4 ms·

Obviously this is not the intent of the article, but it would be interesting to compare actual decibel levels of the mediaeval world and today. I strongly suspe

by NeoTar 3y ago

Obviously this is not the intent of the article, but it would be interesting to compare actual decibel levels of the mediaeval world and today. I strongly suspect that despite all of the sources of noise noted, the world would on average have been much quieter.

Cthulhu_ 3y ago
I mean the population and therefore population density was a fraction of what it is today, so of course it would be quieter.
- dexwiz 3y ago
  That logic doesn’t quite follow because even if overall population is higher, high density living situations are not new. I imagine the inside of a long house in the early evening would have been filled with animal, child, and work sounds. Definitely louder than my modern single family kitchen.
  - randomdata 3y ago
    The context specifies a world average, though. Back then cities were more dense and, as well, individual households were more dense. It is possible, maybe even likely, that those pockets would measure louder than anything we're accustomed to today. But, at the same time, you would also have more places completely free of human activity to balance that out and then some when computing an average.
    - watwut 3y ago
      People had a lot more kids and those kids were around all the time. Just cry from babies and toddlers must have been around much more then today - today you barely ever hear it and many adults are unable to handle hearing it.
  - mdp2021 3y ago
    > That logic doesn’t quite follow No, it is that you assumed "typical environment". 8 billion today vs one third of a billion one thousand years ago: the place has gotten crowded. Which also means, must have been much easier in the past to isolate oneself, within reasonable horse distance. Nowadays, many countries are simply clogged with presence and to find a "desert" is almost impossible (also considering air traffic).
    - watwut 3y ago
      The limit on isolation was your survival. As in, it was not easy to survive isolated. Pretty much any land you go to belonged to someone who has own opinions on land use. And also, horses were expensive.
version_five 3y ago
I wonder if there are better ways for comparing sounds levels in relation to human comfort. I think variety, pitch, information content, etc are often more important then sound power. Like the old thing about whispering being more disturbing than quiet talking. Or personally I'm way more annoyed by bass from my shitty neighbors playing music in the middle of the night than something like the air conditioner which is louder.

by NeoTar 3y ago

Cthulhu_ 3y ago

I mean the population and therefore population density was a fraction of what it is today, so of course it would be quieter.

dexwiz 3y ago
That logic doesn’t quite follow because even if overall population is higher, high density living situations are not new. I imagine the inside of a long house in the early evening would have been filled with animal, child, and work sounds. Definitely louder than my modern single family kitchen.
- randomdata 3y ago
  The context specifies a world average, though. Back then cities were more dense and, as well, individual households were more dense. It is possible, maybe even likely, that those pockets would measure louder than anything we're accustomed to today. But, at the same time, you would also have more places completely free of human activity to balance that out and then some when computing an average.
  - watwut 3y ago
    People had a lot more kids and those kids were around all the time. Just cry from babies and toddlers must have been around much more then today - today you barely ever hear it and many adults are unable to handle hearing it.
- mdp2021 3y ago
  > That logic doesn’t quite follow No, it is that you assumed "typical environment". 8 billion today vs one third of a billion one thousand years ago: the place has gotten crowded. Which also means, must have been much easier in the past to isolate oneself, within reasonable horse distance. Nowadays, many countries are simply clogged with presence and to find a "desert" is almost impossible (also considering air traffic).
  - watwut 3y ago
    The limit on isolation was your survival. As in, it was not easy to survive isolated. Pretty much any land you go to belonged to someone who has own opinions on land use. And also, horses were expensive.

version_five 3y ago

I wonder if there are better ways for comparing sounds levels in relation to human comfort. I think variety, pitch, information content, etc are often more important then sound power. Like the old thing about whispering being more disturbing than quiet talking. Or personally I'm way more annoyed by bass from my shitty neighbors playing music in the middle of the night than something like the air conditioner which is louder.