Among other environmental troubles, we are facing a disaster of noise pollution. What it is? Man has always lived in the world of sounds. Birds sang beside him, leaves rustled, waves splashed, thunder roared and a blizzard howled …
The voices of nature are an orchestra of natural noises, which our ear perceives as harmonious. But as human civilization develops, more and more sounds burst into our life, which are not just harmful to us, they have a destructive effect on our psyche. They are killing us.
Man is what he hears
We have enough evidence of the negative impact of noise on human health. Loud sounds have an adverse effect not only on human hearing, but also on the nervous system and other physiological functions. This is most clearly manifested in the gradual neuroticization of those who are exposed to noise for a long time.
The conclusion, which has been tested many times and has now become an axiom, is that people who can control the acoustic level of the environment are less disturbed by noise. They control the source of noise and can turn off the devices, tools, machines that produce it at any time.
Noise always interferes with those who are under its influence and cannot have any influence on it, cannot control it or manage it. In all likelihood, something also depends on the mental mood in relation to the sources of the noise. Swedish sociologists conducted an interesting experiment. Residents of the village, located near the military airfield, all as one complained about the noise of flying planes.
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Half of them were sent a beautiful, richly illustrated book about the past and present of Swedish aviation. About how important it is to develop modern air transport … A few days later, psychologists conducted a questionnaire survey, as a result of which they found that those to whom they donated the book, the noise disturbed … much less!
Noise directly affects the mental state of a person, and therefore it is very important to fight it in order to preserve the health of the world's population in general. Let's say noise raises the level of fear. Promotes the development of aggressiveness. Psychiatric research shows that prolonged loud noise, or worse, irregularly interrupted intense noise, can cause antisocial behavior in people.
Noise on the verge of permissible changes the well-oiled rhythm of activity in any of us, deforms behavior, makes us deviate from the rules in relationships with loved ones … Noise reduces the desire for cooperation and the desire to help other people in trouble. Even good neighbors can turn into bitter enemies who harm each other. Nothing weakens our control over aggressive impulses like noise, that is, we are prone to emotional outbursts under the influence of noise.
Hush, brothers, hush
An interesting study was conducted in a psychological laboratory at the University of New Hampshire. A group of people was first placed in a forest clearing, and then in a field, where they were affected by an unusually strong noise, which was made by a mower specially adapted for this purpose.
Near this group, as if by chance, a man passed by, a folder with papers fell from his hands - they flew away, the poor man began to collect them. To enhance the effect of the “awkward person” who needed to collect documents, one hand was in a cast - it’s easier, scientists believed, to check the level of kindness in the subjects. The result is interesting: under normal conditions, 80% of the observers showed a desire to help a stranger, and in conditions of intense noise, only 15% did it.
In Holland, such experiments are carried out regularly - on the noisy business streets of large cities, as well as in quiet side streets on the outskirts. The “lost tourist”, who was perplexedly studying the map of the city in the outskirts, was ready to help much more people than in the busiest places of megacities. That is, the noise significantly reduces the social motivation of our actions, kills the desire to help another, disrupts relations between people. Deprives us of good feelings …
Noise is a sign of life
As established in the course of psychological research, people are divided by the perception of noise into two main categories: sensitive to noise and dependent on noise. For people of the first category, noise is always unpleasant, at any level. They consider silence to be the ideal state. For people of the second category, noise, sometimes even very strong, is a kind of acoustic drug. It is not difficult to justify dependence on noise.
It was found that noise contributes to an increase in the level of adrenaline, which in the psychological sense is manifested in the release of despair of longing, loneliness, emptiness. They say that a certain level of noise even helps to get rid of self-doubt.
These two types represent the extremes of a broad spectrum of human attitudes to noise. We are so adapted to the modern noisy civilization that we cannot stay in a state of absolute silence, in absolute acoustic sterility for a long time, because noise for us is a sign of life, a symbol of vigorous activity. The roar of motors, the howl of mechanisms, the screams of people, the disruptive music of clubs, the shooting of firecrackers on holidays, the hubbub of meetings with friends - all this is our natural background.
And if sometimes we complain about the noise of children at play, for example, if it disappears, we become sad. Noise is an escape from loneliness. Perhaps that is why the younger generation is so fond of high decibels. Under the constant influence of noise, young people feel like they are in a pack, get rid of painful questions that require concentration and solitude.
In the Middle Ages, in monasteries, loud singing and playing musical instruments saved themselves from the temptation of the devil. Maybe today we are afraid of his claws? And finally, I must say that in different situations one or another type of noise becomes desirable and pleasant for us. For example, while waiting for a late train, we happily react to the roar of approaching cars. The howl of an ambulance siren becomes sweeter than a quiet declaration of love if we wait for it, worrying about the health of our loved ones.
And yet it is time for us to think about the ecological balance in the acoustic sphere - its violation is dangerous for the psyche. We must again learn to hear the rustle of rain, the trills of birds and the thunder of May.
Margarita MANOSKINA