6 ms·

To be fair when you live in a big city and you have to take the subway all the time, it just feels physically nice to remove the background noise whether it's t

To be fair when you live in a big city and you have to take the subway all the time, it just feels physically nice to remove the background noise whether it's the noise of the train itself or the musicians or the people asking loudly for money. I don't even have airpods, I have good old earplugs because I often too lazy to choose the soundtrack of my own life. It's not that don't want to talk to unknown people, it's that it's more important for me to avoid the unpleasantness of it all. It's all relative of course, I'd take a fast, crowded train any day rather than having to do the good old accelerate-and-stop of a traffic jam/city intersections. I live in a country with somewhat solid social net so I'd actually be in favor or preventing people to ask for money (loudly and in a pathos-optimized voice) in the train. It's generally people who are 1. having other income 2. drug addicts 3. mental issues or a combination of all that. I don't blame them but I wish there was a cruelty-free way of preventing them to do that because I don't think the amount of money they make is worth the amount of inconvenience they cause. Of course they are other ways of making the service better (more trains, closer to each other) but I believe the subway company is already hard at work on that. My point I guess is that it doesn't take much for something to become an unpleasant experience (as anyone who's ever had a significant dose of LSD will tell you) and that's it's easy to blame people (individualistic, selfish blablabla) but system-thinking is how you solve that kind of issue (and it's not easy)

goodmythical 4mo ago
That's kind of the point the article is making though, isn't it? You're making a choice to insulate yourself from your surroundings. That choice has effects on both you and your environment. You see it as a simple salve, but the poor souls you're choosing to ignore see it as a just another bourgeoisie wall. I used to live in a prison. Headphones were a huge fighting issue. People who couldn't afford them would borrow, rent, or steal them. I never saw the point. Humans are a part of nature. I can sleep, eat, shower, and meditate just as well in the middle of a deadly riot (I was once asked by an officer to leave the dining area as they'd maced several people and everyone else had fled while I sat there calmly eating my institutional cheesy cardboard because I was more hungry than bothered by the mace) as I can in a forest or a dead silent bed room. Embracing or shunning the society you live in is a choice. Choosing either has consequences. My choice means that I am often driven to action to contribute to systemic solutions to the pain I see in life. It isn't easy, but I don't think I could live with sticking my fingers in my ears and pretending it isn't happening.
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
- wafflemaker 4mo ago
  In a way you're right, but what you can do comes from a significantly high spiritual development level. For an average Joe it's quite abstract and maybe even unattainable in this life. OTOH, there are people who get sensory overstimulated more easily. Add to that a foreign place, lot of people and chaos around, and even a neurotypical individual can feel anxious. Putting on headphones and playing Chopin is much more effective than breathing and telling yourself "everythings gonna be ok" in a loop. At least in my experience.
  - overfeed 4mo ago
    I believe we wouldn't have a tenth of the chaos we are currently experiencing if people talked to their neighbors and fellow commuters more.
    - wvenable 4mo ago
      With or without headphones, people aren't just chatting around on the subway all the time. I love my headphones and I also chat with my neighbours. This is just the same argument that has been repeated since the dawn of the walkman. 50 years ago when people weren't looking at their iPhones on the bus, they were reading the newspaper or a book. Not a lot has changed.
    - gosub100 4mo ago
      What chaos are you referring to? What do you mean by "chaos"?
- Barbing 4mo ago
  Wow, was it a computer fraud abuse act thing, I mean claimed to be? Obviously nothing violent! Thanks for sharing.
