Sound is a signal of energy, carrying intelligible or non-intelligible data. "Noise is unpleasant or unwanted or intolerable sound." But this definition implies a subjectiveness to noise. In other words, one person's noise may be another's 'meat.' The better definition is that Noise is a Pollutant! Pollutants are things like those you just finished studying in the last Update, food intoxicants. You want to avoid pollution. It can make you sick, fatigued, or even kill you.

    In engineering terms, noise can be defined as "any disturbance in an integrated equilibrium." Human beings, as well as other animals, are an exquisitely integrated, delicate equilibrium. Disturbing this, as in disease, lack of nutrition, and noise, will lead to dysfunction.

    This dysfunction is a disturbance. Stress is usually a disturbance of an integrated equilibrium system, which can result in subtle changes to overt system changes such as high cholesterol; or, cognitive deficits, including depression.

    Two of the noisiest places in the United States of America are (1) schools and (2) hospitals. When was the last time you saw a "Quiet—Hospital Zone" sign? It has been definitely proven students exposed to noise in the classrooms tend to do far worse in school than those in quiet classrooms. In one famous example, railroad tracks ran along one side of the school building. Those students on the side of the building exposed to the railroad sounds were at least one or two grades behind in reading comprehension and recall skills, whereas, on the other side of the school building, the side opposite to the side alongside the railroad tracks and its attendant noise, students fared far better.

    Julia Barnett Rice, whose campaign to reduce noise led to the Bennet Act that led to quieter harbors across the United States, said, "It is no exaggeration to say that noise robs class and teachers of 25 % of their time." This was in the early 1900s.

    "The American Society for Testing and Materials allows toys to emit sounds with a peak level of 138 dB, while OSHA safety rules require employees to wear ear protection for exposure to noise levels averaging above 85 dB. Your ears may be safer in a factory than in a daycare center," writes Garret Keizer in his book just out about noise. Is it any wonder that over 5 million children in the U.S. have hearing loss? The MP3 player contributed to this. Players of this device want the sound coming from it loud...very loud. These children are being programmed for loudness . . . and deafness.

    However, it is now shown one of the big problems with learning deficits and cognitive retention comes from the noisy households that the students live in.

    In The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want: A Book About Noise, 2010, Garret Keizer writes:

... Children, according to The World Health Organization, 'receive more noise at school than workers from an 8–hour work day at a factory', ... the elderly...the physically ill (cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, for example, are often more sensitive to noise), racial minorities (blacks in the United States are twice as likely, and Hispanics 1.5 times as likely, as whites to live in homes with noise problems).

    In the Pursuit of Silence, by George Prochnik, a reviewer says:

Prochnik spends some time with a cop who is frequently called upon to intervene in domestic disputes. When he arrives he usually finds that the unhappy home is a raging cacophony of radios, TV's, music all playing simultaneously — layer upon layer of mad noise used to prevent silence from arbitrating between the combatants. The cop tells Prochnik that he merely asks the subjects to turn off the appliances and the near–homocidal atmosphere dissolves almost at once. They had, he says, been arguing with noise itself rather than with each other.

    We will investigate all these changes that occur and explain how they come about biochemically and what you can do to prevent the changes.

    Psychology has entered into the study of Noise in a big way. This is what they have found out. The following is the makeup of The Noise Maker:

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Noise, Vandalism, And Graffiti
Power And Tyranny

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    Psychology can offer both an explanation of why this occurs, and how to overcome this problem as a society, and therefore prevent future noise polluters.

    The problems occur when people get their self-esteem and fulfillment from having power over people. Psychologists say this affects two classes of people; those with inferiority complexes and those with superiority complexes.

    The antidote to "power over others as self-fulfillment" is to create legitimate outlets for personal expression, to make these noise polluters feel secure by overcoming their lack of self-esteem and power in socially acceptable ways that do not disturb or infringe upon the rights of others. Young noise polluters could be engaged in more productive activities if their home environment, and namely their parents, backed and supported these productive activities.

    Noise provides the perfect tool for those who want to express their existence and power in anti-social ways. The tyranny of noise results from the fact that noise always disturbs the peace and the peaceful, while quiet never disturbs noise or the noise maker. Noise is a bullying tool. Governments even use it in torture!

    Noise is an effective bullying tool that will turn heads and attract attention to the noise maker. He now has created false self-esteem and fulfillment for self.

    However, noise polluters are finding that their bullying tool often lands them in court, or results in a homicide.

    Your writer is an expert in Self–Defense; he has taught the martial arts for years and to the Marines before it was common to the U.S. He is an expert in weaponry and an NRA Instructor in all they teach, and a Range Safety Officer. He teaches his students of all disciplines to not go to a neighbor's house and complain about their noise, as this can...and often does, get out–of–hand, unless you are well–practiced in Self–Discipline and Self–Control! And can take spittle in the face and insults to your person. Sometimes, being humble generates an attack from bullies, especially a noise bully who has been "called down on Noise Pollution."

