn't think the snow was affecting the visibility, but it was. There were NO airplanes, ( which I don't mind, I wonder, why). It made me stop, think, listen = quiet. I enjoyed my coffee in silence. Thanks again Dr. Jan P for your insightful, entertaining posting. Keep them coming. Renae
Omg I read that Atlantic article earlier this morning. How weird. If you still need it, I have a sub but I don’t know how that works--can you still see it from a link? ANYWAY I’m obsessed with noise pollution right now. And no, I don’t agree with with that article.