Background Noise? I think I may have just realized something . . .

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I'm curious about how many of you have background noise going on around you (by choice) on a daily basis. I happened to notice that several ppl said that they do in the screen time thread and I've noticed it in various threads before. As well, I've heard ppl refer to having the television/radio on for background noise in real life. I'm finally beginning to wonder if this is common and something to accept if you want to be around ppl who like it.

 

My husband's people (family home, sibs homes, et c) always have bkground noise on AND BLARING. This drives me crazy and I always thought it was, well, rude.

 

Later, I met a woman who had a daughter my daughter's age. She came over once empty handed but every time after that, she came with a CD to put in. She said she thought I'd like it (every time she brought one) and we could listen. I'd put it on but then she'd start talking/visiting. When I listen to music, I think it's downright rude to talk . . . I listen to the music. I listen to the person I'm visiting with. I, personally, cannot fully attend to the music and the person at the same time.

 

Sometimes when we visit or go to parties sometimes the host/ess will have music on. That happens so often that I'm kind of getting over it. Ditto with nice restaurants. If it's just a piano in the corner, I just deal but if it's someone I know or more of a performance, I can't help feel irritated on my, the listener's, behalf and the performer's behalf.

 

Well, compared to other ppl's houses, our home is quiet, indeed.

 

So, now that I"m finally thinking about this in earnest, a couple of things specifically come to mind.

 

1) I was taking it as just durn rude of ppl to have music/talk radio/et c on when I'm visiting . . . As if I'm not interesting enough or worthy of someone's full attention. (Ha! as if, indeed!:tongue_smilie:) But maybe that's just their way and it isn't a personal insult?

 

2) Why? Why in the world do you want noise on all day? I'm not sure but I think they torture ppl that way. Seriously. I just want to understand b/c there are ppl out there that I just will not visit b/c I felt that they were being rude with all that noise but maybe not . . . you know? Maybe that's just them.

 

And now that I"m on it . . . Are you an introvert or extrovert? I am so an introvert. If I could be a hermit in a cave, I'd do it. Maybe that's a bit of difference?

 

Interpreting once for some gov't agency they talked about service to poor and according to them, one of the cultural differences b/t the haves and the have nots is noise level. I get that to a point but while I certainly have, i'm not the wealthy that they were talking about and the ppl with the noise are not nearly the impoverished they meant either. Although maybe they grew up that way, I don't know.

 

Anyway . . . those are my rambling thoughts. Yours?

[Daisy]

I think it is a matter of personal preference.

 

We prefer quiet when we are doing tasks that require great concentration or are visiting with others. So we rarely have on music while reading or doing grammar.

 

When the children are doing handwriting or playing legos, I tend to put on some classical or holiday music. It keeps them calm and I notice less bickering. The same holds true for the car. If the kids are bickering, I turn on music because they will sing instead of sniping with each other. But if we are having a great conversation, the music is off.

 

I don't consider it rude for someone to be playing soft music while we talk, but I do find it highly distracting. I focus on the music and tend to not catch all of the conversation. Some people just don't have this problem. They will focus on the conversation and tune out the music.

 

No tv on in our house unless we pulled it out of the closet to watch a DVD. I cannot stand the idea of having the tv on all day.

 

I'm an introvert.

[LibraryLover]

Don't like it! We do listen to music, but not all day. We never have the tv on unless we are sitting there watching something. My kids have headphones for the ipods and audio tapes. I turn the sound off on my computer as well. I don't like dinging!

[grace'smom]

Some people are sensory seekers and the background noise comforts them. Some people have a sensory threshhold that does not allow them to have background noise and still be able to focus on what's going on around them. I think the sensory seekers can actually feel uncomfortable without the noise. And vice versa.

 

If you grow up in a household with lots of background noise, you might feel odd without it. I know lots of people who "have" to have the TV on in order to function, even if they aren't watching it.

 

My daughter had sensory issues when she was younger. She couldn't tolerate too much sensory stimulation. The OT actually told us to put music on or the TV on in the background to help her acclimate to various noise levels. I kind of wish I didn't though b/c now I think she's hooked on the noise.

