It'd be interesting to plot Distraction vs. Noise Level, because while it's clear that Zero Noise maps nicely to Zero Distraction, I've noticed that Near Constant Noise also maps to Zero Distraction.
I used to live on Plaza del Castillo in Pamplona, backing on to one of the main bar streets in town. Friday and Saturday nights were pretty loud, even after closing time, with random whooping groups wandering past at intervals until nearly daylight. We had a windowless room in the center of the apartment we'd dubbed "The Bombshelter" to sleep in on nights like this.
But during San Fermin, things would kick up a few orders of magnitude. The party would crank up on a Sunday and go non-stop for 8 solid days. There were no more random groups to be identified, just a constant insane roar. I recall seeing three marching bands collide in the midst of a swarm of thousands of people directly under our bedroom balcony, at 3 in the morning on a Wednesday. They were playing but you couldn't really hear them from 20 feet up from all the other noise.
You'd think that week would be impossible, but it wasn't. Quite the opposite. I slept like a baby (even on the nights when I hadn't spent any time down among those crowds yelling and spilling wine). The noise was constant and even. No spikes could penetrate it, so the mind could relax and sleep soundly. It was actually kind of nice.
I notice the same thing on planes, and in loud, crowded coffee shops. There are lots of people talking, but little risk of anybody talking to me, so it's all just background noise. No spikes, so my brain can filter it out. I've done some of my best work in those places.
I used to live on Plaza del Castillo in Pamplona, backing on to one of the main bar streets in town. Friday and Saturday nights were pretty loud, even after closing time, with random whooping groups wandering past at intervals until nearly daylight. We had a windowless room in the center of the apartment we'd dubbed "The Bombshelter" to sleep in on nights like this.
But during San Fermin, things would kick up a few orders of magnitude. The party would crank up on a Sunday and go non-stop for 8 solid days. There were no more random groups to be identified, just a constant insane roar. I recall seeing three marching bands collide in the midst of a swarm of thousands of people directly under our bedroom balcony, at 3 in the morning on a Wednesday. They were playing but you couldn't really hear them from 20 feet up from all the other noise.
You'd think that week would be impossible, but it wasn't. Quite the opposite. I slept like a baby (even on the nights when I hadn't spent any time down among those crowds yelling and spilling wine). The noise was constant and even. No spikes could penetrate it, so the mind could relax and sleep soundly. It was actually kind of nice.
I notice the same thing on planes, and in loud, crowded coffee shops. There are lots of people talking, but little risk of anybody talking to me, so it's all just background noise. No spikes, so my brain can filter it out. I've done some of my best work in those places.
Strange.