Noise In George Prochnik's In Pursuit Of Silence

Noise creates Damage Noise can be defined as a non-harmonious or discordant group of sounds, in other words an unpleasant or annoying sensation. Almost everyone knows of a particular noise that makes their stomach tight and jaw clench, for instance, nails on a chalk board or a siren. Although many think nothing of it, the reaction that the human body has to unpleasant and scattered noises is linked to stress, aggression and anger. George Prochnik, author of In Pursuit of Silence(2010), argues that changes in harmonic structure and a multitude of different frequencies all at once cause a physiological change in us that triggers aggression. He interviewed with other researches about the ways that dramatic changes in what we hear depicts the

For example when we hear an ambulance siren that we know isn't coming for us we still tighten up and our blood still starts pumping faster. This is because we go into primal mode and our bodies conceive and react to the siren as a threat, this is because, “The part of the brain that initiates the automatic part of the fight or flight response, the amygdala, can't distinguish between a real threat and a perceived threat”(Rankin,2013). Even though humans have adapted and evolved to the changing times and environment, it is thought that our minds never completely forget its evolutionary roots. So naturally if we are in a persistent bubble of noise, whether it be from technology, traffic, or airplanes our brains are receiving and responding to thousands of messages at a time, many of which are being perceived as hazards. Accordingly, the body is always in reaction mode which means the blood pressure is high, the muscles are tense, and the mind is racing. Putting our bodies through this on a daily basis has detrimental health affects that could last for a long time. As I proved before, the brain needs rest and silence in order to function to its full potential and with all of the noise around us today, we aren't getting