[LibraryLover]

Some people are sensory seekers and the background noise comforts them. Some people have a sensory threshhold that does not allow them to have background noise and still be able to focus on what's going on around them. I think the sensory seekers can actually feel uncomfortable without the noise. And vice versa.

 

If you grow up in a household with lots of background noise' date=' you might feel odd without it. I know lots of people who "have" to have the TV on in order to function, even if they aren't watching it.

 

My daughter had sensory issues when she was younger. She couldn't tolerate too much sensory stimulation. The OT actually told us to put music on or the TV on in the background to help her acclimate to various noise levels. I kind of wish I didn't though b/c now I think she's hooked on the noise.[/quote']

 

 

I do think people get hooked on noise. Some really need it, I'm sure. Yet it seems to be more habit for a lot of people. I think some are afraid of quiet.

[Guest Katia]

Agreeing with you whole-heartedly and wondering the very same thing.

 

If we have music on and/or one of the kids is playing their instrument; we listen quietly to the music.

 

If the tv is on; we watch it without talking (until the commercials which we mute and then discuss what we've watched so far).

 

I never turn on the radio. At.all. Too much noise and distraction. Makes it hard to think.

 

I am a total introvert. The kids are also introverts.

 

Dh is a total extrovert. As soon as he gets in his car (by himself) he turns the radio on. When he is home alone, the tv is blaring all.the.time. He turns it off when we (kids and I) come back into the house as he knows it bothers us. He is always trying to have a conversation when we are watching tv or listening to music and just doesn't seem to 'get it' when we hush him and/or ask him to wait until a commercial or wait until the song is over. I find it excessively rude when he talks (loudly) when the kids are playing their instruments. I'll take his hand and lead him to a room in the back of the house and close the door so he can talk to me....and not bother the player/other listeners.

 

Interesting thought, OP. I always thought that people who are not comfortable with themselves have to have something going, whether noise or activity, all the time. If you like yourself and can be with yourself, you don't need anything else, kwim? But, maybe it's personality 'type'? Interesting.

 

:bigear:

[Nestof3]

I cannot stand background noise either. I cannot stand so much stimuli at once. I also cannot stand it when someone has a television on when people visit. They look at the tv half the time, and it's so distracting. When we visit my in-laws, they have the television on all evening and through the night. We see them twice a year, and they cannot give the tv up six days out of the year.

 

I also don't like tvs in restaurants or loud music; it's hard to have conversations. Even my 19 year old son looks for restaurants with low, soft music.

 

I feel like we live in a society where conversation is becoming extinct.

[LauraGB]

I hate background noise. I grew up in a house where my father always had to have the tv on in the living room and my mother always had the radio on in the kitchen. And both were loud so the noise was always battling each other in our small house. It bruises my nerves to have all that going on and still need to think and converse. I can, however, have appropriate music playing softly while I cook - but it absolutely HAS to be in a different room; I cannot think if its right in the room with me. And I really have to be in the mood for it or it just agitates me. I also like an audio book occasionally when I clean, but cleaning inevitably will take me longer, although its more thorough, I think. More often than not, though, I prefer silence.

 

I am decidedly an introvert.

 

Dd likes to have music on all the time. She reads with her mp3 player on. I am skeptical of this, but she always has a concrete grip of what she's reading and can tell back the story in thorough detail.

 

She is decidedly an extrovert.

[JeneralMom]

I am an introvert, but I love having quiet classical music on when I am studying or doing something physical (like knitting/crochet, cleaning, etc). I don't usually have it on when I am deep in conversation, but it doesn't bother me if someone else does. I grew up in a very quiet house and I found it depressing, which may account for why I like a little background noise.

[Daisy]

I'm thinking more on the extrovert/introvert thing and cracking up. My daughter is an introvert like me and doesn't even know how to use the CD player. She is 10 years old and totally uninterested in putting on music. My 7yo son is very much an extrovert like his Dad and figured out the CD player by age 4. I am constantly telling him to turn down his music. The minute he enters his room, he's blasting, "Philadelphia Cows" or "Baby Beluga." Same son is also very much a music lover though. If I could teach him everything he needed to know in a poem or song, I would do it.