  - IncandescentGas 4mo ago
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
nradov 4mo ago
It's not just a social or class issue. A lot of women wear headphones to discourage creepy men from hitting on them or sexually harassing them. The HN crowd skews toward young men and I think many of you don't understand that some women get this constantly on public transit.
- Mezzie 4mo ago
  Headphones also give an 'excuse'. Some men become really pissy and unstable if they think you're ignoring them, but if you have visible headphones, then you have the excuse of not hearing them.
- WalterBright 4mo ago
  [flagged]
  - mock-possum 4mo ago
    Unwelcome attention is unwelcome attention. The only charitable exceptions might be children and adults with developmental disabilities, who allowably don’t know any better.
    - optimalsolver 4mo ago
      >adults with developmental disabilities, who allowably don’t know any better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb9dV_DP5NI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb9dV_DP5NI
    - WalterBright 4mo ago
      [flagged]
      - mftrhu 4mo ago
        You mean, what about the tall, handsome, well-dressed creepy men? The dichotomy is not conventionally attractive/creepy, it's understands boundaries/creepy.
varispeed 4mo ago
> it just feels physically nice to remove the background noise whether it's the noise I thought about it and I found that after so many years my mind can just fade the noise out and I doesn't bother me at all. It also helped me to hear selectively. On the other hand, when I wear noise cancelling headphones it feels weird, like detached from the reality I am present. Only place I prefer to wear them is open plan office. Too many conversations and many grab attention needlessly.
scoofy 4mo ago
I agree with this comment. Noise canceling headphones is the only reason I’m able to use the bus in SF. The author writes from Germany, which has reasonable social etiquette in place in most cities. That social contract just doesn’t exist in large parts of America. In Chicago, they have a real problem with people smoking on public transportation. They don’t make noise canceling headphones for your lungs yet. The people wearing headphones all day aren’t the ones “losing touch with their neighbors”… no, it’s just that their neighbors are assholes, and they just want to get through the day.
- SequoiaHope 4mo ago
  > They don’t make noise canceling headphones for your lungs yet. Well, they literally do, they’re just absurd: https://www.wired.com/review/review-dyson-zone/ https://www.wired.com/review/review-dyson-zone/
- retired 4mo ago
  Funny, Germany is the only European country where I spotted multiple people using public transport smoking while it was banned.
pwthornton 4mo ago
I wear my AirPods Pro on the train largely for hearing protection. The DC Metro is loud, with or without people making noise in the train. Different train systems have different levels of loud, but when the Metro is flying through a tunnel it is quite loud. I also often have them in while walking around the city for this purpose as well. I usually have the noise canceling off, but if an ambulance or something is coming my way, I quickly click the AirPod to put them into noise canceling mode.
- j_w 4mo ago
  The metro is a much less stressful experience for me with noise cancellation on. Without them the noise in tunnels just makes me anxious. The outside tracks are all fine without them though. And for walking around - it's the traffic noise that bothers me, not people. Traffic noise can just be so loud along some roads (and at certain times of day) that it makes me not want to walk at all.
  - pwthornton 4mo ago
    Traffic and honking can be quite annoying. I find the AirPods Pro knock down quick a bit of noise even when off just because of their tips, but when I want it even quieter I use the noise canceling. Some places aren’t loud but most U.S. cities are. I’m going to Paris this summer, and I probably won’t use AirPods while walking around.
    - retired 4mo ago
      Paris is one of the loudest cities in Europe that I experienced. Bring your noice cancelling headphones. https://leva-eu.com/europes-10-noisiest-cities-revealed/ https://leva-eu.com/europes-10-noisiest-cities-revealed/

