Why do I like White noise & tumble dryers

Factual Questions
1

I just love the noise of a vacum cleaner in full swing. A washing machine is my favourite sound when I am trying to think things through. White noise on the telly helps me relax.

From what I can find out everybody else hates these sounds. Why am I different?

I saw a reality-T.V program on television where members of the public were put on a two-week S.A.S training course. In one task they had to get from one part of a hilly woodland area to another without being spotted. If they were caught they were took to a fake interrogation room and subjected to white noise being blasted out of stereos at high volume. The training guy said that the sound un-nerves people. I just thought to myself " Man that would be great, I could listen to that stuff forever."

I seem to get slightly hypnotised by these noises. I get goose-pimples and shivers up my back, and I like shivers and goose-pimples.

If I am using the Hoover for it’s intended job this won’t happen but if I left it switched on and sat on the couch I will go into a dreamy and yet focused state of mind. If I can’t sleep then white noise will lull me there if thats what I want it to do. I think it is maybe a frequency thing. Perhaps certain noises cut-off the parts of my brain that are running simultaneous thoughts and ideas, but leaves me with a couple with which to concentrate on.

I can snap out of this at will, but I will sometimes just listen to the shower or vacum cleaner for perhaps an excessive amount of time. I know it wastes electricity but is there something more sinister going on here?

I remember when I worked as an apprentice electrician we would sometime be carrying out jobs in masive plant rooms. There would be pumps and motors running constantly, air conditioners from different parts of the building pumping blasts of hot and cold air into the room. It would be like heaven for me but I don’t think it helped my work rate.

It can’t be just me, is there any women out there who maybe allow the hair-dryer to linger on for a while even after the hair is dry or men who stare into space for a few minutes while the power washer is dangled at their side spraying an already too clean spot?

2

You’re not alone. When I need to concentrate I have to have a fan on…no music, tv or silence…helps me focus better. I usually have a rain tape playing when I go to sleep. If I could stand to have a clothes dryer in my bedroom…that would be the best. The shower is perfect white noise.
When I was in school I would go to live music venues to write papers, could always find a ‘quiet’ corner to write and think. Course it had to be a band I wasn’t too fond of.
I don’t get the ‘goose bumps and shivers’ effect, just find it very relaxing.
I think you’re right about it cutting out all the extra chatter in the brain.
If the S.A.S wanted to interrogate me, they could leave me in a sound-proofed room alone with no distraction and I’d be coughing up state secrets in a second. White noise? no problem, interrogate away.

3

I occasionally used to read in my mother’s laundry room, perched on top of the dryer. I found both the noise and the warm, moist air rising from the machine relaxing. Nowadays, I sometimes put on CDs of thunderstorms or running water while reading, which is almost like white noise. It works for times when I don’t want to listen to music but need something to block out the irritating city noise.

4

I keep a little air filter next to my bed for use at night… not because the air is dirty, but the whir of the little fan and motor knocks me right out.

5

I’m the same way. I sleep better when it’s raining or when the dryer’s going. My girlfriend had an interesting take on it. She thought it was probably a holdover from the sounds of bieng in the womb, but that’s just a wild-asses guess.

6

Darn, I can’t find a cite on it at this time. But isn’t this phenomenon related to the relaxing effect the sound of a mothers heart beat has on an infant?
I know constant hums like the sound of a fan or air conditioner put me in a tranquil state of mind. (this one will sound weird) when I was a kid the sound of the machine that dated book cards in mass quantity had the same effect. That “whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr” sound.

I doubt that the white noise used in interogations is the same though.