Loud Noises, Subsonics, and Your Health

Welcome to Loud Noises, Subsonics and Your Health.

If I were a younger man and into investing for the future, I think I’d buy a lot of shares in those companies who are involved with human hearing? Hearing aids, that sort of thing. You know, Cochlear implants. Why? Because I expect that within the next ten, twenty or thirty years half the young men in the Western World are going to be deaf or nearly deaf. The reason, too much loud noise.

A few moments ago I read a question on Wiki Questions which had not been answered. I guess I could have taken out an account, logged in there and answered it as I am doing here. Instead, I thought I’d go to Hubpages and write a brief Hub on the subject. Maybe it’ll help someone.

I wonder how many people realize that loud, deep-toned noises such as those base, drum-beat sounds we often hear coming from young person’s cars, is can be absolutely devastating to long-term health? No, it doesn’t only annoy. Of course, I realize that most young men don’t worry about things long term. Even the year after next seems as if it will never come. But as someone once said to me, “Tom, it is true that you’re only young once – but you’re old for a long time.”

Consistently loud, low, drum-beat type noises, which sort of emulate a deep heart-beat are not good for you. Short term? Fine. Sustained? You’re asking for trouble. You see, a great deal of that sound falls below the level of our hearing range. It is subsonic. It causes vibrations which impinge not so much on our eardrums – though it does that, of course – but on the watery tissues of our body. Remember, the human body is made up of around 70% water. It does take much to vibrate our vital organs.

Way back in the early 1970s when I lived in New Zealand, I sailed on the train ferry, MV Aromoana from Wellington to Picton, that is, across the Cook Strait. The Aromoana is quite a large ship; has to be to carry cars and railway carriages. It’s power plant? Huge diesel engines, as most ships are powered today. Whilst in Picton I stopped in at the local pub for a beer and engaged in conversation with a seamen off the Aromoana, a fellow around fifty. Being an ex sailor myself, it was easy enough to strike up a conversation.

This man, as it turned out, was in the Engineering branch. After a while, he told me that he had terminal cancer. And then he said. “Yes, mate. Vibration. Been working around those big diesels for years. Doctors told me the vibration caused my internal organs to vibrate to the point they couldn’t take it anymore. Started to bleed. Subsonic sound they reckon. It’s gonna kill me.”

Those deep, drum beat sounds that give the teenager that sense of “This is who I am, Jack,” and make people two blocks away recoil from the sound, might think it’s all one big laugh. They might also think it enhances their image as being cool. “To hell with deafness down the track – you only live once.” Yes, and you are old for a long while. You’ll be deaf for most of it. But maybe that’s not too bad. But what about that internal vibration? Did you know that in the Cold War between the Communist and Democratic countries, both sides were working on using Subsonic Sound as a weapon of war! Yep. Dangerous stuff, below the level of hearing sound, if there a lot of energy behind it. It can kill people. Do you really want to end up like that sailor?...

I hope you got something useful out of Loud Noises, Subsonics and Your Health.

Keep smiling.