goodmythical 4mo ago

That's kind of the point the article is making though, isn't it? You're making a choice to insulate yourself from your surroundings. That choice has effects on both you and your environment. You see it as a simple salve, but the poor souls you're choosing to ignore see it as a just another bourgeoisie wall. I used to live in a prison. Headphones were a huge fighting issue. People who couldn't afford them would borrow, rent, or steal them. I never saw the point. Humans are a part of nature. I can sleep, eat, shower, and meditate just as well in the middle of a deadly riot (I was once asked by an officer to leave the dining area as they'd maced several people and everyone else had fled while I sat there calmly eating my institutional cheesy cardboard because I was more hungry than bothered by the mace) as I can in a forest or a dead silent bed room. Embracing or shunning the society you live in is a choice. Choosing either has consequences. My choice means that I am often driven to action to contribute to systemic solutions to the pain I see in life. It isn't easy, but I don't think I could live with sticking my fingers in my ears and pretending it isn't happening.

deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
wafflemaker 4mo ago
In a way you're right, but what you can do comes from a significantly high spiritual development level. For an average Joe it's quite abstract and maybe even unattainable in this life. OTOH, there are people who get sensory overstimulated more easily. Add to that a foreign place, lot of people and chaos around, and even a neurotypical individual can feel anxious. Putting on headphones and playing Chopin is much more effective than breathing and telling yourself "everythings gonna be ok" in a loop. At least in my experience.
- overfeed 4mo ago
  I believe we wouldn't have a tenth of the chaos we are currently experiencing if people talked to their neighbors and fellow commuters more.
  - wvenable 4mo ago
    With or without headphones, people aren't just chatting around on the subway all the time. I love my headphones and I also chat with my neighbours. This is just the same argument that has been repeated since the dawn of the walkman. 50 years ago when people weren't looking at their iPhones on the bus, they were reading the newspaper or a book. Not a lot has changed.
  - gosub100 4mo ago
    What chaos are you referring to? What do you mean by "chaos"?
Barbing 4mo ago
Wow, was it a computer fraud abuse act thing, I mean claimed to be? Obviously nothing violent! Thanks for sharing.
- IncandescentGas 4mo ago

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]

nradov 4mo ago

It's not just a social or class issue. A lot of women wear headphones to discourage creepy men from hitting on them or sexually harassing them. The HN crowd skews toward young men and I think many of you don't understand that some women get this constantly on public transit.

Mezzie 4mo ago
Headphones also give an 'excuse'. Some men become really pissy and unstable if they think you're ignoring them, but if you have visible headphones, then you have the excuse of not hearing them.
WalterBright 4mo ago
[flagged]
- mock-possum 4mo ago
  Unwelcome attention is unwelcome attention. The only charitable exceptions might be children and adults with developmental disabilities, who allowably don’t know any better.
  - optimalsolver 4mo ago
    >adults with developmental disabilities, who allowably don’t know any better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb9dV_DP5NI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb9dV_DP5NI
  - WalterBright 4mo ago
    [flagged]
    - mftrhu 4mo ago
      You mean, what about the tall, handsome, well-dressed creepy men? The dichotomy is not conventionally attractive/creepy, it's understands boundaries/creepy.

varispeed 4mo ago

> it just feels physically nice to remove the background noise whether it's the noise I thought about it and I found that after so many years my mind can just fade the noise out and I doesn't bother me at all. It also helped me to hear selectively. On the other hand, when I wear noise cancelling headphones it feels weird, like detached from the reality I am present. Only place I prefer to wear them is open plan office. Too many conversations and many grab attention needlessly.

scoofy 4mo ago

I agree with this comment. Noise canceling headphones is the only reason I’m able to use the bus in SF. The author writes from Germany, which has reasonable social etiquette in place in most cities. That social contract just doesn’t exist in large parts of America. In Chicago, they have a real problem with people smoking on public transportation. They don’t make noise canceling headphones for your lungs yet. The people wearing headphones all day aren’t the ones “losing touch with their neighbors”… no, it’s just that their neighbors are assholes, and they just want to get through the day.

SequoiaHope 4mo ago
> They don’t make noise canceling headphones for your lungs yet. Well, they literally do, they’re just absurd: https://www.wired.com/review/review-dyson-zone/ https://www.wired.com/review/review-dyson-zone/
retired 4mo ago
Funny, Germany is the only European country where I spotted multiple people using public transport smoking while it was banned.

pwthornton 4mo ago

I wear my AirPods Pro on the train largely for hearing protection. The DC Metro is loud, with or without people making noise in the train. Different train systems have different levels of loud, but when the Metro is flying through a tunnel it is quite loud. I also often have them in while walking around the city for this purpose as well. I usually have the noise canceling off, but if an ambulance or something is coming my way, I quickly click the AirPod to put them into noise canceling mode.

j_w 4mo ago
The metro is a much less stressful experience for me with noise cancellation on. Without them the noise in tunnels just makes me anxious. The outside tracks are all fine without them though. And for walking around - it's the traffic noise that bothers me, not people. Traffic noise can just be so loud along some roads (and at certain times of day) that it makes me not want to walk at all.
- pwthornton 4mo ago
  Traffic and honking can be quite annoying. I find the AirPods Pro knock down quick a bit of noise even when off just because of their tips, but when I want it even quieter I use the noise canceling. Some places aren’t loud but most U.S. cities are. I’m going to Paris this summer, and I probably won’t use AirPods while walking around.
  - retired 4mo ago
    Paris is one of the loudest cities in Europe that I experienced. Bring your noice cancelling headphones. https://leva-eu.com/europes-10-noisiest-cities-revealed/ https://leva-eu.com/europes-10-noisiest-cities-revealed/