Human hearing evolved to decode natural sounds beyond speech or music

Evidence

Long before the noises of mankind, there were only the sounds of the natural world. Our ears evolved perfectly tuned to hear these sounds—sounds that far exceed the range of human speech or even our most ambitious musical performances: a passing breeze that indicates a weather change, the first birdsongs of spring heralding a regreening of the land and a return to growth and prosperity, an approaching storm promising relief from a drought, and the shifting tide reminding us of the celestial ballet. — Gordon Hempton, John Grossmann, One Square Inch of Silence- One Man’s…, 23

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the book’s core premise: natural sounds are evolutionary information channels, not mere ambience.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Gordon Hempton, John Grossmann, One Square Inch of Silence- One Man’s…, 23
• XREF: connects to: Animals listen completely to their environment because listening is survival — Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening, 90; Noise regulations protect only speech frequencies, leaving nature sounds unprotected — Gordon Hempton, John Grossmann, One Square Inch of Silence- One Man’s…, 1095; Hearing is mostly internal neural processing, not raw external sound reception — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 561 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Hearing is mostly internal neural processing, not raw external sound reception #expands (0.40) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 561