View Full Version : Artificial noise and light bombardment
flowerseverywhere
3-3-19, 1:44pm
This weekend I was alone in the house. I did not turn on the TV or computer, did check email on the phone. But I got to thinking how much we have altered our natural environment.
Quietly listening to the birds and other wildlife during nesting season here, I often could hear buzzing from the fridge, phone ringing and so on. In the distance I can hear cars and trucks, although I live on a quiet side street. There are little lights everywhere, everything is lit up with little dots or led displays to show if they are working, the time or on.
So my question is, how much effect do you think this has on our ability to rest and concentrate, on the stimulation this all brings, and our memory for instance. A quick search on google answers any question before you have to think at all. I was thinking of kids who may have never been in complete quiet or darkness.
Just my quiet weekend contemplation
When DH and I spent 3 days in a monastery, what was shocking to us was how unsettling the quiet was, simply because we weren't used to it!! I had never experienced such quiet, and we were in nature--the monks had sheep and there were certainly plenty of nature sounds, but without the buzzes and hums and all the other technological intrusions we typically have in our life, it was really quite an experience. It actually freaked DH out a little--like withdrawal from a drug.
Chicken lady
3-3-19, 4:22pm
We had an adult houseguest this weekend. He lives in a city. The first morning he appeared ten hours after he went to bed. With very large eyes and a soft voice he informed me “it’s so quiet here.”
right now now I can hear the fridge running, the clock ticking, the woodstove making thermal expansion noises and the air rush of the reburn function, the occasional bird or goat... and dh playing the guitar.
i just smiled and said “yeah.”
Teacher Terry
3-3-19, 4:34pm
I have lived in the city and country and after awhile I adjusted to the noise level or lack of it. I have never been one to have constant noise such as tv or radio on.
Hubby likes ambient noise, aka a radio or tv on always. Not me!
Current noises: two snoring dogs, clicking of computer mouse from hubs, washing machine and dryer, fridge, and sometimes the a/c - Florida!
I have so many digital / electronic things with lighted displays. We had the cable tv guy turn off the cable box display. He couldn't disable the router lights, and it needs to be "out" in the room for the signal, so it glows always. I have black tape over some lights, too. Currently my fridge and dishwasher "done" light provide enough (too much) light at night. The thermostat wakes up when you walk past. The bathroom light switch has a small bulb in it. I rarely have darkness, and it bothers me!
flowerseverywhere
3-3-19, 11:38pm
So does anyone think it has anything to do with some of the problems people are experiencing? Sleep and eating disorders? Depression? Attention deficit?
We have only had electric lights for 130 years and other electrical inventions followed. Cars appeared on the scene about that time. So much change in so little time.
The other night i was I was on a plane. I looked out the window and marveled at the stars, like when I was a kid. We were above the cloud cover and there was no moon. It was amazing.
The hum of the fridge and my cat giving herself a bath on my lap. That's it:cool:
Yes, I think the artificial noise and light is a huge problem in our culture. Big city people never see nature.....I can't imagine a life without the moon and stars. I love my early morning drive to work when the moon is large and low. And then I turn north and it's behind me.........
I have lived in the city and country and after awhile I adjusted to the noise level or lack of it. I have never been one to have constant noise such as tv or radio on.
I don't think flowers is talking about getting used to city vs country or needing TV or radio on. I think it's the "background noise" of the 20th and 21st century that we're not even aware of most of the time. And I do think it distracts from calming influence of real skies without light pollution and real sounds of bird chirps and leaves rustling.
I, too, was mesmerized the first night I spent in VT where I felt like I was underneath a planetarium dome--that analogy itself speaks to the fact that up till then my only experience under a starry sky was in a simulation of what a starry sky should look like.
I remember many years ago when my mother stayed out here in the country to watch our children for the night, while we were out of town. She said "It was sooooo dark and quiet".
That's what I love about living out here and actually become irritated when the one neighbor rides his motocross cycle through his woods, or the wind blows the traffic in this direction.
