This is another occasion when one of my status messages on GTalk is turning into a post here. But, this one is really weird. It all started when my roommate got a new set of speakers for his laptop. We were amusing ourselves with some good music until we were asked by our neighbours to turn the volume down. What's the point in having a good set of speakers and not making use of it? But, we had to oblige, for the fear of getting sued is ever-present in this country.
This made me wonder about how 'inaudible' these walls are. Now, if walls can be invisible, why can't they be inaudible? When you see the light reflected from an object, you 'see' the object. But, when you hear the sound reflecting off a surface, you don't 'hear' the object, do you? So, my theory was that if you can listen as to what is happening in the next room, the wall separating the rooms allows sound to pass through, i.e. is 'transparent to sound', or is 'invisible for sound' - thereby making it 'inaudible'. If you are in a sound-proofed room, you are 'hearing' the silence of the wall. So, in that sense, the walls of my home are inaudible.
This made me ponder about the reason why such an idea is almost non-existent, though common sense would allow such an analogy to be drawn immediately. I could zero-in on the fact that sight is the most dominant of our senses, far more dominant than the others. Dominant to an extent that such an idea is almost baloney!
Imagine the sensitivity of our sight and auditory senses swapped. You would enter your room, turn on a 'sound bulb', listen to everything in the vicinity and do stuff. Sounds like a rather boring life. The awesome blue of the sky replaced by the high frequency squeaks, the red of the stove by deep and bass tones, the pleasing green by the irritating mid-range gibberish.... Aah! I love the way things are... Or am I just not imaginative enough?
This made me wonder about how 'inaudible' these walls are. Now, if walls can be invisible, why can't they be inaudible? When you see the light reflected from an object, you 'see' the object. But, when you hear the sound reflecting off a surface, you don't 'hear' the object, do you? So, my theory was that if you can listen as to what is happening in the next room, the wall separating the rooms allows sound to pass through, i.e. is 'transparent to sound', or is 'invisible for sound' - thereby making it 'inaudible'. If you are in a sound-proofed room, you are 'hearing' the silence of the wall. So, in that sense, the walls of my home are inaudible.
This made me ponder about the reason why such an idea is almost non-existent, though common sense would allow such an analogy to be drawn immediately. I could zero-in on the fact that sight is the most dominant of our senses, far more dominant than the others. Dominant to an extent that such an idea is almost baloney!
Imagine the sensitivity of our sight and auditory senses swapped. You would enter your room, turn on a 'sound bulb', listen to everything in the vicinity and do stuff. Sounds like a rather boring life. The awesome blue of the sky replaced by the high frequency squeaks, the red of the stove by deep and bass tones, the pleasing green by the irritating mid-range gibberish.... Aah! I love the way things are... Or am I just not imaginative enough?
2 comments:
hmm.. interesting.... a dozen scenarios of such a situation are wafting into my head now.
makes me wonder.... any thoughts about our sense of smell now?
Hmmm... Our olfactory sense is far too rudimentary. Moreover, I was drawing the analogy based on the similarities of light and sound as waves. When it comes to smell (or touch, or taste(Can you imagine tasting everything!) for that matter), it is a totally different ballgame...
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