Life around Us

Getting used to noise

The car stereo, with other people’s music. The construction site. The neighbour’s renovation, especially if he’s a DIY freak. The office photocopier (although they’re much quieter now). The fax machine (does anyone still use that?). The incessant loud chatting when you’re trying to do your work. The midnight snore of your partner. The child screaming at top of her voice wanting that toy the mum just refuses to buy. The crying baby in the bus when you’re trying to sleep.

These are the common “noise” that we have to deal with on a daily basis, not all at once thankfully! The day I realised I got used to it was when I was in a local library. I couldn’t read at home because of the constant distractions (the bed, the kitchen… er… those were the main ones…), that i made myself go to the library and sat there on a Saturday afternoon so that i finish the book i’m reading. I still got distracted.

So instead of the book, i started noticing things around me. The library is suppose to be a quiet place, and it did appear that way, until I realised I have internalised some sounds. They are so common that I don’t even realise it was there! There was the constant beep from people borrowing books (the RFID scanning mechanism), confirming that they have succesfully borrowed the book; the kids section (need i say more?); the information section where people were asking questions; the bank of computers where people congregate to “discuss” how to find what they’re looking for…

How much of internalisation can we get used to? What’s the level of noise can we cope before saying “enough is enough”?

The funny thing about noise is that we can increase the level of tolerance to it. Imagine what it’s like to be the person who have to face the noise on a daily basis. The construction worker, the floor tile driller, the band player… We find those noise enormously annoying, but to them, it’s just normal. It sounds like all we have to do is to shift our perspective a bit to realise that the noise is only annoying to us because we don’t face it everyday.

Casting the net wider, the word “noise” can be used to mean more than the audible spectrum of it. It’s the unwanted portion of information that’s dumped to us on a daily basis. The leaflets you get on the street which you just throw in the nearest bin, the advertisements you see on the train / bus / road / television, the newspaper you read (they are full of crap, but crap to me may not mean crap to you). Again, we have internalised all these because we face it everyday, just like the band player with his trumpet - to him, it’s music.

So, lets pose the question again. Are we going to just accept that we will internalise the noise? Or are we going to do something about this?

I believe understanding the source of the noise is key to this question. Why did the noise occur in the first place? I believe understanding the source normally places us in a more calming role. By listening to it, we know why it occurs and can take positive action to it, rather than reacting to the noise. If I know that all that drilling is to mend a burst pipe, I probably won’t be too worked up about it. If i’m going to attend the neighbour’s band performance this weekend, I probably will feel very supportive if he’s practising his trumpet daily. If I know the newspaper is 90% crap, I won’t buy it.

So, listen to the noise and work from within yourself - you are the only person that you truly control.

© 2008 shang lee . com.