# noise pollution
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [October 14, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608 "2011-10-14T05:56:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/1 "2011-10-14T05:56:27Z")
noise really bothers me …i don’t go to the theater because it’s too hard on my ears …i left zumba tonight because the music hurt my ears …i don’t want to hear my neighbor’s music …even when it isn’t played loud …the last blues concert i went to i wore earplugs …
why do i feel like the only one …
it is very frustrating …
i know i can wear earplugs to zumba …but going beyond that …i just feel it is wrong to play such loud music …it seems there is no respect when it comes to noise …
anyone have this problem …?
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/2 "2011-10-14T12:32:53Z")
I don’t mind loud _signals,_ but I don’t like background noise.
I love hearing and _feeling_ the Blue Angels roar past at an air show.
I’m annoyed by the refrigerator humming away in the kitchen during a quiet part of a movie on TV.
I love loud music in my car; I hate the rattles and squeaks that develop in the chassis as the car ages.
My wife doesn’t seem to like anything loud. Wanna watch Top Gun? Better turn down the volume during the ACM engagements. Wanna watch The Matrix? Oooh, that lobby gun battle is _waaaay_ too loud. :rolleyes:
[sub]But that’s why we have four speakers and a giant fucking subwoofer…[/sub]
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### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/3 "2011-10-14T16:25:26Z")
Some people are more sensitive to noise than others, **Olives.** Could be that your ears just work better\* than most folks’s do, could be that you have sensory processing issues, could be a lot of things.
Nothin’ wrong with wearing earplugs when you want ‘em. Nothin’ wrong with playing “such loud music” either, for the record.
- if we were still all hunters and gatherers on the savannah, your hearing would be an advantageous trait.
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### Author:  [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/4 "2011-10-14T16:31:53Z")
“If it’s too loud, you’re too old” Yes sadly I am. I used to love concerts and now don’t really want to bother with all that racket. But my music, in my car - I love some volume. Plus I have to be in the mood for loud. When my husband is gone, the house is completely silent and that’s how I like it. Boy does he like it loud - he is definitely not too old, despite being 5 yrs older than me.
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### Author:  [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/5 "2011-10-14T16:33:22Z")
The problem I always have with people who enjoy loud noises/music/blah/whatever (I am not one of them. I create very little noise and enjoy quiet), is that they always seem to feel that their “right” to loud music/parties out of doors after midnight/etc trumps my right to not have to hear their loud music/party/whatever.
Frustrating. Fortunately, the town I live in has a noise ordinance and I can actually call and have the police show up at said parties.
Also, car alarms should be illegal. I’ve never seen or heard of anyone ever actually reacting to one in a way that would prevent a car from being stolen. All they do is set off countless false alarms, create noise pollution, and desensitize people to alarm sounds.
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### Author:  [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/6 "2011-10-14T16:49:44Z")
I was just thinking today of starting this very thread. Why do some (most?) people seem to have the need for constant background noise? There seems to be a radio, TV or muzak playing _everywhere_. I have to be home alone or in my car to get any peace and quiet.
My husband is a bit hard of hearing so I am constantly telling him to turn down the dam TV. I’m two rooms away and it’s too loud. Don’t get me stared on the gym. At least the one I go to doesn’t usually have horrid music and I can usually drown it out with headphones so that at least I listen to something I like. The worst is in their locker room. There is the public address system blaring something, plus there are TWO (2) televisions. WTF? Why do we need that?
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### Author:  [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/7 "2011-10-14T17:04:03Z")
I’m another noise-hater. I wear earplugs to the movies, those ones that supposedly reduce background noise by 32 decibels. And you know what? I never miss a single word of the dialogue. What on earth could be the reason they are broadcast so loud? I haven’t been to a live music event in years for the same reason. That loud, it is actively unpleasant, no matter how much I like the music. And I’ve been like this since I was a kid, so it’s nothing to do with “too old.”
And I hate, hate, hate what **Machine Elf** describes, _feeling_ really loud sounds. Subwoofers make me stabby.
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### Author:  [@NoiseBomb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoiseBomb)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/8 "2011-10-17T03:57:14Z")
> [@MLS](#):
>
> I was just thinking today of starting this very thread. Why do some (most?) people seem to have the need for constant background noise? There seems to be a radio, TV or muzak playing _everywhere_. I have to be home alone or in my car to get any peace and quiet.
I often do because it drowns out my tinnitus. This is necessary to keep the stabby moods at bay when it starts acting up. However, I do have it a reasonable volume - it only needs to be louder than that EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE noise.
