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A decade ago I remember reading that if you’re in the jungle and an apex predator is spotted, it gets relatively quiet, so from an evolutionary perspective quie

A decade ago I remember reading that if you’re in the jungle and an apex predator is spotted, it gets relatively quiet, so from an evolutionary perspective quiet signals danger and induces stress. Sounds reasonable to me, can’t speak to how valid it is though.

tantalor 5y ago
That's the opposite of what happens in video games like Subnautica, the dramatic music starts playing when the big baddy is about to attack!
- user-the-name 5y ago
  Seems like gradually making the game quieter would be far better for building tension.
- GloriousKoji 5y ago
  I'm trying to thing of cases where it gets quieter when there's more danger but the only one I can think of is The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. When you enter the boss chamber in a dungeon the music is stopped until you perform an action to trigger the boss appearance.
KineticLensman 5y ago
> A decade ago I remember reading that if you’re in the jungle and an apex predator is spotted, it gets relatively quiet, so from an evolutionary perspective quiet signals danger and induces stress. Sounds reasonable to me, can’t speak to how valid it is though. Many animals will make alarm calls [0] when they sense a predator, sometimes in multi-species groups. A few animals have alarm calls specific to different types of predator such as leopards, snakes and eagles [0]. In my own garden, I can often tell when a cat has entered by the alarm calls emitted by blackbirds and sometimes even squirrels. So I'm not sure about this quiet jungle thing. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alarm_signal#Vervet_monkeys https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alarm_signal#Vervet_monkeys
- tzs 5y ago
  > Many animals will make alarm calls [0] when they sense a predator, sometimes in multi-species groups. Some animals have learned that other animals will respond to their alarm calls, and they can use this to scare away those other animals. Here's a bird doing that to get meerkats to run away, leaving the food they just dug up for the bird to take [0]. That isn't the only trick animals play on others with sound. Here's a Steller's jay mimicking the sound of a hawk, the scare other birds away from a feeder [2]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEYCjJqr21A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEYCjJqr21A [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_lEBQtW46o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_lEBQtW46o

tantalor 5y ago

That's the opposite of what happens in video games like Subnautica, the dramatic music starts playing when the big baddy is about to attack!

user-the-name 5y ago
Seems like gradually making the game quieter would be far better for building tension.
GloriousKoji 5y ago
I'm trying to thing of cases where it gets quieter when there's more danger but the only one I can think of is The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. When you enter the boss chamber in a dungeon the music is stopped until you perform an action to trigger the boss appearance.

KineticLensman 5y ago

> A decade ago I remember reading that if you’re in the jungle and an apex predator is spotted, it gets relatively quiet, so from an evolutionary perspective quiet signals danger and induces stress. Sounds reasonable to me, can’t speak to how valid it is though. Many animals will make alarm calls [0] when they sense a predator, sometimes in multi-species groups. A few animals have alarm calls specific to different types of predator such as leopards, snakes and eagles [0]. In my own garden, I can often tell when a cat has entered by the alarm calls emitted by blackbirds and sometimes even squirrels. So I'm not sure about this quiet jungle thing. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alarm_signal#Vervet_monkeys https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alarm_signal#Vervet_monkeys

tzs 5y ago
> Many animals will make alarm calls [0] when they sense a predator, sometimes in multi-species groups. Some animals have learned that other animals will respond to their alarm calls, and they can use this to scare away those other animals. Here's a bird doing that to get meerkats to run away, leaving the food they just dug up for the bird to take [0]. That isn't the only trick animals play on others with sound. Here's a Steller's jay mimicking the sound of a hawk, the scare other birds away from a feeder [2]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEYCjJqr21A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEYCjJqr21A [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_lEBQtW46o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_lEBQtW46o