 

I have no clue if there is a genuine correlation but it sure is funny. :lol:

[Carol in Cal.]

As well, I've heard ppl refer to having the television/radio on for background noise in real life. I'm finally beginning to wonder if this is common and something to accept if you want to be around ppl who like it.

 

 

When I listen to music, I think it's downright rude to talk . . . I listen to the music. I listen to the person I'm visiting with. I, personally, cannot fully attend to the music and the person at the same time.

 

 

Well, compared to other ppl's houses, our home is quiet, indeed.

 

And now that I"m on it . . . Are you an introvert or extrovert? I am so an introvert. If I could be a hermit in a cave, I'd do it. Maybe that's a bit of difference?

 

 

 

I'm with you.

I'm an introvert.

I like it quiet.

I don't like to converse deeply with engrossing music on. I hate elevator music. And to me, the TV blaring is everyone's signal to completely shut up.

I also think that this makes me very very weird.

I know that my DD and DH prefer noise all the time, although I suspect that if DD had this, she would get very tired of it as I have.

 

The only exception is that I like classical or Christmas music in the background, playing very quietly, though, at a dinner party or festive occasion. I think that this is because I remember it fondly from my grandparents' various holiday gatherings when I was a kid.

[Hedgehogs4]

I think it's a sensitivity issue. I am very sensitive to the noise level in my environment, and a lot of background noise can drive me crazy. We definitely enjoy listening to music while we cook or clean or something like that, but it's usually not when conversation is taking place. I cannot have both going on.

 

i am the same with my visual environment. too much clutter and mess around me will eventually make me quite literally depressed. i need neatness and order and a basically quiet environment.

 

i attribute this to the fact that i usually have SO MUCH going on in my head (my brain is a very busy, noisy place), that external factors really can bother me. i find that if someone else around me needs noise to be happy, i generally just remove myself from the situation. in the case of your friend, i would just ask if i could borrow the cd rather than listen to it now, because i would rather focus on her and not the music, but "i'm that type of person--can't multi-task!"

[KAR120C]

Don't know what that means... LOL... I prefer silence or near-silence at home (very soft music is fine, anything more and I have trouble following conversations or reading)... but in the car I NEED MUSIC. NOW. I would probably run off the road if I had to drive more than a mile in a silent car -- I think it keeps the "ooh look something shiny" part of my brain occupied so the rest of my brain can focus on the driving. ;) Has to be good music too -- I can't listen to the same CD over and over or I get bored and distractable again, but as much as I love music in the car, I only very rarely put in a CD in the house.

[Peri]

No offence. I say this very light heartedly. I think your being a little too picky. I can understand if the music or tv is on loud enough that you really want to listen to something and someone is talking to you ... I can understand getting annoyed over that. I hate trying to talk above TV's and music but if I'm in a restaurant and there is a little bit of music playing soflty in the background ... I find that soothing.

 

I do see your point with the conversing during music or movies. If I'm gonna put some music on for a friend to hear, the only time I'm gonna talk is to explain something about the music. Same thing with the movie thing.

[swellmomma]

It depends on my mood. When it is on I like the keep the volume level reasonable, so that I can tune it out if I need to focus on something else. Music I only put on if I am cleaning, but my mom likes to have it on when people are over so I grew up with it on and can tune it out very easily. If I am reading for school or cleaning or lesson planning et I usually have the tv on too, we don't have cable but my dad tapes all the shows I like(well actually all the ones he likes and then i borrow the tapes when he is done, it just happens that we like mostly the same shows), so I pop one of those tapes in to have it in the background while I work. In that case I go back and forth between focused attention and tuning out the noise from it.

 

All through high school, my past college experiences and my current college course I can not focus AT ALL on my course work without the tv on in the background. I have a harder time tuning out normal life noises when I need to study, so I put the tv on to drown them out a bit and and then can tune out the tv. It is weird but works.

