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Comment by remir | Hacker News Reader

It seems like there's something darker and more perverse at play here. I'm not saying it's necessarily organized, but it's a dangerous dynamic.

It like everything is done to prevent people's mind to be at peace and to relax. The constant noise and audio/visual pollution we see everywhere is deeply troubling.

You cannot go to a simple store without some music being played, often very loudly for no reason.

I went to my parent's house the other day and the TV was on. I had to turn it off so we could have a normal conversation like normal people do. The TV was constantly pulling our attention on some stupid crap like ads or some garbage program that tries to polarize people.

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There is another weird effect I found. When I cut this stuff out of my life. It was as if I could suddenly notice a lot more of it. But oddly I notice when I am being drawn in. Was I that bad before? Am I just noticing it now? I find myself tuning out everything around me to look at 'that thing'.

My parents are amused that I have cable tv but have not even plugged the boxes in. It was part of the rental I currently have. There is most certainly more commercials there no today too. Average length of show has over the past 30 years dropped by at least 5 mins per 30 mins. They even squash out the credits to get more commercials in, with overlays for more.

But recently I have started to think of these people as thieves of my time. They are monetizing my time, my location, my browsing habits. All so they can sell a square of internet to someone else to sell me shoes. Done in milliseconds. With the hope that I will click on it and buy something.

There are times I want to be advertised to. When I am looking for something. I used to buy computer shopper just for that very reason. But at all other times it is like they have leached on to us and are always vying for that small splinter of time. But there are so many they consume more than I like.

I pay around $30 extra per month for my internet connection in order *not* to have cable, which funds the garbage TV: https://unfoxmycablebox.com/

> You cannot go to a simple store without some music being played, often very loudly for no reason.

I swear certain stores in Japan are the worst in this regard. I’ve never come across anything near this bad in any other countries I’ve been to. My wife refuses to go into certain chains and I can’t blame her.

Bright lights, loud music, signages literally everywhere and random yelling of announcements over crackling speaker.

Of course not all stores are like this but I’ve never really cared about noise in shops until I started living in Japan recently.

It’s probably on purpose: when you have trouble thinking critically, and are fighting multiple distractions, you’re going to have a harder time not grabbing the potato chips or doing the mental math to see that “Super Deal!!!” is not actually a super deal.

I’ve found that my shopping is more impulsive when I have to deal with that background racket plus a toddler trying to grab bright, shiny packages.

My solution: do what I can to avoid bringing toddler grocery shopping, wear earbuds with my music playing just loud enough to overcome store sound system.

> It’s probably on purpose

Of course it can be, with all theory-based-planning behind it: it's called 'Gruen transfer', or 'Gruen effect'.

Note: Victor Gruen, the architect protagonist in the spread of shopping malls in the USA, condemned the practice.

Do you find your own music to be better for preserving attention than the store music? The collection I curated over the years consists 100% of music that caught my attention. I'd prefer wearing ear plugs but haven't found good ones for daily use.

My own music is familiar, which removes a source of distraction. Plus, doesn’t come with either news or marketing announcements in a language I mostly understand, but automatically raises my attention when I hear it.

Could you share a YouTube video? The way you put it sounds like entering into a disco.

Something like https://youtu.be/ZhRmPWkyRKU?t=662 + people yelling depending on the occasion/ floor.

The Donkihote near our place was actually the worst in this regard, but I can't find a video of that store :p

>It seems like there's something darker and more perverse at play here.

For me, the more distracted I am, the more shit I can tolerate. I'm sure many work the same. I believe that this is the "circus" part of the ancient "bread and circuses" phrase.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses

My personal biggest gripe: music being played in-between points in tennis and volleyball matches (and I'm sure other sports, but I used to watch those). It's not just that the type of music being played offends my sensibilities, but the entire idea that people can't even be trusted to have ten seconds to themselves deeply saddens me.

For me, it's one of the reasons why I no longer go to such events.

They all just instantly pull out their phones and zombiescroll every time the action lulls for more than three seconds whether the facility blasts music or not. I think the loss of boredom tolerance is a huge issue in our culture.

> I went to my parent's house the other day and the TV was on. I had to turn it off so we could have a normal conversation like normal people do. The TV was constantly pulling our attention on some stupid crap like ads or some garbage program that tries to polarize people.

It's like that at my (Boomer) parents' house too: If it wasn't for me consciously and constantly (re-)turning it off, the TV would be blaring during all waking hours--sometimes two TVs in two different rooms, working our anxiety up with two different BREAKING NEWS updates simultaneously!

But before I get all high and mighty, I look at my own generation which has their smartphones dinging and buzzing at them constantly, feeding them that same steady drip. I remember pre-COVID sitting at a restaurant and watching this couple that seemed to be on a date, except their phones were vibrating and dinging every 5 seconds, interrupting whatever it was they were talking about, and they just couldn't ignore them. They couldn't just let their minds be at peace and relax, as you put it. They ended up not even talking to each other--just constantly checking and swiping, then checking again, then tapping, then swiping, then checking, then swiping, then checking and checking again OMG it must be exhausting! Like the Las Vegas Strip in your brain for hours straight!

> It like everything is done to prevent people's mind to be at peace and to relax.

I think that our human nature is the source of this. Having spare time often means being bored (initially an unpleasant sensation) and potentially coming to terms with your own life, behavior and intentions. Only after a while of discomfort do you get the gains: creativity and growth.

I have introduced people around me to meditation, and some just cannot bear to be idle. They start to ruminate and feel like they can handle it.

I have seen a particular flavor of it mentioned a few times. There are people who like having noise in the background. Typically in older generations and lower classes it's not music or intentionally selected podcasts. Instead, they keep their TV on at all times. I'll not be surprised if it turns out to be a major vector for government propaganda.

Google the Major C H Douglas archive

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