A few (hopefully) final comments on rock 'n' roll and sound levels:
* Mr. Wayburn's comments, in addition to being a slap in the face to my many
students who are both excellent in academics and passionate about their music,
are far from novel. They remind me very much of similar things said about jazz
in the 1920s. (Some magazine articles of the period: "Does Jazz Put the Sin in
Syncopation?," "The Jazz Path of Degradation," and "Unspeakable Jazz Must Go!"
An article in the Ladies' Home Journal intimated that Jazz was
Bolshevik-inspired!) The best response to the fanatic critics of rock 'n' roll
that I've seen was penned by George B. Leonard, Jr., in an article in the June
26, 1956 issue of Look:
While adults cannot be asked to like rock 'n' roll, they might find
tolerance to be the wisest course - tolerance allied with a memory
long enough to bring to mind the fads of their own youth. Rock 'n'
roll is a fad and will eventually be in the mainstream of American
popular music. Is it music or madness? Perhaps it is a little of
both. But it is no closer to insanity than those who attack it -
or any form of musical expression - as morally bad.
And that is all that I propose to say on the subject. Now can we kindly get
back to talking about physics?
* Re: Leigh Palmer's comment about pilots leaving half their brains on the
ground when they fly thanks to the noise level --- I find it hard to put much
faith in a numerical figure like 50 percent. I *always* wear a headset when I
fly, thereby reducing the perceived sound level by more than 20 dB, and my brain
seems to be pretty well intact. (Please reserve any comments about how much of
those brains you might think I have on the ground!) Active noise-cancelling
headsets (which take the outside noise, shift it by 180 degrees in phase, and
play that into the headphones) do even better. It's certainly true that high
noise levels can cause a reduction in auditory sensitivity (which apparently is
making it hard for the US Navy to find potential sonar operators, since their
recruits have been listening to their Walkmans at too high a volume) or more
severe hearing problems (e. g. Pete Townshend of the Who), but I'm not aware of
any cognitive effect.