2013 Yearender Wish

I have an ambiguous reaction to this article after reading it – a sense of happy silence that it highlights “quietness” and silence, being informed that noise could be metered as low as -9.4 dBA; but also a little disquieted both by its stereotypical media marketing byte and its presumptuousness that noiseless silence (or echo-less/anechoic silence) will drive one crazy. Silence could be disturbing but the equation that it will comes too presumptive.

In the face of solid evidence – tonight – spirits, human beings, and most especially non-self-reflexive animals more sensitive to noise will be driven crazy.

Tonight – I can only wish the world will be less polluted by man-made (gender intended) noise.

Earth’s Quietest Place Will Drive You Crazy in 45 Minutes

Everybody seems to be looking for a little peace and quiet these days. But even such a reasonable idea can go too far. The quietest place on earth, an anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minnesota, is so quiet that the longest anybody has been able to bear it is 45 minutes.

Inside the room it’s silent. So silent that the background noise measured is actually negative decibels, -9.4 dBA. Steven Orfield, the lab’s founder, told Hearing Aid Know: “We challenge people to sit in the chamber in the dark – one person stayed in there for 45 minutes. When it’s quiet, ears will adapt. The quieter the room, the more things you hear. You’ll hear your heart beating, sometimes you can hear your lungs, hear your stomach gurgling loudly. In the anechoic chamber, you become the sound.”

But the room isn’t just for torturing people. Companies test their products in it to find out just how loud they are. And NASA has sent astronauts to help them adapt to the silence of space. For you and me, however, the room is a deeply disorienting place. Not only do people hear their heartbeat, they have trouble orienting themselves and even standing. “How you orient yourself is through sounds you hear when you walk. In the anechnoic chamber, you don’t have any cues,” Orfield told the Daily Mail. “You take away the perceptual cues that allow you to balance and manoeuvre. If you’re in there for half an hour, you have to be in a chair.”

So the next time you wish for some quiet time, remember that it could also drive you crazy.

See image of the anechoic chamber here.

 

One thought on “2013 Yearender Wish

  1. Thank you very much for following the blog, I really look forward to reading your posts and happy new year 2014. Gede Prama 🙂

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