Lesson 25
Non-auditory effects of noise
What conclusion does the author draw about noise and health in this piece?
Many people in industry and the Services,
who have practical experience of noise,
regard any investigation of this question as a waste of time;
they are not prepared even to admit the possibility that noise affects people.
On the other hand,
those who dislike noise will sometimes use most inadequate evidence
to support their pleas for a quieter society.
This is a pity, because noise abatement really is a good cause,
and it is likely to be discredited if it gets to be associated with bad science.
One allegation often made is that noise produces mental illness.
A recent article in a weekly newspaper, for instance,
was headed with a striking illustration of a lady in a state of considerable distress,
with the caption 'She was yet another victim, reduced to a screaming wreck'.
On turning eagerly to the text, one learns that the lady was a typist
who found the sound of office typewriters worried her more and more
until eventually she had to go into a mental hospital.
Now the snag in this sort of anecdote is of course that one cannot distinguish cause and effect.