[swellmomma]

Don't know what that means... LOL... I prefer silence or near-silence at home (very soft music is fine, anything more and I have trouble following conversations or reading)... but in the car I NEED MUSIC. NOW. I would probably run off the road if I had to drive more than a mile in a silent car -- I think it keeps the "ooh look something shiny" part of my brain occupied so the rest of my brain can focus on the driving. ;) Has to be good music too -- I can't listen to the same CD over and over or I get bored and distractable again, but as much as I love music in the car, I only very rarely put in a CD in the house.

 

 

Funny you mention that. Out last car had no radio, correction it had a radio but the speakers didn't work. We learned to drive in silence or talk nonstop to each other. Now that we have a working speaker system in this van the music or an audio book is ALWAYS on. When we get in Isabelle my youngest will yell "Seatbelts!" then "mom turn it on" meaning the radio.

[WiseOwlKnits]

I always have something on for background noise. It used to be the TV, now that we have kids and I don't want them growing up staring at the TV it's the radio. I keep it down very low though so it doesn't preclude people talking by any means! It was a coping strategy for me as a child - having the TV on drowned out the sound of my parents screaming at one another. If it's completely quiet, I get nervous/antsy.

 

I don't bring CDs over to people's houses and if people come over here I turn off the music because I figure we'll be talking. It's my issue, not theirs.

 

Oh, and I'm a total introvert. I joke with DH that if it wasn't for DD (who is the polar opposite of me), I would be one of those people who never left the house ever.

[hsbaby]

I'm the odd one out here:) I HAVE to have some sort of background noise on. Yes, I grew up this way so maybe it is just a habit. Everything seems too dreary when it's quite. I never thought about it being rude to guests....that would never be my intention!! You know what's really terrrible...I have to sleep with the TV on. DH hates it. But, if I wake up and the TV is off it makes me super anxious. I can hear every little creak in the house and then I convince myself someone is breaking in, etc. Yes, I am like a 5 year old:lol:

[Denisemomof4]

my daughter does better on her school work when we have classical music playing in the background. Fewer mistakes. I suspect if we played her favorite music with words, she wouldn't concentrate on her school work. ;)My sons both play their rock music while doing school work, they do better when they do.

 

I can't fall asleep in silence. I *can't* do it. Dh needs silence. He uses earplugs, I sleep with headphones.

[Garga]

I'm an extrovert.

Dh's an introvert.

But, I'm the one who detests background noise. He would have noise on all the time, but we've learned to compromise, so he turns it off for me--or wears headphones.

 

The more background noise there is, the more I can actually feel my blood pressure rising. I just can't stand it. It really makes me feel almost angry. I could have written the op's post. It's not like it's easy to control. The noise just has a physical effect on me. I guess it's the opposite of being soothed by pretty music. The background music/tv un-soothes me in a physical way.

 

HOWEVER:

 

I'm a VERY visual learner.

DH is an auditory learner.

 

My theory is that it might be linked to whether you're a visual or auditory learner.

 

Here's a test: if you could ONLY have music, movies, OR books for the rest of your life (just one of the three--you'd never have the other 2 again), which would you choose? I'd toss out music in a heartbeat and then have to think hard between books or movies. But other people can't let go of their music and would choose it first.

Edited November 30, 2009 by Garga

[LauraGB]

Here's a test: if you could ONLY have music, movies, OR books for the rest of your life (just one of the three--you'd never have the other 2 again), which would you choose? I'd toss out music in a heartbeat and then have to think hard between books or movies. But other people can't let go of their music and would choose it first.

 

 

Hmmm...that's an interesting question. Books, hands down. No looking back, either.

 

It would be cool to see the results of a poll about that ...(hint hint :D)

[elise1mds]

I do a little of both. There are times when I really love having on some music, like when I'm cleaning or some nights while we're having dinner; other times, I can't stand it. I HAVE to have music in the car. I couldn't do it all day long, though. I also enjoy my peace and quiet.

 

All that being said, I swap between being introverted and extroverted. Right now I'm an introvert, so I barely turned on the TV last night (DH is out of town again). A few months ago, though, I couldn't stand it to be quiet while he was gone so the TV was on from the moment the kids went to bed till the time I went to bed. Go figure!

