Sensory overload in crowded streets produces perceived chaos in the observer
Evidence
The noise was immense. It was gut-pounding. It smacked the cosmos. Without thinking I clamped the flat of my palms to both ears and screwed my face into the scrunched expression of a root-canal patient. I usually despise people who do that on subway platforms. Wimps, I think; milquetoast souls who cough if someone is smoking across the street, who wear cardigans and bicycle clips; for God’s sake, if you’re so delicate, move to an ashram! But here I was doing the same thing. — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 32 (
#expands, via linked claim)
It is important to realize that the lo-fi state is not a natural corollary to higher density living or population increase. A visit to the bazaars and traditional towns of the Middle East will impress one by the quiet, almost furtive manner in which large numbers of people manage to go about their business without disturbing one another. The sound sewer is much more likely to result when a society trades its ears for its eyes, and it is certain to result when this is accompanied by an impassioned devotion to machines. — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 792 (
#qualifies, via linked claim)
Nothing else was left. Sound squeezed out every other sense impression. He found himself cowering on hands and knees, hands over his ears, unable to think or do anything but scream because of it. When the explosions finally stopped, he found he had soiled himself. — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 424 (
#complicates, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Visual dominance and devotion to machines, not crowding, create sonic degradation — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 792; Extreme urban noise can override a person’s own self-image and defenses — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 32; Extreme battlefield noise can annihilate thought and reduce a person to helpless reflex — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 424 (+1 more)
Related
- Extreme urban noise can override a person’s own self-image and defenses (similarity 0.82)
- Visual dominance and devotion to machines, not crowding, create sonic degradation (similarity 0.80)
- Extreme battlefield noise can annihilate thought and reduce a person to helpless reflex (similarity 0.80)
- City dwellers become functionally deaf to a constant low background urban hum (similarity 0.79)
- Unbearable chronic noise can trigger a sudden resolve to seek out silence (similarity 0.79)
- Ordinary daily urban ambient noise levels correlate with heart disease risk (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Extreme urban noise can override a person’s own self-image and defenses
#expands(0.60) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 32 - Visual dominance and devotion to machines, not crowding, create sonic degradation
#qualifies(0.55) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 792 - Extreme battlefield noise can annihilate thought and reduce a person to helpless reflex
#complicates(0.50) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 424