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### Author:  [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/9 "2011-10-17T17:47:51Z")
> [@NoiseBomb](#):
>
> I often do because it drowns out my tinnitus. This is necessary to keep the stabby moods at bay when it starts acting up. However, I do have it a reasonable volume - it only needs to be louder than that EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE noise.
Well, that’s reasonable, but I find it difficult to believe that the majority of people have this issue. My sympathies, BTW; that sounds really difficult to tolerate.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/10 "2011-10-17T17:55:02Z")
Background sound makes me crazy.
If I had a fish tank they’d die. I’d surely turn it off and forget to turn it back on. Fans? After not too long, I’d rather have quiet. Air conditioning? Just a noise to distract you from the heat!
My hubby will have the tv on, at his computer, while he’s listening to music. It makes me batty. When he’s gone for the day, I turn everything off and just enjoy the quiet. How lovely.
How loud is too loud is, of course, extremely objective. But if it’s too loud, I have to leave, can’t stay, gotta go.
You’re not the only one, I promise!
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/11 "2011-10-17T18:14:46Z")
You should try listening to rock and roll.
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### Author:  [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/12 "2011-10-17T19:43:52Z")
Actually, I do. At select times of my own choosing, usually when I want to actually listen to it, not as background. I have on occasion driven fast with all the windows open and music blaring, and singing along as loud as I can. I am alone in the car at those times, however, being generally considerate of others. And I turn it down when I’m not on the open road.
Being forced to endure heavy metal noise just because I want to shop for a gift for my daugher is cruel and unusual punishment, however.
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/13 "2011-10-17T20:03:47Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#):
>
> And I hate, hate, hate what **Machine Elf** describes, _feeling_ really loud sounds. Subwoofers make me stabby.
Yep. I try to be tolerant, but my upstairs neighbor was playing music since about noon yesterday. Not loud enough to be a huge problem, but just loud enough to vibrate my molars. At about 9:00 I was going to up to say something, and just when I put on my shoes it stopped.
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/14 "2011-10-17T20:07:53Z")
> [@elbows](#):
>
> Background sound makes me crazy.
Me, too. I cannot read or write or work when people are playing music–even softly–or talking on their cell phones. I wish to heck I _could_, but my tiny brain gets so easily derailed.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/15 "2011-10-17T21:06:03Z")
Glad to hear it’s not just me. I am astounded that people can read with a tv on.
Sorry, no can do.
Whereas I can easily follow two or three conversations at a time. Guess that’s a different skill.
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/16 "2011-10-17T23:56:02Z")
> [@MLS](#):
>
> Actually, I do. At select times of my own choosing, usually when I want to actually listen to it, not as background. I have on occasion driven fast with all the windows open and music blaring, and singing along as loud as I can. I am alone in the car at those times, however, being generally considerate of others. And I turn it down when I’m not on the open road.
>
> Being forced to endure heavy metal noise just because I want to shop for a gift for my daugher is cruel and unusual punishment, however.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/biMGUTpISFo?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque
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### Author:  [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/17 "2011-10-18T00:09:38Z")
And more and more places have TVs on display, always going: airports, banks, my doctor’s office (!), fast food places. Nobody is ever watching them, so it must just be for the noise. Yargh.
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### Author:  [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/18 "2011-10-18T00:19:16Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#):
>
> And more and more places have TVs on display, always going: airports, banks, my doctor’s office (!), fast food places. Nobody is ever watching them, so it must just be for the noise. Yargh.
that really bothers me too …especially the dr’s office…
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/19 "2011-10-18T00:37:28Z")
I have always thought that fast-food places have music all the time specifically to make it hard for people to sit and chit-chat, and otherwise generally make it less pleasant to hang around than it might otherwise be. This, to keep customers from lollying about longer that it takes to eat and leave. I don’t think you’d ever hear piped-in music at any finer sit-down restaurant.
Did you know there is a political activist site for noise abatement? Check out [Noise Pollution Clearinghouse](http://www.nonoise.org/) (ETA: This site has been around for several years at least, and I don’t know how active this group is these days.)
People with Asperger’s syndrome are often hyper-sensitive to noise, too.
ETA: And as for those [language suitable only for the PIT] car alarms, I’d like to [language probably not even allowed in the PIT]!!!
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-pollution/599608/20 "2011-10-18T01:09:59Z")
> [@elbows](#):
>
> Glad to hear it’s not just me. I am astounded that people can read with a tv on.
Oh, you just reminded me! My laudromat has the TV on–really loud, usually to the most annoying possible shows–when I am stuck there for 90 minutes every weekend. I sit there with the Sunday _Times_, reading the same paragraph over and over and over again, and when no one is looking, I sneak over and turn the TV off. It gets turned on again within five minutes. Drives me turtle-stomping _mad_.
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