Nature.....that's all I want to hear..........the breeze through the pines, the birds, the bees humming.........it's paradise. Oh yes....and nighttime in the summer with the window opened......the tree frogs, the owls. the cricket, the katydids. It's a symphony! And when the moon is full I like to open the drapes when I sleep, and the light shines into my room, I feel like I'm sleeping in the forest. I love the incredible treasures this planet has.
When the local library remodeled they added a glass-walled corner section that is the Quiet Room. The only thing you can do in there is read - no talking, no electronic devices. It's a small section of the 2 floor library, but when I've walked past there's only been 1 or 2 people in there. I don't know if it's because the absolute quiet is too unnerving to some, or it's just not the reason some patrons go to the library, or what.
It also made me wonder how many of us have never experienced a stretch of quiet like that.
Also years ago I saw a TV show about a prison warden who enforced a 2 hour quiet time every afternoon. As I recall, at first the inmates were furious because they couldn't talk (although they could play cards, read, etc.) but it was something the warden felt necessary to calm the place down. I can only imagine that living in a place with a constant din would be contributing to anger. I never found out what the result of that was, I'd be curious to know.
Sad Eyed Lady
3-4-19, 11:14am
Lovely thread. I think of this same thing at times, how there is constant artificial noise surrounding us. I have wondered what it must have been like in the days of settlers, pioneers etc. where the only sound, other that what you might make such as a cross cut saw, or hammering, was made by nature. Probably a neighbor (if any) would be so far away their sounds would not be audible and if the sound was not generated by yourself, the only sound then would be the sound of nature!
I live in a very small town and it is amazing the amount of artificial light there is at night. Noise not as much, but so many streetlights the night sky is hard to see. We had a power failure last year and the beauty of the night sky was breathtaking - all the stars!
Lovely thread. I think of this same thing at times, how there is constant artificial noise surrounding us. I have wondered what it must have been like in the days of settlers, pioneers etc. where the only sound, other that what you might make such as a cross cut saw, or hammering, was made by nature. Probably a neighbor (if any) would be so far away their sounds would not be audible and if the sound was not generated by yourself, the only sound then would be the sound of nature!
I live in a very small town and it is amazing the amount of artificial light there is at night. Noise not as much, but so many streetlights the night sky is hard to see. We had a power failure last year and the beauty of the night sky was breathtaking - all the stars!
That is so true about too much night light. It really makes me sad with all the development near here, that we've lost a lot of our night sky vision. I was talking to a guy who lives out west and he said that in certain places, you just would be overwhelmed by how much you can see in the night sky. I don't understand a lot of the lights left on at night......and "security lights". No way I'd ever get one of those. And the last thing I want is more space junk out there........or anyone messing with MY moon! ;)
To be sure, i live in the middle of a big city. There is plenty of light outside at night. However, the streetlights in our neighborhood, and all the way west to the ocean, have recently been replaced. The new ones have larger shields on top and are a more natural color. While there is still a fair amount of light under them our second story deck is now much darker and the view out to the ocean at night is much clearer. More than a couple blocks from us the neighborhood is just a dark canopy of treetops. Before it was a sea of pinpricks of light. It’s a small change but i definitely appreciate it.
Two years ago my DH, two teenage sons and I took a river rafting trip down the Colorado river through the Grand Canyon for 4 nights. Other than the constant relaxing sound of the river, there was no “modern” sounds. No cell signals, no phones or other electronics. At night we laid under the stars all night with the Milky Way so bright we could see our way around camp. Amazing. Each night I laid there in tears at what is so hidden from us. DH and I did go through some withdrawal from our electronics the first day but quickly adjusted and were at peace with our thoughts. However my two sons who were then 14 and 15 thought we had transported them to hell on earth. It was just too quiet and “boring”. Very sad.
ToomuchStuff
3-12-19, 1:54pm
When I think artificial noise, I tend to think of things like white noise generators. Other stuff, is just environmental/background noise. Don't like it, change your location. The house I first lived in, was three away from train tracks. I can still hear those and other tracks, trains, in the distance from my current house, and actually like that rumble of the trains, in the distance, at night, in summer with the windows open.
