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The Emperor has no Ears...
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dilletante, with some embroidery by me.
Humans can hear from around 20hz or so to around 22khz.
Well, some humans can.
We start losing the really high frequency bits when we're about twenty, and it's all downhill from there.
So, in the UK, they had the bright idea 'if we play loud tones that are high enough frequency that teenagers can hear them but adults can't, teens won't congregate.' This appears to work. Listen to an example here.
However, the Street finds it's own uses for technology, and the kids returned fire. They started passing around a high frequency tone as a ringtone, so that they could hear phones going off in class and the teachers couldn't. Hilarity ensues.
I was a bit skeptical when I heard this, so I asked a six year old I happened to have handy over to my desk, and requested 'please listen to this and tell me if you hear anything.'
She reported hearing both tones.
Yow. Just yow.
No cubs over fifteen, Billy!
Ever heard of a cub with a green flower?
dilletante, with some embroidery by me.Humans can hear from around 20hz or so to around 22khz.
Well, some humans can.
We start losing the really high frequency bits when we're about twenty, and it's all downhill from there.
So, in the UK, they had the bright idea 'if we play loud tones that are high enough frequency that teenagers can hear them but adults can't, teens won't congregate.' This appears to work. Listen to an example here.
However, the Street finds it's own uses for technology, and the kids returned fire. They started passing around a high frequency tone as a ringtone, so that they could hear phones going off in class and the teachers couldn't. Hilarity ensues.
I was a bit skeptical when I heard this, so I asked a six year old I happened to have handy over to my desk, and requested 'please listen to this and tell me if you hear anything.'
She reported hearing both tones.
Yow. Just yow.
No cubs over fifteen, Billy!
Ever heard of a cub with a green flower?
no subject
TV's are what kill me, though. A constant whine at around 15Khz. Drives me bonkers in a quiet house.
Another advantage of living in BFE mountain land is that the ambient noise level is so low that a lot of your hearing comes back.
I think that the problem is less age and more constant noise. Adults live in very noisey environments. Computers, cars, offices, etc. The brain is very good at adaptive filtering of sounds. While I can hear those high pitches with clarity, and can pick up on odd engine sounds with ease, I have a hard time dealing with vocals. I spent most of HS actively trying to filter out voices (teachers) so I could read (in class). Anyway, it adds up over time. And I can say that my hearing has seemed to improve since moving out here to the woods. And it's not like I haven't been mean to my ears recently, either (concerts recently: Tori Amos, NIN, Sisters of Mercy, Slick Idiot, Thrill Kill Kult). And l listen to the stereo loud in the car, with the windows open a lot.
btw, the girl can hear it, too. Although it's VERY directional coming from the powerbook's speakers (beam roughly perpendicular to the screen).