Terminology and FRAs^*

Below is a list of noise-related terminology, followed by frequently refuted assertions (FRAs) that noise denialists make to dismiss inconvenient facts and concerns about noise and its adverse health effects. If you think there are other useful terms or FRAs the Noise Project should include, please contact us.

Boy racer — A British term for young men who make excessive noise and otherwise threaten public safety by speeding around UK cities in sports cars with modified exhaust systems.

Decibel (dB) — The common metric for sound. It is measured on a logarithmic (not linear) scale, which means an increase of just 10 decibels is perceived as effectively twice the volume level. Government regulations and enforcement procedures generally use an A-weighted decibel scale or dB(A), which approximates the sound range of the human ear. Low-frequency noise, however, such as the heavy bass produced by subwoofers, is more accurately measured on a C-weighted scale or dB(C).

Decibel masculinity — A dysfunctional, performative notion of male identity whereby the louder a man is, the more masculine he is. This results in some (especially younger) men in Providence competing, both figuratively and literally, to see who can make the most noise.

Noise — A level of sound so excessive that it compels people and animals to change their behavior and / or adversely affects them physiologically.¹ Exposure can be measured by objective criteria such as decibels, blood-pressure level, or hearing loss, which cannot be reduce merely through adaptation.

Noise bullying — Deliberately exposing others to excessive noise and threatening those who object with violence or other forms of retaliation.

Noise denialism — The claim that excessive noise is not adverse to human health, despite decades of research to the contrary, because the denier likes it, supports those who make it, dislikes those who object to it, and / or has lived in the area longer than the latter. Often accompanied by unsubstantiated claims that the denier, those making the noise, or everyone is immune to the adverse health effects of excessive noise.

Noise entitlement — The sense that someone has a self-assigned “right” to make noise that exceeds local and / or state sound limits, often falsely based on one’s personal identity, such as a member of group, or the duration of one’s residence in an area (i.e., “We grew up here, so we get to decide how loud it should be”).

Permanent noise-induced hearing loss — Irreversible reduction in aural acuity caused to damage to the inner ear from exposure to excessive sound levels. Noise-induced hearing loss is cumulative over one’s life.

Ototoxic — A fancy adjective that means bad for the ears or hearing.

Sleep deprivation — Preventing others from getting the minimum hours of sleep that humans require to maintain basic health, generally recognized as 6 to 8 hours per night. It has historically been used as a torture technique because it seriously harms victims without leaving any marks. One of the most damaging effects of excessive noise is depriving those nearby of sufficient rest.

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Frequently-Refuted Assertions (FRAs)

“Cities are noisy” — A recursive and self-fulfilling rationalization for creating / exacerbating / defending excessive noise in an urban area, by using an optional condition (volume level) as its own justification. This is akin to throwing garbage in the street because ”cities are polluted” (thereby ensuring they remain that way, and encouraging other people to pollute them) or assaulting people because “cities are dangerous.” For obvious reasons, however, we don’t accept tolerance of racism on the grounds that “people are racist.”

Noise is a cultural construct — The deflective claim that what constitutes excessive noise is based entirely on one’s self-identity as a member of a cultural group, rather than by its decibel level. Effectively, this means that no sound (not matter how loud it is0 can be deemed noise — and, by extension, must be allowed and even defended — if members of an identified group are making it and / or others are at least willing to endure it, including for socio-political reasons.

This has been extended to the corollary claim that certain cultures require sound to be at excessive sound levels, and anyone who objects to the volume is impugning them. It is also inverted so that those who object to excessive volume levels are dismissed as simply expressing a similarly culturally-determined preferences, rather than objective and documented health concerns.

“Noise doesn’t affect us” — Noise denialists often rationalize excessive sound levels by claiming (without evidence) that a self-identified cohort of people is not physically affected by noise, due to their enjoyment of and / or recurrent exposure to it. This is actually a form of psycho-social conditioning, whereby unhealthy noise levels are socially normalized, such that people exposed to them (particularly from an early age) come to identify with and defend them as acceptable or even desirable (see “Stockholm Syndrome”). In fact, the physiological effects of excessive sound levels are clinically documented and unaltered by repeated exposure, ideology, or efforts to actively ignore them.

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¹ The official definition is “unwanted and / or harmful sound.” The first descriptor is certainly accurate in the social sense of noise, but the word “unwanted” introduces a subjective element — i.e., one’s personal preference for a particular sound (such as music one doesn’t like) — whether it’s excessively loud or not. This opens the door to unresolvable disputes about who wants to hear it and who doesn’t. The latter adjective is a far more useful determinant of noise, since it relies on measurable sound levels.