One of things we should all attempt to do is to read widely – or listen widely if podcasts are your cup of tea. I subscribe to all manner of left-middle-right news and opinion pieces and sort through the flotsam and jetsam to cull out sources that are extreme and simply uninformed. And then there are the folks whose content often comes back to language, etymology, and how this things float in the midst of our culture and life.

One of the folks I read pretty consistently is NY Times columnist Johh McWhorter, an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University, where he also teaches American studies and music history. In today’s column he writes about the phenomena we have all experienced. Someone near to us on the street, in the mall, and other public forums that is listening to music or other entertainment at a volume that we find inconsiderate at best and rude in the most. I have that reaction whether it is music I enjoy or music which I do not prefer. McWhorter has an interesting insight;

I once knew someone who, nearing 30, was surprised to learn that not everyone liked the same music that they did. They hadn’t been close with many people whose taste differed from their own, and hadn’t heard much beyond what they chose to listen to. It seemed natural, then, to assume that their music gave everyone else joy, too.

I think this is part of what makes so many people comfortable turning up their phones in public. Perhaps, like my friend, they grew up surrounded by people with tastes similar to theirs. Either way, they might just think they’re providing everyone with good music.

I started thinking about this a little while ago when I was walking on a quiet street in my neighborhood. A car drove by with the windows down, playing Latin hip-hop with the bass turned up so loud it practically affected my digestion. That’s not uncommon where I live, and I have generally regarded it as inconsiderate. But when the driver parked and got out of the car, I was surprised to see it was the barber I always go to. He’s not inconsiderate at all — he’s a contented family man living a peaceful life, with no interest in being a public nuisance. In his mind, he was just filling the world with good music. And given today’s musical sensibilities, he wouldn’t be out of his mind to suppose that everybody likes some hip-hop or merengue.

I will try to find balance between the grumpy boomer raised in a polite manners world and the exuberance of youth with varied taste in music and volume. Although…. I know lots of Army and Marine Corp artillery officers, now retired, with “artillery ears.” A polite way of saying noticeable hearing loss.

Modern artillery pieces, particularly 155mm howitzers, can generate extremely loud noises, often reaching 180 dBA at the source. These sounds are loud enough to potentially cause immediate and permanent hearing damage. The DOD DENIX (.mil) reports that levels 2 km away from a demolition of 5 lbs of C4 (which can be used as a surrogate for the largest artillery pieces) can be as high as 120 dB peak if propagation conditions are favorable.

I do wonder what the decibel (dBA) level is under the earphones and in the earbuds.