Science Confirms It: Whining Is The Most Annoying Sound Ever

Science Confirms It: Whining Is The Most Annoying Sound Ever
By Sonia van Gilder Cooke June 22, 2011

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/06/22/science-confirms-it-whining-is-the-most-annoying-sound-ever/

From the article:

"In fact, childish whining is more distracting than the screech of a high-pitched table saw, according to a new study. To test people’s tolerance for various sounds, scientists asked them to do math problems in silence, and then while listening to talking, “motherese” (aka baby talk), whining and machine noise. Just to make sure words weren’t throwing the test-takers off, they recorded the speech in a foreign language.

The results? Whining tripped up subjects with their subtraction more than any other sound. “You’re basically doing less work and doing it worse when you’re listening to the whines,” said study co-author Rosemarie Sokol Chang, a professor of psychology at SUNY New Paltz. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman, everybody’s equally distracted.” Surprisingly, the other sounds made no difference to the participants’ mathematical prowess."

 

hollywood figured this out years ago...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cVlTeIATBs

 

I've had no power for going on the third day, with two teens and I can vouch that their whining is what is gonna do me in.

 

The most annoying sound to me is hearing that science confirms some dumb ass shit I don't even care about.

 

Or whining about shit you don't care about?

 

Lol the battle of which science confirms article will we ignore today?

 

I try to explain, some whining is just a form of communicating, be it interests (or disinterests) or what you need or want but can't express in words. Lol


But I also understand complaining about things that hurt the company a person is with. Complaining when there is nothing that can be done or has already been acknowledged and given an answer to, can be actually be destructive. (Annoying to say the least)



As for the OP though, I'll bet the reason whining is more annoying than a saw is because it uses words. We want to process words. I mean, they are harder to tune out (lol but can be done! ) so I feel the study has a flaw right there. (Haha "study". Was this a Facebook article? )

 

Baby whining is probably the most annoying sound for both of us. The whining would distract us from being pleasant. It's one of the biggest reasons we never had children.

In our early 20s we'd see babies whining,
Look at each other....and without saying a word...shake our heads "no way"


Off topic:

Whining mother in law...a whole other experiment.

 

4 sounds out of all the sounds in the world isnt quite enough to declare whining the most annoying ever

Throw someone chewing into the mix and we'll see how fast things change

 

Did you know that there is a gene associated with that?

I can't link a picture directly with my phone from imgur.
So...
Misophonia https://imgur.com/gallery/H8hGn

 

But how does that confirm its the most annoying sound ever if they only used three sounds?


Really really loud motorbikes piss me off more than a baby whining, although cant ever remember doing maths problems as one rode past

At least a dozen other sounds I can think of that are more annoying than a baby whining

 

These scientists have apparently never heard a ball bearing seize at 10.000 RPM.... Fuck all.

 

Oh I have definitely heard of this and definitely have it, and it doesnt just apply to the sound of chewing. Breathing also drives me up a wall, and snoring? Fuggetaboutit

 

Whiny song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o92ra5RfyI

 

The most annoying sound pitch is around 2.6 to 3.4Khz, according to my old tech classmates. Females tend to be more annoyed by the higher side of frequencies than males. When I see any old school stereo equalizer, the 3K level is the first thing I drop way down.

 

that's because one never drives past. it's always ten or more at any given time.

 

I wonder what they'll come up with next. High sounds have always annoyed me, though I try to contain myself.

Nails on a chalk board is yet annoying too.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPi40lQetew[/media]