You're not rambling, great thoughts you just wrote down!
I wholeheartedly agree. This society that tries to pass over responsibility by having all sorts of (sometimes even ridiculous) warnings, there's not enough warnings about the hazards of noise.
In Finland the cinemas are insanely loud. Several times the sound levels have been measured over 115 dB. Who NEEDS that.
This old piece published in the Guardian in 2003:
Loud and louder.
My friend's friend, Torkell Saetervadet, is a Norwegian cinema design engineer. I can ask him. "Utter bullshit!" says he.
"Cinemas do not damage your ears. You need eight hours of 85dBC a day for 40 years to give you 10-15% hearing loss." Young audiences like the cinema to recreate reality - a gunshot two inches from your ear, a bomb next door, a plane crash in your garden.
"If they think it's too quiet, they just feel there's something missing, shrug their shoulders and don't come back," says Saetervadet. "Sound is just another tool in the director's box. If the director wants people to be hammered to their seats, he can."
So a few loud films can't cause lasting damage. But if your ears ring after loud noise or your hearing goes a little blurry, that means they are temporarily damaged. Suppose this damage is like a bruise. It fades away.
Holy smoke. I would like to punch this Mr. Saetervadet in the face!
Deafening new films threaten hearing of young cinema goers
Some of the films showed peaks of 130 decibels during car chase scenes, gun fights and explosions - the equivalent of standing just 100 yards away from a jet during take-off.
It's so wrong to say that one instance of very loud noise can't give one everlasting tinnitus (/hearing loss). There are too many people who've lived quite a normal life noise-wise, avoiding loud noise purposefully and yet they've got tinnitus due to one or two loud noises (for some it might be a single gunshot or a favorite band's concert, for others something else).
It is hard to regulate noise, but the usual suspects (clubs, concerts, bars, music players, cinemas, gun ranges, loud machines, and other loud things) should carry noticeable warnings.
It's no good if there's a frigging small plague somewhere on the wall or an unnoticeable text box in the manual who nobody even looks at.
Colin, have you been able to return for work yet? I hope so! And what are those plugs you use that attenuate 33 dB? Maybe
these by Hearos?
This is the quote of the day and a great way to start off the weekend with:
"but I am not going to let a noise over take my life" RIGHT ON! Love your attitude.