[dsmith]

We always have to have some kind of background noise around here, but low enough that it doesn't interfere, and nothing with words. I usually put the light classical station that our cable has. My son can't function in silence. He picks out every sound in the house or neighborhood. It's very distracting to him. He has Aspergers and SPD, and it's definitely a sensory issue with him. I'm ok with this as long as there is no talking - I find I work better with some calm music on low.

[The Girls' Mom]

I like background noise. If it didn't drive my dh batty, I would have the TV or radio on at all times during daylight hours..lol. I have a dd that can't stand the noise either. During school, all noise is off (except for the girls, but they are background noise all unto themselves). This is only because of my one dd though. The other two would happily learn with music in the background, just like me.

[WTMCassandra]

Introvert here--hate background noise. Absolutely DETEST TVs in restaurants *trying to hold back rant.*

 

My husband is an extrovert and would probably have music going all the time if it was just up to him. I don't mind music on if I'm doing something physical, like housework, Christmas decorating, etc., but not when there's conversation.

 

If there's an audiobook on in the car, I HAVE TO turn it off if someone says something. I simply cannot attend to two audio inputs at once. I don't mind music in the car either unless I'm really having to focus, like finding my way to a new place.

 

I grew up in a home where the TV is on All. The. Time. AAAGH! No way does that happen in our house. We have one TV tucked away in a spare room, and we watch a few movies a year on it. Or we might get the occasional DVD from the library to play on a laptop. But when that's on, that's ALL we're doing. Then we turn it OFF.

 

And if I had to choose among movies, music, and books, there's no question or hesitation--BOOKS win hands down.

 

I remember one time we were visiting at someone's house and the TV was on, loudly, in the same room where we were trying to have a serious conversation. I honestly couldn't concentrate on what was going on--I asked the husband if we could turn it off so I could focus on the conversation. He seemed amused and uncomprehending but did it. If this happened to me regularly, I would definitely be upset and unable to handle it.

Edited November 30, 2009 by WTMCassandra

[gardening momma]

Well, compared to other ppl's houses, our home is quiet, indeed.

You'd like my house. I rarely play music. I like it, but I'd rather be doing chores while listening than reading a book or reading at a website. I can't combine music with lyrics while reading.

[joannqn]

A house without noise is lonely and depressing to me, especially at night. As I've had kids, the noise level in our house has reached a level where I actually want it to be quiet sometimes. I had to have four kids before I liked having the house quiet sometimes. I also now drive without the radio on most of the time...I like the road noise better.

[Truscifi]

Books. No question.

 

I am kind of in the middle on the introvert/extrovert thing, probably a little more on the introvert side but not by much. I am ok having music on when I'm doing something that doesn't require conversation, but I have hearing problems and it is difficult for me to hear one sound over another, and I get irritated when I have to try. Of course, I also get irritated when people mumble or speak while facing away from me because I can't figure out what they are saying. It is my issue, not theirs, but that doesn't always stop me from expressing my irritation. :glare:

 

I only watch specific things I am interested in on tv (so many of the shows on are just inane), so I don't use tv for background noise.

[Emilylou]

I think you and I could be best friends~ :)

 

I feel like you just wrote exactly what I think on this subject. :)

 

I recently went to work in the hospital a couple 3-11 shifts a week, and the worst part of the job is listening to the LOUD LOUD TV's in all the patents rooms. I would be in the loony bin if I was sick and was placed in a room with someone watching TV 24-7... :)

[AndyJoy]

My mom, dad, sister, and I are all extroverts, but have different noise preferences.

 

My dad and sister have Sanguine/Phlegmatic personalities, have ADHD, and both love background noise. While my dad usually falls asleep to the TV accidentally, my sister intentionally turns it on to go to sleep every night! My dad always has the radio on loudly in the car, even when I had just gotten back from college and wanted to talk. As students they kept the TV and radio on while doing homework, as well. All the noise drives me crazy sometimes! My sister hasn't read a book since high school 5.5 years ago, and my dad usually only reads for enjoyment if he is on vacation.

