3 ms·

Nice philosophising, but it's vehicles. Primarily cars, but not only. By far the most common and the loudest source of noise, especially in cities, are vehicle

by oblio 6mo ago

Nice philosophising, but it's vehicles. Primarily cars, but not only. By far the most common and the loudest source of noise, especially in cities, are vehicles, again, primarily cars. During the pandemic it became painfully obvious how loud cars are. Every time a city closes down streets, the same thing can be noticed. It can be shocking to some, but even the most crowded places on the planet are quite silent when vehicles aren't around. There are some minor exceptions like concerts (duh!) or other huge public gatherings where the noise is the point. It's going to take a really long time to heal this wound.

Tade0 6mo ago
> By far the most common and the loudest source of noise, especially in cities, are vehicles, again, primarily cars. Hugely depends on the city. Where I live it's the cargo trains and airliners. Congestion is too severe for anyone to make significant noise, unless they have modified/dysfunctional exhausts or particularly large engines.
- oblio 6mo ago
  True, but the radius affected by airliners is generally much smaller. Once they're higher than a few thousand meters, you can't really hear them any more. Cargo trains, I imagine it's similar. > Congestion is too severe for anyone to make significant noise, unless they have modified/dysfunctional exhausts or particularly large engines. Large numbers of cars idling make enough noise to basically rival human conversations at regular speech levels. Anything above that (usually anything higher than 30kmph) makes it even worse. I'm not sure it's exponential, but I think it increases supra-linearly afterwards.
dec0dedab0de 6mo ago
Nice philosophising, but it's vehicles. Primarily cars, but not only. Around here cars are more common, but quiet enough that I rarely notice. Trucks, motorcycles, quads, trains, and boats are all significantly noisier.
duskdozer 6mo ago
Even quite a distance away I hear constant noise from a highway. It's a bit surprising too just how loud and for how long you can hear the cars and motorcycles they mod to be even louder, even through walls and windows.
pandaman 6mo ago
I don't know where you live, but I have lived in a few cities in the US and cars don't make much noise by themselves, other than people turning music up inside the cars. Car music, in turn, is eclipsed by people turning up music from their homes, which is outpaced by people just screaming on the streets or inside venues.
- oblio 6mo ago
  Use your favorite chatbot to find out how much noise cars make, at different speeds. And they make that noise constantly. I don't know where you live but people can't scream constantly unless you live in some sort of bazaar.
  - pandaman 6mo ago
    As I am not a bot, I can hear things myself without hallucinating chatbots. Try arguing instead of being a redditor.
    - oblio 6mo ago
      There are studies about it[1]. Spend 5 minutes researching instead of being a cranky techbro. A <single> car at 40kmph, and there are a ton more cars on the road than trucks or trains or whatever, already drowns out the average human conversation (68+dB vs ~65dB). And most roads are rated for 50kmph or even higher, even in city centres. Cars are the main noise pollutant in every city in the world (and not only in cities). They raise the baseline noise levels from comparable to forests (~45dB) to louder than the average conversation (~65dB), and they raise that level <everywhere> they go, and they go everywhere, almost all the time. You're looking at outliers with trucks & co, but those are just that, outliers. They're loud and stressful, but they're not there all the time, everywhere. I'm glad you still have functional ears, though. [1] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sanja-Grubesa/publication/342379310/figure/fig11/AS:905497792233477@1592898905035/Noise-levels-for-different-types-of-vehicles-depending-on-their-speed-17.ppm https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sanja-Grubesa/publicati... [2] Also double LOL at "redditor" insults :-)))
ButlerianJihad 6mo ago
I live in an apartment that's sandwiched between a freight train line and a light rail track that is on a 6-lane stroad. The noise from all of that is highly filtered and attenuated, and I consider it calming and soothing (90% of the time anyway.) Most of my life I've used public transit, but I've also been a motorist and a vehicle owner. Looking back on my long rides on the train and bus, I began to miss them, because they are (70% of the time) an opportunity for stillness, solitude, and contemplation. I can be alone with God and the angels and I don't need to stress about driving or traffic or navigating anything but my own mindscape. Riding around in taxis more often these days, it really puts on pressure and a rush. The taxis arrive way way faster than any bus. They put me on someone else's schedule when they arrive to pick me up and rush me somewhere, going at or above every speed limit. If there is a human driver, then there is some forced, awkward social interaction, and sometimes an incipient scam as a bonus! It is why a lot of urban people take up walking, even getting a pet dog as an excuse to go walking on the regular, because walking is likewise low-stress, an opportunity for solitude and contemplation. I like white noise and I like background noise. I can be alone in a busy nightclub or restaurant where there is pleasant, amiable background chatter of many people and instrumental music. I have slept inside elevators and on park benches outdoors. I also enjoy libraries, which are not always temples of silence, but at least calm and relaxing atmospheres conducive to thinking and studying. Yeah, radio and TV can really get to me sometimes. The speech pressures and high-anxiety of capitalist swine trying to shove words into my ears, it hurts. More often I find myself seeking out Jesus in a silent Adoration chapel. It's become the best way to simply listen and open myself up to the numinous.
xnx 6mo ago
Lawn care: mowers and blowers. Loud, polluting, waste of time, money, and water to maintain America's largest "crop", turfgrass. Would be immeasurably better to have something even remotely native that supported pollinators and birds.

