CONCEPTS MUSIC - WEEK 8 - REFLECTIONS

“SOCIOCUSIS
Loss of hearing caused by noise exposures that are part of the social environment, exclusive of occupational-noise exposure, physiological changes with age, and disease.” (Found on http://www.diracdelta.co.uk/science/source/s/o/sociocusis/source.html)

In the words of Negativland, “Is there any escape from noise?” Our densely populated societies are totally saturated with sound and light, the only escape from which is to adopt a hermit-like existence in a desert-like environment. Even in those circumstances, I believe one would feel an over-powering urge to sing and light a fire. However, it’s a fact that our auditory environments are polluted and the condition of sociocusis as defined above is more in the nature of a psychological disorder than a physical one. The investigation we are currently undertaking into the nature of sound and the various realities of perception is very much an exploration of the psychology of sensory perception also. My personal philosophy is that there is no such thing as an objective reality anyway. Just as the measurement of an event changes it, surely the sensory perception (being a kind of subjective measurement) of an event alters it also, to the extent that there is no good and evil, no black and white; there is only what I like and what I feel. So there.

Here's a groovy website:
HUMAN HEARING SENSITVITY - AUDIOHOLICS ONLINE A/V MAGAZINE

Here's another:
WHAT IS A DECIBEL - UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, SCHOOL OF PHYSICS