The following is a scientifically validated explanation of the effect of loud sounds on the mental health of human beings. We are all aware of teenagers playing loud music endlessly, the extra high sound decibel levels at movies, traffic noise on the road, planes taking off etc.
Many of us are simply addicted to noise. But is noise good for you ? For all those interested in the impact of high intensity sounds on our mental well being, the enclosed article is a must read.
Its a short excerpt, adapted from the book " Eternity Of Sound and The science of Mantras" authored by Shriram Sharma Acharya.
The smallest level of intensity
of sound that could be heard by our ears has been scaled to measure as zero
decibels. The average intensity of a whisper (made by a human being) is
measured on this scale as 10 to 20 decibels... and so on. The sounds of intensities
more than 75 decibels are found to be harmful to the psychological and physical
health of a person. According
to a report of the international symposium on environment organized in
Stockholm by the UNO - ‘if a human being has to live constantly in a noisy
atmosphere where the intensity of sound is more than 140 decibels then he would
soon lose the normal mental balance...; and further, higher levels
of intensities of this sound would result in his untimely death’.
It is found that, on an average, the intensity (measured in decibel levels) of sound produced by normal conversation is around 60, that of quarreling voice is about 80. The average intensity of the noisy sound of a motorbike measures around 100, that of a siren of a factory about 150, an aircraft about 160 decibels. The collective impact of these disturbing sounds is found to explosively damaging and more dangerous for our ecosystem than the pollution of air and water.
Scientific Studies on Noise
Pollution: Scientific investigations reveal that the stimulation created by the
sound waves of intensities higher than 25-30 decibels at a continuous stretch
can perturb the normal bio-electrical signal-processing of the nervous system
and hence should be regarded as risky... Maintenance of silence in hospitals is
therefore mandatory for the recovery process of a suffering human being.
Contemporary experimental
research on guinea pigs as well as on the human subjects carried out in the
acoustics, medicine and neuro-psychological research laboratories across the
world has shown significant malafide
-effects of loud intensity sounds on the clinical, physiological and psychological
behavior of the subjects under study. The leading projects included - the
experiments conducted at San Francisco medical college, California; Dr. William
F. Guar’s research lab in Georgia; Keliayer Hearing and Speech Center, Texas;
Dr. Lester W. Santen’s physiological research laboratory in Ohio; the field
research carried out by Prof. V. Williams of the Harvard University, in the
United States. The US studies were supplemented by Dr. Griffith in Australia,
and the national studies of heavy industries’ physical and working environments,
carried out in England, France and Russia.
Similar
to the Doppler Effect, the negative effect of loud intensity sounds results in
the destruction of matter in its vicinity. During the construction
of a plane field near Leningrad, sometime in 1963, it was observed that the
loud noise of the bulldozers had caused a sudden fall of the feathers of the
hens in a nearby poultry farm. The loud ‘voice’ of super magnet fighter
aircrafts had produced cracks in the historic caves of Kenyan. Many other
historical monuments around the world are facing similar dangers due to the
noise pollution created by the traffics or the heavy industrial operations in
the areas around.
The
intensity of sound has a key role to play at the cellular and molecular level of
a human being as well. Dr. Dailhastize’s research carried out at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shown that the coagulation of the
RBCs increases with the loudness of sound in the surrounding environment. This
results in narrowing down of the arteries and increasing their rigidity. Similarly results were obtained at the School
of Engineering and Applied Sciences, UCLA during a study of the effects of noise,
the negative effects of the loudness of sound in the big cities were found to
have caused liver diseases in the adults
and affected the would-be-born children of
the pregnant women - such infants were born with physiological and
anatomical abnormalities of one kind or the other.
While the appropriate ordering
and controlling of the frequency and intensity of sound in music creates a
soothing effect and aids in strengthening the healthy functioning of the body
and the mind, any disorderly play of sound can prove to be harmful.
For instance the electronic strain gauge tests conducted by an acoustic, Dr.
John Diamond, have indicated that some combinations and tuning of the ‘Da...Da…Da
in a noisy pop music can ruin about two-third of the muscle-strength of its
listeners.
The sounds produced by thinking evil
thoughts and sentiments like jealousy ego, anxiety, anger - generated by
excessive ambitions, possessive desires or attachments - fall into the second
category(there are sound vibrations created in the fields that surround our physical
body and cannot be heard but are present).
Therefore those desirous of
living a happy, healthy and long life should attempt creating a noise- free
atmosphere in their external and the internal world. Silence in the surroundings and a peaceful
state of mind are also crucial for the success of any kind of yoga or spiritual
practice or advancement.
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Source and credits:
Source and credits:
To read the book "The eternity of Sound and The Science of Mantras" click the link below:
To know more about the author Shriram Sharma Acharya, please click the link below:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shriram_Sharma