4 ms·

> I'll bite. From my biased viewpoint, based on who complains most, people prefer the quiet more as they get older. Kids don't seem to care, middle aged prefer

> I'll bite. From my biased viewpoint, based on who complains most, people prefer the quiet more as they get older. Kids don't seem to care, middle aged prefer some separation, and my elders can be derailed by a greeting. Or maybe, older people complain more about noise because they actually know what sane conditions are and how life was back when ADD wasn't a thing yet.

crazygringo 13y ago
I was going to say something similar -- that it might not be because of age, but rather intelligence and self-awareness. "Kids don't seem to care", but kids also often don't have the slightest idea of what's good for them. They might prefer to study with the TV on instead of in silence, but that doesn't mean their studying isn't worse because of it.
- HCIdivision17 13y ago
  My thought (ha!) is that as one ages, there's just more context to swap into to think about something. Kids can flit about because everything around them doesn't overwhelm with context, whereas the elderly have experienced enough that any context switch carries a burdensome overhead. (That's what I meant by weighty thoughts.) I don't think intelligence has too much to do with it, except perhaps in overall speed in coping / filtering. (But here I'm just arguing about the number of teeth in a horse; the empiricist in me would like to be able to spend a few weeks with an academic article subscription to just survey the experiments that have been done. I bet there are lots!)
eru 13y ago
I read about some interview with people from before cars were common. They liked how much cleaner and quieter (!) the streets were with cars than with horses.
HCIdivision17 13y ago
I would agree, but the article spends a lot of time in the past too. Cities weren't quiet in the olden days, and even the countryside is remarkably noisy with life. 'Course, nothin' beats the distraction potential of the modern Internet (as my reply is demonstrating), so I can't fully discount it.
- joeyh 13y ago
  Yes, the countryside can be quite full of sound. For example, the cidadas are going outside my windows this evening. But there is a difference between hearing this natural sound and hearing a siren every ten minutes, the swish of tires every minute, the voices of unknown people intermittently, etc. I think the reason so many turn to constantly on music in the city is it drowns out the more subconciously distressing sounds with sounds that are familiar, that repeat, that you control. Since moving to the country, I only put on music when I want to really listen to it, to the exclusion of all else.

crazygringo 13y ago

I was going to say something similar -- that it might not be because of age, but rather intelligence and self-awareness. "Kids don't seem to care", but kids also often don't have the slightest idea of what's good for them. They might prefer to study with the TV on instead of in silence, but that doesn't mean their studying isn't worse because of it.

HCIdivision17 13y ago
My thought (ha!) is that as one ages, there's just more context to swap into to think about something. Kids can flit about because everything around them doesn't overwhelm with context, whereas the elderly have experienced enough that any context switch carries a burdensome overhead. (That's what I meant by weighty thoughts.) I don't think intelligence has too much to do with it, except perhaps in overall speed in coping / filtering. (But here I'm just arguing about the number of teeth in a horse; the empiricist in me would like to be able to spend a few weeks with an academic article subscription to just survey the experiments that have been done. I bet there are lots!)

eru 13y ago

I read about some interview with people from before cars were common. They liked how much cleaner and quieter (!) the streets were with cars than with horses.

HCIdivision17 13y ago

I would agree, but the article spends a lot of time in the past too. Cities weren't quiet in the olden days, and even the countryside is remarkably noisy with life. 'Course, nothin' beats the distraction potential of the modern Internet (as my reply is demonstrating), so I can't fully discount it.

joeyh 13y ago
Yes, the countryside can be quite full of sound. For example, the cidadas are going outside my windows this evening. But there is a difference between hearing this natural sound and hearing a siren every ten minutes, the swish of tires every minute, the voices of unknown people intermittently, etc. I think the reason so many turn to constantly on music in the city is it drowns out the more subconciously distressing sounds with sounds that are familiar, that repeat, that you control. Since moving to the country, I only put on music when I want to really listen to it, to the exclusion of all else.