 

My mom and I have Choleric/Melancholy personalities and are also extroverted. We prefer not to have background noise if conversations are going on. However, if we are cleaning house or doing something else that doesn't require focused attention, we sometimes like to listen to a movie, radio talk show, or music. As a student, I don't like noise unless I am doing math or accounting, in which case I like something soothing, like classical music or Gregorian chants. My mom and I are voracious readers, and like to read without background noise, though we're usually so absorbed in the book that we tune out other noises.

 

Someone I talked to recently said that she thinks true extroverts recharge by feeding off noise, while introverts may be extroverted in social situations, but need to recharge in solitude. I know that I love to talk and be in groups, but I definitely like my solo quiet time at home as well. Under her definition, I would be an introvert. While that seems strange to me, as I like to talk (a lot!) I see her point. I spend a lot of time lost in my own thoughts as well when the melancholy part of my personality is strong. There are days when I am surrounded by people but don't really feel like talking. I wonder if these personality difference relate to background noise?

Edited November 30, 2009 by AndyJoy

[gardening momma]

Here's a test: if you could ONLY have music, movies, OR books for the rest of your life (just one of the three--you'd never have the other 2 again), which would you choose?

Books. (bigger BooKs, too :D )

[Crissy]

I don't like background noise at all, but I can't imagine thinking those who do are being rude in any way. They just live and work differently than I do.

 

My husband prefers to work with a television running in the background. Thankfully we have an office seperate from the house where he can listen to The Price is Right while he edits photos and I can sit in silence in the house while I retouch photos. :)

 

The only time I listen to music is when I'm in the car with my boys. I don't like audio books, and I hate for anyone in real life to read to me.

I'll take my quite book shelf over all the noisy stuff every single time.

[swellmomma]

 

If there's an audiobook on in the car, I HAVE TO turn it off if someone says something. I simply cannot attend to two audio inputs at once. I don't mind music in the car either unless I'm really having to focus, like finding my way to a new place.

 

 

 

THis I do too, we always have something on but I turn it off briefly if the kids are trying to say something to me or vice versa. That said we are in a van, and I find unless I turn off the radio/book AND the heat/AC I can't hear them at all.

 

If I had to chose between those things I would say books hands down. I get more pleasure from them. THe background noise helps me function(drowns out other noises I can't cope with), but I would never give up my books.

[lionfamily1999]

1) I was taking it as just durn rude of ppl to have music/talk radio/et c on when I'm visiting . . . As if I'm not interesting enough or worthy of someone's full attention. (Ha! as if, indeed!:tongue_smilie:) But maybe that's just their way and it isn't a personal insult?

 

2) Why? Why in the world do you want noise on all day? I'm not sure but I think they torture ppl that way. Seriously. I just want to understand b/c there are ppl out there that I just will not visit b/c I felt that they were being rude with all that noise but maybe not . . . you know? Maybe that's just them.

 

And now that I"m on it . . . Are you an introvert or extrovert? I am so an introvert. If I could be a hermit in a cave, I'd do it. Maybe that's a bit of difference?

1. Background noise decreases the uncomfortable quiet stretches in conversations. ;) It isn't meant to be rude.

 

2. It also, for me, makes it less stressful. I prefer noise, because then I don't have those jolts (what was that!). I can concentrate better with some sort of noise in the background. Otherwise, the few noises are much more distracting (the sound of birds outside, or something clicking on and off, like a fridge).

 

I'm sort of an introvert. I think I'm converting, though...:001_huh:

[Penelope]

Like background music-- have classical music on most of the time. I think it helps with concentration for me and the kids, and they absorb a lot of music this way.

 

TV-- can't stand tv noise, talk radio noise, especially sports radio with all that buzzing.

[Haiku]

I go out of my way to avoid background noise, but occasionally, when I am doing chores or something, I will put on a Pandora radio station so I have something else to do besides just slog along with chores. I N.E.V.E.R. put on the tv or radio just for background noise. Our home is a quiet home (if you don't count the kids and dogs).

