>Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 13:36:06 -0800 >Whatever the reason, the noise/music brings out the very >No, I can´t say for certain that a real relationship exists,
but: if >Bob S.
RP - One of the problems that plagues us at the current state
of the human experiment is that most folks and institutions don´t
value intuition (the foundation of common sense - the duck metaphor)
as a way of knowing. Based on the religion of western science
we are expected to prove rationally and unequivocally that something
is either true or false. As a compromise in the realm of human
affairs we´ve invented the concept of normal or average. If one
deviates too much from the normal such as being more sensitive
than normal to any stimulus including sound one is more or less
a freak depending upon how much one deviates from the normal.
If we discover that we´re one of those abnormally sensitive folks,
we need to adapt, to apply our intelligence to coping with our
heightened sensitivity in a world that probably couldn´t care
less. Choosing confrontations that are most likely to make a positive
difference and avoid those that are a waste of life is good for
starters. Flocking together is another coping mechanism. Learning
to be light and fast and living in the gaps (the silences) is
another. Raising the consciousness levels of family, friends,
and everyday contacts is yet another. For those so inclined, politics
and legislation offer a standard approach to changing people´s
outward behavior. Even in the face of today´s massive cultural
unraveling some of us still practice the relatively slow grassroots
person-to-person educational approach with confidence that improving
the soil will improve the plant which will improve the fruit.
In matters of human being persistence still seems to be the key
to success.
Ron Pellegrino
To: quiet-list@igc.org >In a message dated 98-03-25 18:10:25 EST, you write: >It remains to be seen whether we list members are RP - It should be clear that I´m using the term "normal" in the
dictionary sense unclouded by emotion or preference - "conforming
to the standard or common type; the average or mean." My experience
is that less than one person in a thousand will complain about
sounds that most on this list would consider excessive; this list
is not composed of average or normal people in the dictionary
sense. Also notice that I used the expression "more sensitive
than normal to any stimulus including sound." I didn´t say "noise"
because it´s a loaded word that people use to describe any sound
that they don´t want to hear even though it may be music to the
ears of one subculture or another.
>Probably most communities have noise control ordinances. Many laws on the books seem to be little more than political window dressing used to
placate one pressure group or another, and noise control ordinances obviously fall into that category. Institutional support for
reducing or removing aggravating sound is weak at best so the
offended individual is usually left to his own devices for coping.
>Perhaps we list members are more sensitive to noise >Michael Wright
RP - Over the years I´ve taken positions on issues including sound
that were treated initially by the mainstream as messages from
the "lunatic fringe" (just another name for freak) and then eventually
embraced by that same mainstream as axiomatic. Once more, the
dictionary definition of "freak" includes terms such as "unusual,
odd, abnormal." It´s valuable to see ourselves as many in the
mainstream might see us, that is, as different and outside the
mainstream because we´re committed to dealing with an issue such
as excessive sound, an issue that most people avoid even though
they may not be "comfortable" with excessive sound; in fact they
may not even be conscious of it. Many people believe they can
"turn a deaf ear" to sound that they prefer not to hear; what
they don´t know is that they´re inviting deaf ears by being in
the presence of those undesirable sounds. The fact is also that
we live in a society with a mainstream that is gradually going
deaf; all of our transportation systems create a sonic barrage.
Visit any movie theater and notice that nobody complains to the
manager about the excessive sound levels. If you´re looking for
quiet you need to remove yourself from the mainstream and that
makes you a bit unusual, odd, and abnormal.
Ron Pellegrino
Booking information and comments. ©1996-2004 Ron Pellegrino and Electronic Arts Productions. All
rights reserved.
>From: Risk Control Technologies, Inc.
>worst in those listening. And when you consider the number of
>hours they listen, it isn´t surprising kids aren´t doing
>particularly well in school. This noise/music is not congruous
>with discipline, which is a requirement for better grades and
>higher test scores.
>it looks like a duck, walks like a duck... .
From: Ron Pellegrino <ronpell@microweb.com>
Subject: Intuition and sensitivity
Date: 3/26/98
»If we discover that we´re one of those abnormally sensitive folks
>"abnormally" sensitive to noise. Does anyone have
>any statistics on the annual number of noise calls
>received by police departments? I have recently
>requested that information, but the local PD has
>ignored me.
>This in itself suggests that it is not "abnormal" to be
>aggravated by too much noise. In my community the
>problem is lax enforcement.
>than most members of the population, but this does not
>mean we are freaks, and it doesn't mean that the majority
>are comfortable with current noise levels in our society.
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