Is the world making too much noise? Are we drowning in toxic sound?
On the streets one hears tooting horns, sirens wailing, motorcycles revving up, and cars zooming around. It seems that sounds are amplified beyond decent decibel levels. The radio has blaring music. Television has hard news about disasters and violence. Restaurants and bars have loud music that make the customers cringe. People walk around with earphones and headphones, oblivious.
Noise is loud, hyper, and disconcerting.
Humans react in diverse ways to the sounds in the environment. Constant exposure conditions the mind and allows the individual to accept, reject, or adapt certain sounds as part of his lifestyle.
At the office, people are accustomed to the various sounds of computers, monitors, intercoms, telephones and cellphones, and chatter.
As one goes up the corporate ladder, sounds become mellow.
Executives prefer to be insulated from office chaos. They and their staff speak in hushed tones and modulated voices. Footsteps in the hallways are muted as well.
In the service industries, employees hear stressful noise that causes migraines and heart palpitations. Factory workers are subjected to deafening repetitive mechanical noise. Soldiers, firemen, policemen, humanitarian workers, and airport crew are bombarded by ear-splitting sounds of panic, riots, sirens, traffic, disasters.
Party animals, rock stars, pop musicians and their fans, players and fans of basketball, boxing, and other sports all develop steel eardrums. They learn how to withstand ear-shattering synthesized music, pounding drums and cymbals clashing, whooping cheers, screaming, and suffer the resultant brain damage.
Is noise toxic?
Prolonged exposure to hazardous sounds causes hypertension, and ear and brain damage. Some people have internal coping defense mechanisms.
Weary eardrums tune out — selectively or permanently. Perhaps this explains a social affliction among creatures of the night — acquired hearing impairment or premature deafness.
Social celebrations are occasions where one can learn about people. By switching off the sound, body language is more revealing — gestures, posture, eye and facial expressions. A sensitive ear would discern speech patterns, intonations, and accents. Or distinguish aural differences among nationalities, regions, and classes.
On another level, the volume of sound corresponds to a specific class of people. How a person sounds says a lot about them, like appearance and behavior do.
Well-born, well-bred, cultured individuals are discreet, genteel, and quiet. Their subtle gestures and dignified mannerisms reflect good breeding. Loud and brassy people crave attention. Exaggerated gestures, vulgar words, and rough mannerisms are seen in rowdy politicians, tacky showbiz celebrities, and declassee social mountaineers.
At business and social affairs, class differences become more apparent. The low-key, well-bred individuals tend to downplay their presence, unless they are guests of honor or celebrants.
At a deluxe hotel’s lobby, braggarts discuss money and stocks. The flashy types strut about while speaking on their cellphones. Loud mouths gloat and compare new acquisitions toys, possessions, houses, cars, club shares, and girls.
Ladies who lunch make an interesting case study. The vamps are in tight stretch minis. The lacquered matrons glisten in glittering jewelry and shrill voices. Their inane chatter covers gossip about scandals and foreign trips, shopping orgies, petty rivalries, and fashion trends and events.
On vacations, the rules of acceptable behavior still apply. The sophisticated blend in discreetly. They are simple, elegant, proper, and wear appropriate clothes. No fuss and fanfare. The upstarts are the opposite as they advertise money and power. They flaunt things and act contrived, loud.
In contrast, nature lovers and contemplative types can savor the sounds of the outdoors — cooing bird calls, chirping crickets, the rushing wind, breaking waves, rain showers, the sounds of petals and leaves and snow flurries. These are the sounds that calm and inspire creatives.
Musicians are hypersensitive to the nuances of sound. Composers, conductors, and artists transform random notes into melodies, sonatas, etudes, and symphonies inside their minds. They produce music for opera and concerts that nourish the spirit, relax the mind and body, and soothe the heart.
If only we could switch off all the offensive, grating, discordant noise, the battlefield bombs, the cries, and explosions of war.
We could bask in a long period of silence.
These precious heavenly moments would make us feel sane and serene.
Can wishful thinking become reality?
Maria Victoria Rufino is an artist, writer and businesswoman. She is president and executive producer of Maverick Productions.
mavrufino@gmail.com