    He points out: "Let the police do your speaking for you!" That's why you pay taxes.

    He proffers these reasons for not complaining to the noise maker:

• Psychologists consider this action of complaining to the Noise Maker as Socially Awkard. This means that the noisemaker(s) are on an epinephrine (adrenaline) high (noise causes this) and if alcohol is being served, this compounds the situation, such that complaining often results in the noise being cranked higher. The noisemaker(s) are under excessive Sonic Stimulation. It's all bad for them and/or you.

• Garret Keizer points out clearly in The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want: A Book About Noise, 2010, the following:

  The sounds of mechanical and electrical devices seem to give status to their operators, a noiser signature more often than not announcing a claim to masculine power.

  This is Maschimo!

• Often times, the Socially Awkardity leads to a homocide, as given in the recent article from Houston, Texas and BeaumontEnterprise.com, May 3, 2010, Page 3A :

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  Loud party music spawns shooting

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  A Harris County man upset about loud music from a neighbor’s party has been arrested on a murder charge in a triple shooting that left one man dead and two others injured.
  Raul Rodriguez remained in Harris County jail Sunday with no bond. A jail official had no attorney information for the 44-year-old.
  The man hosting his wife’s birthday party, 36-year-old Kelly Danaher, was killed in the shooting early Sunday morning.
  The injured included a Houston fire captain — Senior Capt. Ricky Johnson, who was attending the gathering. A fire official said Johnson was shot in the stomach.
  The Houston Chronicle reported he was in critical condition Sunday.
  A third man who was shot in the leg was treated and released.

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    Psychologists further point out that what noisemakers are saying, especially when they drive their Boom Cars, is:

"Here I am, look at me, you can't do anything about it." The same applies to motorcycles with pipes–cars too–including unmuffled exhaust pipes, and the amplified booming home stereo units. Even the dink of a car that turns up the regular car radio to blaring sound is saying the same thing. "Here I am...Look at me! You can't do anything about it! I have power and control over you." This also applies to the home parties that disturb neighbors.

But, we must be careful here. The occasional home–party–throwing neighbor should learn the first time not to disturb his neighbors. If he does it again, then he is more than just rude or forgetful, he has one or more of these problems discussed herein.

Quite often, the sound system installed professionally in a vehicle cost more than the car is worth. This clearly illustrates the psychology of the dink operator. No self–esteem, no self–fulfillment, lack of personal worth, but he wants you to notice that he is somebody worthy because he has the power to turn heads and dominate the soundscape. He is truly inadequate and insecure. This type is now dominating the U.S. and most of Europe.

When The Hell Breaks, you will have to be prepared for this type—they are everywhere, and don't mind taking from you by force if possible. They will morph into gangs of similar ilk for strength and security and then move on the helpless and unprepared. They will pillage; they will rob; they will rape. They are coming. They will draw strength from their gang–like brothers. Take a few out and you will see what they are composed of. Always be ready to help a police officer. They are going to be subject to executions by these epinephrine-high noise freaks.

Learn this psychology well. As you put them down, they will morph into the landscape and move on to less determined peoples. Cowards and bullies always do.

For the noise polluter, "Noise is often used as an expression of power. For the noise polluter, the pleasure comes not only from hearing the noise, but from the power and dominance of making others listen to the noise–the power of turning heads and imposing one's actions on another."

    Noise is a form of Power and Tyranny including Control over others from the weak and the insecure who have nothing else, generally, going for them.

    It is a form of Machismo, exaggerated masculinity, of a person who often feels, inwardly, weak and emasculated. Psychologists point out, it is of a "gang" mentality.

    More often than not, these people have "Displaced Aggression." This results from not having safe and effective outlets for their feelings of hurt, hostility, and insecurity.

    The noise-polluter segment of the population includes not only the not-so-well educated, but also the well-educated. Somewhere in their lives, they are lacking security and self-fulfillment, such that they inevitably have to project dominance, control, and tyranny over another in order to feel good about themselves.

    Inevitably, this will lead to displaced aggression, that is, they move their aggression onto another in terms of noise pollution. However, the time is coming when it won't be just noise they turn on you.

Sources:

• Noise Pollution Clearing House (Data Base), Nonoise.org
• The Quiet Zone, Fall 2006, pp. 6-7.
• The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want, Garret Keizer, 2010
• Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide To Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping, Third Edition, Robert M. Sapolsky, Stanford University, 2004.