 

I'm not opposed to music at social get-togethers. It creates a mood.

 

ETA: I'm an introvert.

 

Tara

[Quad Shot Academy]

Does the constant hum of my washer, dryer and fish tank count? :lol: But, really, they drive me nuts. I do not like back ground noise of any sort unless I am driving. Before I had kids, I always had talk radio or the TV blaring, but my kids generate enough background noise on their own. :tongue_smilie: I used to be an extreme introvert, but now I am right in the middle.

[LittleIzumi]

Dh always has music on or something. At night he has to have the fan on audibly to sleep.

 

I like having music or audiobooks, but I have anxiety so otherwise my mind just spins and spins and spins and spins. Of course, dh has ADD so maybe that has something to do with it?

[tofuscramble]

We dont have things playing through the day while we work. I aim for total quiet, however my 4 year son old wakes up around 7 am and basically talks all day long, non-stop, until he goes to sleep at night. If nobody is listening, he talks to himself, I'm not kidding. All. Day. Right now he has his head in the fridge and he is describing everything he sees in there, in great detail, to himself. His brothers are quietly doing social studies. If he ever stops doing that, I might need to turn on the TV to make up for it.

[Tutor]

In our family, life has a soundtrack... sometimes it's music, sometimes news, sometimes silence. It all depends on the scene. :-)

[Hedgehogs4]

Introvert here--hate background noise. Absolutely DETEST TVs in restaurants *trying to hold back rant.*

 

My husband is an extrovert and would probably have music going all the time if it was just up to him. I don't mind music on if I'm doing something physical, like housework, Christmas decorating, etc., but not when there's conversation.

 

 

 

introvert v. extrovert does not equal quiet or noise...i am an extrovert and hate background noise.

[Nestof3]

Introvert here--hate background noise. Absolutely DETEST TVs in restaurants *trying to hold back rant.*

 

My husband is an extrovert and would probably have music going all the time if it was just up to him. I don't mind music on if I'm doing something physical, like housework, Christmas decorating, etc., but not when there's conversation.

 

If there's an audiobook on in the car, I HAVE TO turn it off if someone says something. I simply cannot attend to two audio inputs at once. I don't mind music in the car either unless I'm really having to focus, like finding my way to a new place.

 

 

 

I am exactly the same way.

[nono]

I love to have the radio on or an album (yes I'm that old) playing -- not blaring -- just on, when I'm working around the house. I find it subconciously keeps me aware of time passing. :)

 

And, if I'm having a party at my house, of course I'd have on music! But not too loud. People need to be able to converse. But that's me. If I went to a party and the host and hostess weren't playing music, I probably wouldn't think anything of that choice.

[Melissa in Australia]

we have the ocean right near our house ( maybe 300 metres away, down a cliff) it is very noisy. sometimes a dull rumble, sometimes big crashes. after a while, you don't even hear it anymore.

[Laura Corin]

I prefer silence while I'm doing something that engages my brain, but I listen to the radio (intelligent talk radio - BBC) while I cook or drive. Husband likes to have music on most of the time. Both of us are introverts.

 

I don't find background music to be rude or intrusive when I go to someone's house, but I find it hard (and irritating) to talk through TV, radio etc.

 

Laura

[Brooketopia]

My husband has deeply sensitive ears and nerves (literally, they administered a nerve stimulus test to him and he feels the stimuli well before "normal" people's abilities to register anything at all). His hearing is a curiosity to me--he is unable to pick out the different parts in music. And I'm not talking soprano, alto, tenor, bass...I'm talking piano or voice. He can't "hear" the words to anything unless it's a solo, a capella performance. Music is a big cacophony of noise to him. Needless to say, he's a big "silence" guy. Noise bothers him and is very distracting. I would classify him as a mild introvert.

 

I grew up with music on all the time. My dad has to have the television on for background noise if he's by himself. Background noise doesn't bother me...but lots of people talking at once irritates the snot out of me. I grew up with my single mother and we lived like hermits, just us every evening.