Light pollution however, from the streetlight in front of the house, (the city converted all of them to try to limit light pollution), to the five towers with all their electronics, plane lights, etc. and all the other light sources (lights on houses, buildings, security lights, etc. the sky is purple and one can somewhat read by it. I wasn't the only one looking forward to a night sky, when a relative built in the country. Their inlaws on the property, however, put a security light from the electric company, without a switch, so setting up the telescope went out the door. (built a section of deck for it)
Some days, I think back to the stories of a former neighbor and other old timers, and sleeping porches.
I think I can say I can about adjust to anything. I grew up 2 blocks from the railroad tracks and a crossing where they had to blow their whistle. Then as an adult I moved even closer to the tracks, and after about 3 sleepless nights, I didn't have any more trouble.
That said, I love a retreat in the woods with nothing but chirping and water sounds. I did get to do that recently...One morning I sat up on the edge of my bed and looked out into the silence, watching the snow float diagonally by the window. I felt like I wanted to sit there forever.
and sleeping porches.
In our quest for a lake house we saw a few sleeping porches that were so appealing to me. There is a little cabin next door to us that has one, and I'm a bit jealous... Perhaps at some point we'll add one on to the front of the house.
Last year I slept here (https://www.sticksandstonesfarm.com/cabin-rentals-/rooms/c797f540-8ea6-4b8e-95e6-e7404e97472e), and walked around the quiet grounds. No internet. I think there was a bedside lamp but that was it for electricity. I had to walk to the main building for the bathroom. And interestingly, my resting heart rate (according to my Fitbit) was the lowest it had every been up to then (or since).
In our quest for a lake house we saw a few sleeping porches that were so appealing to me. There is a little cabin next door to us that has one, and I'm a bit jealous... Perhaps at some point we'll add one on to the front of the house.
Last year I slept here (https://www.sticksandstonesfarm.com/cabin-rentals-/rooms/c797f540-8ea6-4b8e-95e6-e7404e97472e), and walked around the quiet grounds. No internet. I think there was a bedside lamp but that was it for electricity. I had to walk to the main building for the bathroom. And interestingly, my resting heart rate (according to my Fitbit) was the lowest it had every been up to then (or since).
Wow, those cabins and that venue look incredible!
HappyHiker
3-13-19, 8:59pm
This is a topic very close to my heart. I think noise/light pollution is harmful to us in some obvious--and some not-so-obvious ways...as pointed out, these pollutions can affect our blood pressure and our heart rate. Can cause stress. Craziness.
We moved from 38 years in a large metro when I felt as though I was drawn too tight. The police were using copters to track miscreants. There were lots of jets overhead approaching one of two nearby airports. Sirens. Car alarms. Distant sounds of freeway--all night long. Dogs barking. Lots of construction and power tools whining away too close at hand.
Yikes. I was ready to snap.
I longed/yearned for nature, quietude.
We moved to a coastal village of about 5000 people. Sometimes, the quiet is so quiet, so deep it's almost noisy in its own way. Love the seasons when we can have windows open and only hear the crickets and cicadas and the bird calls and songs. Or the wind in the trees.
I so needed this!
We've made our bedroom our quiet zone. It's very uncluttered, painted a soft salmon and cream, billowy cream-colored drapes, only two conch shells (I imitated their color in the paint scheme) to gaze at--and no electronics at all. Zip. I love sleeping there.
Feeling much more grounded and at peace since our move. Bright lights/big city worked for me when I was younger. Now give me deep quiet or nature sounds.
We moved to a coastal village of about 5000 people. Sometimes, the quiet is so quiet, so deep it's almost noisy in its own way. Love the seasons when we can have windows open and only hear the crickets and cicadas and the bird calls and songs. Or the wind in the trees.
We've made our bedroom our quiet zone. It's very uncluttered, painted a soft salmon and cream, billowy cream-colored drapes, only two conch shells (I imitated their color in the paint scheme) to gaze at--and no electronics at all. Zip. I love sleeping there.
That sounds wonderful, HH. I'm with you. Give me the woods.
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