But the most significant change in modern science is not just about the amount of noise, but how we experience it. Noise is no longer understood solely as a problem that affects hearing, it is also recognised as a systemic environmental pollutant. Transport noise is now one of the leading environmental cause of illness in Europe, second only to air pollution.

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[–] 80 points 2 weeks ago (31 children)

Motorbikes are without a doubt my biggest source of audio-related stress. Cars are noisy too, but only a sliver in comparison.

Then there’s the special breed of bikers who go out of their way to announce themselves as infuriatingly as possible. I wish them a hot and itchy sleep tonight.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 weeks ago

    As a former rider, apologies. Whenever I drove in the city I kept the noise and rpm low so you could not make me out between the cars.

    It is easily doable, but there are many assholes.

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    [–] 62 points 2 weeks ago* (12 children)

    I despise leaf blowers with all of my being, dear Lord how I loathe them.

    Is raking that hard? So hard that every house within a mile should listen to your leaf blower, instead? WHEEEEERRRRR WHEEEEEERR I'M BLOWIN' MY LEAFS WHEEEEEEEEEEEERRRR

    ... the worst part is, it's 100% unnecessary, there's no need to blow leaves. They're supposed to be there, they don't hurt a thing. Morons

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  • [–] 12 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

    I've been prepping my driveway for the last week to seal coat it, and I feel bad when I need to run the electric blower for like ten minutes max.

    I keep the garage door shut when I run the air compressor and run the hose out under it, which works very well to suppress the noise.

    I also share the opinion that regular leaf cleanup is stupid. like just leave 'em be, the bugs will use them and they'll feed the lawn. raking is usually easier than blowing anyways, in my experience. maybe that's just because I've never cut my grass weekly and don't have a golf course for a yard

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  • [–] 14 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

    I hate grass and I hate all the stupid shit it takes to maintain it. Mowers, blowers, weed whackers. All that fucking stupid waste to cut grass and put it in a landfill.

    Grass consumes so many resources only to end up in the dump. Most of my neighbors bag it up and put it in the trash. Water, useless fertilizer, pesticides, weed killer and other stuff, it is nontrivial.

    Omfg, at least compost it! Fucking morons and their grass. I cut mine like every three weeks and clean up none of it. It can just lay there. If I didn't live in a bullshit hoa neighborhood, I would just let it turn into a meadow. Ive seeded microclover, but it's slow to take over. Working on it a little more each year.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    Most of my neighbors bag it up and put it in the trash.

    We throw ours in a ditch which I think is technically illegal for some stupid reason but I'll be damned if I'm using a plastic bag for organic waste that I could just kinda.. leave there.

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    [–] 25 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Fuck internal combustion engines with no exhaust, or amplified exhaust, or "loud" exhaust.

    And double fuck the sorry assholes who ride/own them.

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  • [–] 17 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Dude, drinking water isn't even a right according to our supreme court.

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    [–] 16 points 2 weeks ago

    The US just said that clean drinking water isn’t a right, so good luck with getting peace and quiet recognised as a right…

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  • [–] 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    I moved to a rural area in early 2025.

    Its so quiet. Sometimes Douche Baggins is running his or her turbobdiesel F4000 dually down the road too fast, but usually its just wind, roosters, frogs, and bugs.

    Before this I lived in a suburb. Roaring cars constantly. There was a period of two months where semi trucks were driving down the street in front of the house one right after the other, constantly, day and night. A stroad down the street was noisy all the time.

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    [–] 13 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

    I'm very curious to see this study replicated in Latin America.

    My experience here is dreadful. I have stress, insomnia, and irritability from the constant noise from traffic (there's a near constant blast of cars with megaphones repeating an amplified voice of some merchant selling something like gas or brooms or juice or buying scrap metal or whatever).

    On the other hand, most of the locals literally don't notice the noise. They can sleep through it all, even fire alarms.

    The evolutionary argument is interesting, but I really want to see this study repeated and confirmed in cultures that are largely ambivalent about noise pollution

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  • [–] 9 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

    I hear you, absolutely dreadful. I also wonder how can people ignore those "sounds" so effortlessly.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    It's just what you're used to, in a way.

    I grew up in a noisy third world country and could've slept through a drummer 10 ft away. I then moved to a first world country and have now gotten used to the relative silence that I experience here, despite living in a downtown area of a major city. Going back home to visit my parents is a nightmare because I the up waking up a million times every night because of all the sounds around.

    Visiting cousins/friends who live in the suburbs of my new country gives me the creeps because of how much more quieter it is. So I end up getting nightmares of being in some post apocalyptic world when I stay over at their places. So, I can't sleep through complete silence either. 🤷‍♂️

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  • [–] 11 points 2 weeks ago* (4 children)

    I’ve had seedlings of this idea earlier this year so I’m happy to see this. It’s my fault for letting it rile me up so much, but neighborhood security cameras that make fuckass noises or yell “HI UR ON CAMERA” anger me to a likely unhealthy degree. They take a peaceful enough morning dog walk through a relatively low traffic noise neighborhood and shatter my peace of mind absorbing what little nature sounds I can. I’ve already made peace with myself that everyone now is too big a paranoid piss baby that they have to have their doorbell cams and other cams hoovering up my image into the panopticon against my will and consent. But then to have them fucking talk at me is beyond the pale.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

    neighborhood security cameras that make fuckass noises or yell “HI UR ON CAMERA”

    Those exist??

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  • [–] 9 points 2 weeks ago* (1 child)

    One of my old neighbors had one. I would walk by it every day walking to the bus stop, I started flipping it off. So fucking annoying.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 weeks ago

    I'd bring an air horn with me

    I'm so tired of assholes just ruining things for others, if it's going to happen to me then we're all going down, fuckers. I'm not going to just tolerate the bullshit and abuse anymore

    like LED headlights. if I can't see, my LED high beams are turning on so that you can't see either. I didn't start this, you did. sorry to the people behind the offending driver that I am possibly affecting but can't even see. that asshole driver will just keep doing the same thing if they don't feel any consequences.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 weeks ago

    I'll pencil that one in right below healthcare and education.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

    I get so stressed from too much noise and there's nothing I can do about it. If anything it's so much worse since starting hormones

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    [–] 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

    I've seen stats from Switzerland (IIRC) that said 70% of vehicles breaking noise limits where motorbikes. 20% were trucks and busses. 10% were cars. You want to address transport noise? Get rid of bikers.

    It's nice to see that it's getting some attention but I've been seeing stories about this for years. We will be long dead before this is addressed, let alone solved.

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    [–] 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)
  • [–] 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    endless barking dogs is my main noise gripe, fark....

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  • [–] 6 points 2 weeks ago

    Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud

    Urban noise is a common problem, and the vast majority of it is created by motor vehicles. Noise is far too often dismissed as a minor nuisance, rather than the legitimate health issue that it is.

    The book "Curbing Traffic" has a chapter about the health impacts of noise pollution. I explore the research in the book, and visit Delft, the city that is highlighted in the book as being a shining example of what can happen when noise pollution is taken seriously.

    This video explores the problem that farting cars, farting motorcycles, and farting mopeds create in our cities.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTV-wwszGw8

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

    ironically, cars are the only thing that allow you to live a quiet life out in the country

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    [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago

    Consider those who insist on loud music all day and night, or who sleep with TV on.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago

    gonna print this out and tape it to my upstairs neighbors door

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