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    Jack Brehm, psychologist, coined the term Reactance during the 1960s describing the phenomenon that one rebels in order to reestablish control. Whatever the authorities say we should not have or do, people often react to it in a negative manner. This is reactance. To reassert control, one is saying they want tyrany, power and dominance over another. Slate, an online source writes:

In one classic study of reactance, researchers placed signs in several of the restrooms of a university, either politely asking people not to write on the walls or ordering them, "Do NOT write on the walls!" How did people react to the latter? They were more inclined to write on the sign itself in defiance (e.g., "So what are you going to do about it … [expletive deleted] … You'll never catch me. Ha! Ha! Ha!"). Sometimes they skipped straight to stealing the sign. In other words, a minor prohibition elicited a major reaction—and what was true in the 1960s is just as true today.

    Noise is becoming such a hot item, Parade Magazine, Page 6, May 30, 2010 has taken it up:

Americans Forced to Quiet Down The increasing volume of American life -- from construction sites, car alarms, and barking dogs to booming stereos -- is leading lawmakers across the country to issue tough new restrictions on how much noise residents can make.

The federal Noise Control Act set some broad guidelines against noise pollution in 1972 and was followed by many local laws. Yet the country is getting noisier, and Americans are feeling the effects: According to the National Institute on Deafness, 30 million people in the U.S. are exposed to dangerous noise levels each day and 10 million have suffered gradual hearing loss as a result.

"People continuously exposed to loud sounds experience elevated stress levels, hypertension, depression, and lost sleep and productivity," says Richard Tur, founder of NoiseOFF, a website for people who want quieter communities.

Now, some cities are issuing tough new laws to get residents to turn down the volume. A Richmond, Va., ordinance passed in February makes it illegal to "cause a disturbance" that can be heard 50 feet away. Violators could face jail time. In New York City, dog owners are subject to fines of up to $175 if their pets bark for more than 10 minutes.

Until recently, drivers accused of blasting their radios in Sarasota, Fla., had their cars impounded. City officials stopped enforcing that policy after the American Civil Liberties Union sued to overturn a Florida law banning noise that can be heard 25 feet away. While the ACLU agrees that nuisance noise should be regulated, "the Florida law leads to arbitrary enforcement," says ACLU attorney Andrea Mogensen. "Almost any radio will be audible at 25 feet, so police pick and choose whom they'll target."

In the end, common sense may be more effective than a legal crackdown. "It's unlikely that we'll have a massive police force armed with noise meters," says George Prochnik, author of a book on the pursuit of silence. "Instead, we should educate people about the benefits of quiet and the risks that noise poses to our ears, hearts, and minds." — Drew Jubera

Loud Is A Signature of Power!

    Consider the War Cry! It is a means of making the opponents frightened and the invaders sounding invincible. It also stirs their emotions such that they will be sharper, as in the "Adrenal Dump" for flight or fight syndrome. This has been occuring ever since Cain slew Able. But, there's more.

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    The loudest sound made by humans were Church Bells ringing. With the invention of gun powder, Gengis Khan used it to make loud sounds to sound powerful and proclaim a social status of being invincible and superior. It is doubtful that he ever used it for hurling projectiles at his foes. This came later.

    The dead had Church Bells rung for them if they had status in the community and church; however, for those without social status, they were quickly put under ground. If a child died before his first communion, the general modality or custom was to have bigger bells toll for boys than girls.

    Noise, especially loud noise, relates to power. War, according to Elaine Scarry, in her 1985 research in The Body in Pain, is to "unmake the world." Torture is used on prisoners to attempt the same thing. Noise does likewise in some children.

    In a Russian Gulag, Elaine Scarry writes of a description of "how in Russia guards were trained to slam the door in as jarring a way as possible or to close it in equally unnerving silence." These two poles of action keep the prisoner in psychological and physiological quandry of pain and suffering of not knowing what power will be used against him next.

    "In 1956," writes Keizer, "Robert Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company attributed postwar prosperity to the fact that 'advertising has created an American frame of mind that makes people want more things, better things and newer things." They also want "louder things." They want gas powered things, lawn powered things, and other powered things, and engineering firms do not engineer them to their maximum quiet. The reason is because consumers then, and now, associate noise with power.

    We see all the above every day. Consider the person on a motorcycle; or in a hot car; they often gun the motor for loudness. Then, peel out with screeching loudness. Why? This is their claim to social status. The graffiti we see everywhere is a noise! It is a loud signature saying, "Hey, look here! I make you read this and you can't do anything about it." They all, in effect, are quite insecure, as you have read above, and they crave recognition and attention. They don't even recognize their own insecurities. When total chaos comes, these people will have displaced aggression. They will take what they want, at your expense, if you have not developed a mindset about this. They will project their aggression onto you, because they now have to suffer the consequences of being loud and not hearing the still, small voice within warning them about the Signs of the Times that have now arrived.

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    These people are everywhere now. How deadly do you think these people will be to you and yours, with all their problems and all their displaced aggressions When the Hell Breaks in full?

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    Readers of ChemBioUpdate, Monsieur Kong has a few words from the Alps he wanted to pass on to you. Click Here:

In An UpComing Issue:
The Physiological/Psychological Effects of Noise: Part II

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