 

It really bugs me when people talk through a live performance or television or a movie. But, I'm a performer and am just sensitive to the etiquette of the theatre because I've been on the receiving end of audiences talking through what I'm singing and it's just rude and distracting. Personal conversations can wait for an hour in order to let a recital finish. Seriously.

 

Background music is no problem for me. I like to have background noise on when I'm knitting, but not when I'm reading or working with words. I classify myself as a regular old person, half extrovert and half introvert.

 

A lot of people I know equate having to have background music/noise with not being comfortable in one's own skin. I disagree. I think it's just a mix of preference and upbringing.

[Dawn in OH]

I cannot stand the sound of silence. Not that my home is ever silent with 3 children, but on the occasion that we are not watching a kid movie, educational movie, or listening to an educational cd, I like to put on music. Especially if I'm cleaning or cooking.

 

I cannot stand tv noise. We don't watch tv. I can't stand to be in a restaurant with a tv on.

 

I'm fairly introverted.

 

I think I like the background noise because I have one of those brains that is always in overdrive. I find it nearly impossible to stop thinking, even for a minute. Music helps interrupt whatever my brain is fretting about.

[SeekingSimplicity]

I'm an introvert and I need background noise. I actually feel a little anxiety if there's nothing going on to create noise. The TV is usually left on as background noise, tho it is rarely watched. When I was little the only way I could sleep is if there was a TV turned onto a static channel; later I learned to sleep with a radio on instead.

I also need lots of mental stimulation tho. I can read a book and watch TV at the same time and keep up with both, no problem. I usually read books and knit while I serf the net. If I have to set still and focus my mind on something that I'm not really interested in, I have to have something to keep my hands busy.

Like someone else said, if my mind doesn't have multiple things to do it goes into overdrive. TV noise helps.

[lionfamily1999]

introvert v. extrovert does not equal quiet or noise...

:iagree:

I cannot stand the sound of silence.

 

I think I like the background noise because I have one of those brains that is always in overdrive. I find it nearly impossible to stop thinking, even for a minute. Music helps interrupt whatever my brain is fretting about.

:iagree:

I'm an introvert and I need background noise. I actually feel a little anxiety if there's nothing going on to create noise.

 

I also need lots of mental stimulation tho. I can read a book and watch TV at the same time and keep up with both, no problem.

:iagree: It seems like the quiet makes all the other sounds so much louder (and threatening, in a strange way). My brain goes and goes and goes and something simple, like the click of an appliance turning on, can become something huge, before I get around to figuring out what made the noise, iykwIm. Then, I'm also the one that hears every.single.sound my car makes while driving... I dutifully report them to dh and he (just as dutifully) chucks them all out the window with, 'all cars make noise.' :lol:

 

I used to fall asleep listening to my dad watching tv. Now, I set the tv to shut off after an hour and strive to fall asleep before it goes off and plunges the house into 'silence' (ie creaking and other strange noises).

[Matryoshka]

I'm an extrovert and an auditory learner.

 

I don't have background music or tv or other noise on in the house ever, unless I've turned it on expressly to listen to it. Dh is the same way, thankfully. It'd probably drive me nuts to have noise in the background all the time. I can only focus on one auditory thread at a time, which could be part of the issue.

 

What's interesting is that my kids put music in to listen to all the time. I did not teach or model this! My older two now do a lot of independent work in a separate room while I teach my younger dd, and they always have classical music on (their choice). When I come in to teach them, I have to turn it off or I can't concentrate. They have a dvd player in their room, and they also always put music in at bedtime while they read. Wouldn't even occur to me - and I have to shut it off before I can read to them.

 

I do like to have music or the radio on in the car. As someone else said, I think otherwise I could get too deep into thought or start nodding off on a long ride - it keeps me alert. However, if I'm having a conversation with someone in the car, I turn it off.

 

It doesn't bother me to have background music on at a party or even a dinner party, though. Perhaps there's enough other background noise from conversation that it doesn't demand my mental attention the same way? It would bug me if I just had one friend over - though I wouldn't consider it rude if I went to their place and music was on - I understand some people are just like that. TV on and not being watched, however, is rude imho.