Issue #18

Don’t stop the music🎶🎧

Do you listen to music while you work? Or do you prefer dead silence to help you concentrate?

Studies have shown that songs with 50-80bpm can actually help sharpen focus and prompt creativity. You can find pre-made playlists on Apple Music and Spotify full of popular songs within this range. They also work well for studying, particularly revision. I always found remembering what I’d revised easier when I thought of the music I was listening to at the time.

However, there are differing opinions when it comes to music at work. Gen Z say they are more productive when working with background sounds like music, while boomers prefer silence.

As a Gen Z person, and the youngest person in the office (as I’m constantly reminded), I have to agree. I can’t stand working in dead silence. Gives me too much time to think. I’m one of those people who doesn’t need outside sources of distraction; my brain is perfectly capable of distracting me all by itself. I will say I’m somewhat particular about my music choices for background noise. Normally, in the office, we have a playlist or a radio station on, but it’s not my preferred choice.

My favourite kind of music to have on while I’m working is instrumental music. It can be classical, instrumental versions of songs with lyrics or even film scores. I find instrumentals provide enough noise without the distraction of lyrics.

Of course, whether music is good for concentration also depends on the kind of job you do. For people like me, who work in a marketing agency, music is a fun outlet for creativity, but if you have a more serious and precise job, like banking, you may find that music provides too much of a distraction.

Feel free to leave a comment about what kind of music you listen to (if any!) while you’re working.

I’ve never heard silence quite this loud🤫🙉

Have you ever wondered what the quietest place on Earth sounds like?

Turns out, it sounds like you. An anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minnesota is officially the quietest place on the planet, measuring in at negative decibels. I didn’t even know negative decibels was a thing. It’s called anechoic (meaning free from echo) because entire room is designed specifically to stop sound waves reflecting.

The room is so eerily noiseless that people have used it simply to see how long they can stand to listen to the sounds of their own body. With no background noise to drown it out, you can reportedly hear the sound of blood pumping in your head and moving through your veins, the sound of your lungs moving as you breathe, and you can even hear yourself blinking. Kinda freaky but kinda cool at the same time.

The chamber is mainly used by companies to test how loud their products are; Harley-Davidson used it to make their motorcycles quieter while still keeping the signature sound. NASA also use the chamber as a way to acclimatise astronauts to the silence of space.

However, for the average person it’s supposed to be a little bit disorientating. It’s apparently quite disconcerting to not even hear the sound of your own footsteps, which is subconciously how your bodies orientates itself. If you’re in there for more than around half an hour you’ll more than likely need to sit down.

If you fancy trekking all the way to Minnesota, you can try for yourself, as the chamber is open to visitors.

And that’s that on that🫡

xoxo curiosity curator