How Do You Think Society Will Change in the Coming Years as Far as Loud Noises Are Concerned?

Clearly it’s becoming an issue. I’ve seen so many people on here with hyperacusis & tinnitus as a result of concerts, weddings, loud bars and headphones, you name it.

I think especially as my generation ages (millennials) + gen Z who basically grew up with iPods, video games, headphones, etc, it will become an increasing problem.

Night clubs are becoming louder and louder. There is a new music festival popping up every year (at least here in the US). Walking down the street during rush hour it seems like more people are wearing headphones than not. Some of my coworkers pretty much live in their air pods. Trendy restaurants and bars seem to be synonymous with loud music. Same with retail stores (Who remembers Abercrombie & Fitch circa 2007?) plus there seems to be an increasing trend in using terrible material within public places that does absolutely nothing good for the acoustics.

Just the other day I stumbled across an article talking about a local arena here where an NBA team used to play, boasting about how it’s one of the loudest arenas in the league (up to 115 dB) thus the nickname “Roaracle”

Movies are louder.
Workout classes such as Barry’s Bootcamp, Soul Cycle, etc are becoming increasingly more popular and for some reason these places insist on blasting music as if it’s a night club.

Yeah Walkmans existed back in the day. People saw live music, and went to bars, and the movies. But were things just as loud say 20-30 years ago?

Would love to hear from some older folks on here. Was life always this loud?

Perhaps I’m looking too much into it because I happen to be one of the unlucky ones who loved concerts but never in my life heard of wearing ear plugs to them.

But at the same time, part of me thinks there’s no way these things aren’t going to add up eventually, perhaps even causing a major public health issue in the coming years.

 

Really good question. I'm only in my twenties so can't speak for how things were 20 years ago but I definitely think society has becoming increasingly noisy, potentially dangerously so. Nowadays sound systems are more technologically advanced so this could end up being more damaging. I also think it's not just a case of the volume of noise that has increased - it's constant. With the proliferation of AirPods etc, music being played at restaurants, cafes, everywhere you go it's like we can't catch a break from noise it's 24/7.

I'm from the UK and there is very little public awareness of the dangers of loud noise exposure and I think one of the reasons is sadly because it's so often associated with elderly people and an inevitability of age or only affecting those who've, e.g. worked in noisy factories for decades.

However, I think there's hope and things are changing. I've seen an increasing number of mainstream news articles discussing hidden hearing loss, tinnitus etc and also talking about the negative effects of noise pollution in general, leading to insomnia, stress, and poor cardiovascular health. Over the past decade it feels like there's been a definite shift towards more 'healthy' trends e.g. 'clean' eating etc so maybe noise pollution will follow suit. Still, I think it will take time and I think it would require a massive public education and awareness campaign. Even well-meaning people I know personally have expressed derision and disbelief when I talk about hyperacusis.

 

Where I think there is more noise in the past is in restaurants. There are many articles on this phenomenon. Here is one:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/11/how-restaurants-got-so-loud/576715/

 

For me the biggest change in terms of noise has been the current taste of Europeans for loud motorbikes (you will find it even in respectful and top countries like Norway), the fact that everyone carries their own personal source of noise (cellphone) and want to play stupid videos at full volume on them (let alone full volume ringtones, due to the general deafness of society nowadays) and restaurants and coffee bars. Now there isn't a single restaurant or coffee bar without music, and their layout and design is set up to make dining a pretty uncomfortable experience.

Let's consider Paris. 15 years ago Paris restaurateurs were visionaires and already knew that the world would be "dining together". The Paris dining experience a decade ago meant to have dinner not only with your couple but so close to the other 2 tables on either side. This has being spread and imported by the rest of the world

The motorbike thing has been imported from Italy, where it makes sense because... try parking at Firenze's downtown haha... but it certainly makes no sense in Norway, where you can be strolling around a nice little cosy town by the fjords and find a guy driving a super loud Ducati (with earplugs on, so sensible)... but not caring about others of course.

Then the last item to add to this "list of painful noise" is airports and flying in general. The terminals are like shopping malls, all tiled up (bathroom like), so that noise can bounce at top volume. Then you have the "get into the damm airplane experience", which sometimes means navigating around the actual platform surrounded by planes taxiing, parking, and with the horrible sound of planes taking off in the background (Ryanair is notorious and famous to provide this terrible experience to customers in many airports they use, as they try to get the worst, and cheapest, parking space possible).

 

I certainly expect more use of ear plugs, that's for sure.

Ear loss research will receive a lot more attention. There may be new rules put in place about how loud some places (Clubs, Movie theatres, etc.)

Hopefully it'll start sooner rather than later.

 

It’s a shame society doesn’t treat these issues seriously. If they were in our shoes they wouldn’t even last a week. A lot of the people are clueless about noise pollution. If they had it for a week they would definitely understand the issues about noise pollution.

I wish the world actually focus on making things quieter and not louder.

 

To me, it's ridiculous to make events so loud people have to wear earplugs. Earplugs spoil the quality of the music. What's the point of having a show where everyone has to spoil the experience with earplugs? Why not make the volume something people can listen to without earplugs?

Life will not become quieter. If anything, it will become louder. People love noise.

 

Until it ruins their lives

 

While this is true, once the percentage of people with T gets high enough, measures wíll be taken the moment that governments notice productivity and economy spiraling downwards (assuming this is correctly linked to people being unable to focus on their work due to T). Sadly, the amount of severe cases will have to get high enough though.

 

It's become some sort of, turn the noise up, I say noise because the so called shit music screaming through the shops speakers is plain fucking disgusting makes you want to walk out before you buy anything.

 

I walked through the mall the other day and they had this open concept smoothie place in the middle of the mall with these huge INSANELY loud blenders and this young girl was literally pounding something into the blender while it was going somehow. I wonder how much damage this will cause in the long run. An average part time shift is 4 hours... those blenders had to be exceeding 100 dB.

 

Or at least promote ear plug use more for places like clubs, bars and concerts!! The bare minimum.

 

I really do hope society will come around and treat noise damage seriously. It is viewed as a joke to society.

They should really create a law/legislation about sounds can’t be exceeded by a certain amount and if it does go over they must provide hearing protection to their customers or lower the volume.

 

I fully agree. Perhaps one of the perceived "benefits" of concerts being louder is in the hope of drowning out the self-centered super-loud a-holes who persist in having shouted conversations with their mates all through the show, often with their backs to the stage, ruining the experience for those around them.