The following line seems important to this article: Maybe I am too cynical but I interpret this as a symptom of conditioning by modern consumerism-oriented society. People are conditioned to feel...
The following line seems important to this article:
Why do we create soundtracks for our every move?
Maybe I am too cynical but I interpret this as a symptom of conditioning by modern consumerism-oriented society. People are conditioned to feel incomplete or out of place if they aren't part of the lifestyle that is being sold. In that lifestyle, people have confidence, they have fun, they have community, they have value -- all materialized with commoditized clothing styles, restaurants, cars, hygiene products, music and more. It seems like some people (many people?) feel awkward and lost if they haven't adopted one of the lifestyles being sold. If they don't have the right sunglasses, drink the right type of beer, or if they're not followed by a constant soundtrack, they feel like something is wrong. People use the products from that lifestyle to avoid the silence, the emptiness and the sense of inadequacy they've been conditioned to feel.
So I agree with Longstone that it is incredibly irritating to have to listen to other peoples music all the time. I also find it depressing to think about why this the case these days.
Probably the same people who decide to blast their music from speakers on the bus/train. I've been tempted to buy a bunch of cheap headphones at the dollar store and start dropping them into the...
Probably the same people who decide to blast their music from speakers on the bus/train. I've been tempted to buy a bunch of cheap headphones at the dollar store and start dropping them into the laps of people doing this.
Outdoors can be annoying as well, but I feel like it's much less shitty to do this in a park or on a trail than in a crowded, enclosed space. I'll take a hundred people blasting nothing but music I hate on the trail over the people who leave their bagged dog shit everywhere and refuse to pack it out, who leave campsites so trashed it looks like a dumpster fell over (ran into this one constantly this past summer, since getting outside was basically the only thing to do), or who disregard fire bans and cause my tinderbox state to go up in flames. The music I can ignore or avoid (speed up ahead or let them get out of earshot), the others are harder to do so and have worse long term effects.
I've noticed this loud music behavior mostly in people who exhibit some kind of tribal behavior so that's my theory about this. The music they listen to represents the group they feel part of,...
I've noticed this loud music behavior mostly in people who exhibit some kind of tribal behavior so that's my theory about this. The music they listen to represents the group they feel part of, they think their music is the best thing in the world and that by making everyone else listen to it they'd be able to "recruit" more people into their group (since of course, nobody can resist or dislike the best music, can they? /s).
The other thing is it's always so loud. My neighbors blast music every day from around 2-430 PM like clockwork (it's actually noticeable when they don't anymore). The issue I've got is we've got...
The other thing is it's always so loud. My neighbors blast music every day from around 2-430 PM like clockwork (it's actually noticeable when they don't anymore). The issue I've got is we've got these excellent devices that beam music into your skull called headphones.
This isn't just me railing on my otherwise quiet neighbor. I respond to this the way I do anywhere, and it just doesn't make sense to me. I think the result may be worse in nature, but I also don't feel comfortable attributing it to anything but habit. Hiking is fun, people listen to music doing fun stuff, so they play their music while hiking/biking/chilling at the beach, whatever.
I've also seen silence used as a place to assert one's own interest. An example is my mom's boyfriend who comes over to our place, instead of going to his, because my brother and I are relatively quiet, but they proceed to fill the silence near constantly. You take your music to the beach because you'll be able to hear it over the relative silence of the ocean, instead of over the din of your neighbors and traffic. I think the cause is relatively innocent in all cases, even if the result is somewhat more... sinister.
The following line seems important to this article:
Maybe I am too cynical but I interpret this as a symptom of conditioning by modern consumerism-oriented society. People are conditioned to feel incomplete or out of place if they aren't part of the lifestyle that is being sold. In that lifestyle, people have confidence, they have fun, they have community, they have value -- all materialized with commoditized clothing styles, restaurants, cars, hygiene products, music and more. It seems like some people (many people?) feel awkward and lost if they haven't adopted one of the lifestyles being sold. If they don't have the right sunglasses, drink the right type of beer, or if they're not followed by a constant soundtrack, they feel like something is wrong. People use the products from that lifestyle to avoid the silence, the emptiness and the sense of inadequacy they've been conditioned to feel.
So I agree with Longstone that it is incredibly irritating to have to listen to other peoples music all the time. I also find it depressing to think about why this the case these days.
Probably the same people who decide to blast their music from speakers on the bus/train. I've been tempted to buy a bunch of cheap headphones at the dollar store and start dropping them into the laps of people doing this.
Outdoors can be annoying as well, but I feel like it's much less shitty to do this in a park or on a trail than in a crowded, enclosed space. I'll take a hundred people blasting nothing but music I hate on the trail over the people who leave their bagged dog shit everywhere and refuse to pack it out, who leave campsites so trashed it looks like a dumpster fell over (ran into this one constantly this past summer, since getting outside was basically the only thing to do), or who disregard fire bans and cause my tinderbox state to go up in flames. The music I can ignore or avoid (speed up ahead or let them get out of earshot), the others are harder to do so and have worse long term effects.
I've noticed this loud music behavior mostly in people who exhibit some kind of tribal behavior so that's my theory about this. The music they listen to represents the group they feel part of, they think their music is the best thing in the world and that by making everyone else listen to it they'd be able to "recruit" more people into their group (since of course, nobody can resist or dislike the best music, can they? /s).
The other thing is it's always so loud. My neighbors blast music every day from around 2-430 PM like clockwork (it's actually noticeable when they don't anymore). The issue I've got is we've got these excellent devices that beam music into your skull called headphones.
This isn't just me railing on my otherwise quiet neighbor. I respond to this the way I do anywhere, and it just doesn't make sense to me. I think the result may be worse in nature, but I also don't feel comfortable attributing it to anything but habit. Hiking is fun, people listen to music doing fun stuff, so they play their music while hiking/biking/chilling at the beach, whatever.
I've also seen silence used as a place to assert one's own interest. An example is my mom's boyfriend who comes over to our place, instead of going to his, because my brother and I are relatively quiet, but they proceed to fill the silence near constantly. You take your music to the beach because you'll be able to hear it over the relative silence of the ocean, instead of over the din of your neighbors and traffic. I think the cause is relatively innocent in all cases, even if the result is somewhat more... sinister.
Everything has to be a party, it seems.