Signal to Noise

This essay was adapted from the latest episode of the Coffee Before Pants podcast Signal to Noise.  If you would rather listen, just click here

It’s everywhere. Everywhere you go.  It’s something I have recently been thinking about quite a bit. Perhaps, it is a sign of age that I am noticing this thing, but I’m not so sure.  I think it’s a sign that our environment is changing, and not necessarily for the better.

Every day society is surrounded, even bombarded, by it. Constantly. In our home, in the workplace, in the grocery store, in restaurants.  We are even subjected to it at the gas pump. It’s everywhere and it’s only going to get worse unless we find a way to minimize, or even eliminate it from our lives.

I am talking about noise. We are assaulted by clamor, needless chatter, and bad music with have already grown tired of hearing. We can’t go out without hearing it. We can’t go out to eat and have a pleasant conversation without being drowned out by music.
           
It’s not just music.  It seems you can’t go anywhere without hearing advertisements.  Loud, abrasive ads that demand your attention. When you go to a gas station, you pull up to the pump, enter your credit card information, and start pumping the gas.  There’s always a notice that says Do not leave the pump unattended. As soon as you press the lever to start pumping, the pump starts blaring advertisements and pseudo-news at you.  At least there is a mute button, right?
           
I don’t think I’m alone in wondering why I have to listen to music or television when eating out.  Valerie and I go to restaurants to have a nice meal, not to watch the NBA playoffs or listen to music.  If I were interested, I would do those things at home.  It’s still noise, yes but it is the noise of my own choosing.
           
The loud music and television also starts a domino effect with fellow patrons, as well.  The restaurant has a TV playing, or loud music.  The conversation gradually gets louder because they want to have a conversation but have to talk over the TV.  This causes other conversations in the room to also get louder.  And so on.
           
When I use the term Noise, I am not just talking about auditory noise.  Visual noise also is a major issue.  We are constantly bombarded by it. All this noise is affecting out ability to focus. That is what the noise makers of our society want.  They want you to lose your inability to focus on what you want to do and instead focus on what they want to sell you.  At least, for the most part.

And noise, like static, daily traffic, white noise, can affect one's overall health.  A new study led by Charlie Roscoe, research fellow in environmental health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, found that nighttime and daytime noise generated by things like cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes was linked with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a group of women in the U.S. Roscoe discusses the significance of the findings, and why the health impacts of noise should be taken seriously.
           
And what is my point?  My point is that, although this is not a new phenomenon, it is getting worse. We are losing our ability for critical thinking, we are losing our ability to read the things we want to read and instead the media and advertisers are trying to tell you what to think, what to read.
           
So, consider this a call to arms, so to speak. There are ways to combat the pervasive noise in our lives, to help us focus on reading.  Reading or whatever task there might be at hand that requires concentration.  Some of my suggested tacts might seem anti-social.  Others are just small ways we can rise above the noise levels.
           
One, and this is the hardest.  Turn off your goddamn smartphone.  Seriously.  It rules your life more than you care to admit or notice.  Wake up. Nothing that happens outside of your silence is worth your attention.  Unless you are on call for your job, nothing that happens is going to change because you missed a call. This is an excellent way to retain your focus.  You can read, write, journal, meditate, what have you.  Just leave the smartphone off.  Give yourself an hour a day, whatever hour you choose, to involve yourself in these tasks.
           
Second, invest in a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones.  I have a pair of Status Core ANC over the ear headphones and they are amazing.  I don’t know if other brands have this feature, but these have noise cancelling feature separate from the Bluetooth feature. If you like listening to music while you read, fine, but with these headphones, it isn’t necessary.
           
I profess to be a bit of a hermit, myself, but occasionally I do like sitting at a coffee shop or café to read.  These headphones are a must for me for obvious reasons.  I even wear them when I read in the library, which has it’s own share of noise.  Whatever happened to being quiet in the library.  Our local library has a quiet room.  It used to be that all libraries were quiet rooms.
           
Weather permitting, of course, enjoy the relative silence of local parks.  Bring your headphones nonetheless, since there is always a chance of some cretin playing music too loudly.
           
Three, when you are out and about and simply want to read, put a sign on the table stating such.  I have seen signs and stickers that say “the headphones mean I am reading, or the headphones mean I don’t want to talk.  If you see that sign, please respect the owner’s intentions.
           
And four, set up a hermit space in your home, if possible.  This way you can make your own coffee. Listen to the noise or sounds of your own choosing.  Or put your headphones on and listen to….nothing. Don’t forget to turn off or silence your phone.
           
I am keeping in mind that there are those, unlike myself, who are not as sound reactive as I am. There are those who could focus on there reading or writing through a loud rock concert.  I am not one of those.  I prefer to be in a quiet space, alone with my thoughts.
           
All the while I was working on the podcast, I kept thinking, am I not just one more aspect of the noise?  Seriously, how many podcasts are there?  Add this to all the YouTube and TikTok channels, most just add to the noise.  I don’t want to add to the noise and clamor.  I had serious thoughts about discontinuing the podcast.  Instead, I intend to rise above the noise, or if nothing else make the noise less noisy. One way I will do this is to keep presenting what I hope is quality content. 
           
I would like to hear from you.  What steps do you take to cultivate a positive reading environment? Travel into a large woods just to sit and read?  Do you in fact wear headphones or earbuds when out in public,  in order to concentrate? I am always looking for ideas myself.  Let me know by either commenting down below or contacting me on the contact page.
           

(As a side note, the reason I adapted this into a written post from the podcast is that I appreciate that not everyone likes listening to podcasts.  I understand.  I have never been able to enjoy someone reading to me, or listening to audiobooks.)