Silence...

[Marc]

I just watched a BBC documentary about the noise generated in cities. Scientists say that they hinder brain and biological functions having to do with the ability to think at a deeper level.

I thought, what about the computer I use everyday? The fans sure make a lot of noise. And if I want to be inspired near this machine, it needs to quiet down.

So I found this interesting site:

http://www.buildsilentpc.com/index.php

Next month, I will build a new computer following the recommendations. Art doesn't settle for less!

[Marc]

Check this out also:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/May03/arti...silentdrive.asp

"There doesn't seem to be any medical evidence for direct hearing damage from computer noise, but a number of researchers have reported secondary and psychological effects. Tomas Risberg, the author of the Silent PC web site, has collected a number of theories about how low-intensity noise might affect brain performance by competing for attention with the sounds you do want to listen to. The activation of the central nervous system caused by background noise might also have long-term effects on your health. "

http://www.silent.se/info.php

[john]

Hey Marc

Interesting. It makes sense. When you think how much trouble sound engineers go to to remove or reduce noise on recordings. Basically because noise reduces the enjoyment of Music. It's not much of a leap to imagine that noise exposure over a long time can cause problems.

Hypothesis:

Your brain filters out recurrent noises, and instead focuses on the new and changing things in our environment.  So in a high noise environment your brain works harder to filter out the noise. The higher the volume of the noise, the harder the brain has to work to filter it out.This constant workload does several things:

1. It tires the brain.

2. Establishes and re-inforces synaptic connections associated with the noise.

3. The brain 'associates' this noise with work, and being tired.

4. Associates the place and activity/situation with these effects.

These thoughts can set up a spiral of negative emotions. The constant, inescapable nature of background noise can therefor be very waring.

Just off the top of my head...

A interesting topic Marc!

Cheers

John

[Steve]

I find this a fascinating subject. A friend of mine suffers from tinitus (Ringing in the ears) he is currently undergoing  'sound' treatment. The idea being he wears headphones that play a sound that cancels out the sound of the tinitus. He is still in the early stages of this treatment but the results are starting to look good...!

[nigel lawry]

guys

is it just me or have any of you forgot if you loged off your comp well the only way i can tell is the small noise the fan makes

i guess im lucky my pc is from dell and at only 2yrs old now is v silent just enough to let me know its there and workin...so 4 me a plus point to the small noise

[Guest]

Folks

Hey, I live in the middle of the country and sometimes the sound of the silence is earth-shattering. Once you have got rid of traffic noise, aircraft noise, lawnmowers and so on the morning chorus of birds still wakes me up at 0500 every day! So maybe there is no such thing as silence...

Alistair

[Steve]

Folks

Hey, I live in the middle of the country and sometimes the sound of the silence is earth-shattering. Once you have got rid of traffic noise, aircraft noise, lawnmowers and so on the morning chorus of birds still wakes me up at 0500 every day! So maybe there is no such thing as silence...

Alistair

I often take my three dogs out at 5.30 - 6.00am Just so I can listen to that kind of silence...Quite deafening sometimes...