by oblio 6mo ago

Tade0 6mo ago

> By far the most common and the loudest source of noise, especially in cities, are vehicles, again, primarily cars. Hugely depends on the city. Where I live it's the cargo trains and airliners. Congestion is too severe for anyone to make significant noise, unless they have modified/dysfunctional exhausts or particularly large engines.

oblio 6mo ago
True, but the radius affected by airliners is generally much smaller. Once they're higher than a few thousand meters, you can't really hear them any more. Cargo trains, I imagine it's similar. > Congestion is too severe for anyone to make significant noise, unless they have modified/dysfunctional exhausts or particularly large engines. Large numbers of cars idling make enough noise to basically rival human conversations at regular speech levels. Anything above that (usually anything higher than 30kmph) makes it even worse. I'm not sure it's exponential, but I think it increases supra-linearly afterwards.

dec0dedab0de 6mo ago

Nice philosophising, but it's vehicles. Primarily cars, but not only. Around here cars are more common, but quiet enough that I rarely notice. Trucks, motorcycles, quads, trains, and boats are all significantly noisier.

duskdozer 6mo ago

Even quite a distance away I hear constant noise from a highway. It's a bit surprising too just how loud and for how long you can hear the cars and motorcycles they mod to be even louder, even through walls and windows.

pandaman 6mo ago

I don't know where you live, but I have lived in a few cities in the US and cars don't make much noise by themselves, other than people turning music up inside the cars. Car music, in turn, is eclipsed by people turning up music from their homes, which is outpaced by people just screaming on the streets or inside venues.

oblio 6mo ago
Use your favorite chatbot to find out how much noise cars make, at different speeds. And they make that noise constantly. I don't know where you live but people can't scream constantly unless you live in some sort of bazaar.
- pandaman 6mo ago
  As I am not a bot, I can hear things myself without hallucinating chatbots. Try arguing instead of being a redditor.
  - oblio 6mo ago
    There are studies about it[1]. Spend 5 minutes researching instead of being a cranky techbro. A <single> car at 40kmph, and there are a ton more cars on the road than trucks or trains or whatever, already drowns out the average human conversation (68+dB vs ~65dB). And most roads are rated for 50kmph or even higher, even in city centres. Cars are the main noise pollutant in every city in the world (and not only in cities). They raise the baseline noise levels from comparable to forests (~45dB) to louder than the average conversation (~65dB), and they raise that level <everywhere> they go, and they go everywhere, almost all the time. You're looking at outliers with trucks & co, but those are just that, outliers. They're loud and stressful, but they're not there all the time, everywhere. I'm glad you still have functional ears, though. [1] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sanja-Grubesa/publication/342379310/figure/fig11/AS:905497792233477@1592898905035/Noise-levels-for-different-types-of-vehicles-depending-on-their-speed-17.ppm https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sanja-Grubesa/publicati... [2] Also double LOL at "redditor" insults :-)))

ButlerianJihad 6mo ago

I live in an apartment that's sandwiched between a freight train line and a light rail track that is on a 6-lane stroad. The noise from all of that is highly filtered and attenuated, and I consider it calming and soothing (90% of the time anyway.) Most of my life I've used public transit, but I've also been a motorist and a vehicle owner. Looking back on my long rides on the train and bus, I began to miss them, because they are (70% of the time) an opportunity for stillness, solitude, and contemplation. I can be alone with God and the angels and I don't need to stress about driving or traffic or navigating anything but my own mindscape. Riding around in taxis more often these days, it really puts on pressure and a rush. The taxis arrive way way faster than any bus. They put me on someone else's schedule when they arrive to pick me up and rush me somewhere, going at or above every speed limit. If there is a human driver, then there is some forced, awkward social interaction, and sometimes an incipient scam as a bonus! It is why a lot of urban people take up walking, even getting a pet dog as an excuse to go walking on the regular, because walking is likewise low-stress, an opportunity for solitude and contemplation. I like white noise and I like background noise. I can be alone in a busy nightclub or restaurant where there is pleasant, amiable background chatter of many people and instrumental music. I have slept inside elevators and on park benches outdoors. I also enjoy libraries, which are not always temples of silence, but at least calm and relaxing atmospheres conducive to thinking and studying. Yeah, radio and TV can really get to me sometimes. The speech pressures and high-anxiety of capitalist swine trying to shove words into my ears, it hurts. More often I find myself seeking out Jesus in a silent Adoration chapel. It's become the best way to simply listen and open myself up to the numinous.

xnx 6mo ago

Lawn care: mowers and blowers. Loud, polluting, waste of time, money, and water to maintain America's largest "crop", turfgrass. Would be immeasurably better to have something even remotely native that supported pollinators and birds.