Noise is produced by almost everything we humans do. It makes sense, then, that we would get used to it. But unfortunately this attitude also leads us to accept excessive and damaging amounts of noise. Exposure to noise no louder than people shouting for eight hours a day, five days a week can lead to substantial hearing loss in a matter of a few years, yet we continue to work and allow others to work amidst heavy machinery, impact tools, and screaming turbofan jet engines. And we live along approach paths to the major airports of the world (view image). We accept hearing loss as a part of the normal aging process, even though in many cases it doesn't have to be.
Many of the problems discussed here are the result of ignorance, and that is where this website fits into the scheme of things. Ignorance may be bliss, but it is a lonely, frustrating bliss when you can't hear a word spoken to you unless it's shouted. Educating oneself may not guarantee a lifetime of good hearing, but it certainly gives a person better odds. And the people around them, too. A parent educated in safe auditory practices has kids who will grow up in a safe environment and who will learn safe auditory practices themselves. And maybe with enough educated parents, teachers, co-workers, and policy-makers our children and our children's children won't have to grow up in an annoying world, a world where it is difficult to communicate, a world where noise-induced hearing loss is accepted as part of the normal aging process.
The interested reader is encouraged to consult the abundance of other websites on the topic of noise pollution and related issues. . . .
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