When you are at the crossroads of the metropolis full of traffic, listening to the hustle and bustle, do you feel a sense of chaos in your heart? But when you are surrounded by the sound of tick-tock rain, or the sound of the rushing river, will there be a sense of peace and quiet?
Although the decibels of these two kinds of sounds are the same, they give people a completely different feeling. Why is this? Today, Xiaoyang will tell you the secrets inside. In fact, the sound of rain or the sound of a small river is a kind of white noise, which can cause people’s comfort because the power of the frequency components of this sound is uniform throughout the audible range. White noise is a random signal or random process whose power spectral density is uniform throughout the audible range (20~20KHz). In other words, the power of the signal is the same in each frequency band. Since white light is composed of monochromatic light of various frequencies (colors), the property of this signal with an amortized power spectrum is called is “white”, so this signal is also called white noise.
The reason why ordinary noise is harsh is because it is a sound produced by random vibration, and the power of frequency components is uneven and disordered in the audible range, which in turn causes people to be upset. White noise is a good signal frequency. Although there is a sound, it does not have a sudden increase in the sound anywhere, and the human brain adapts quickly and then does not feel its presence. This means that it actually provides a relatively safe and comfortable sound environment. We generally believe that a sudden awakening from sleep is due to external noise. Not really, waking up from a sweet dream is actually because a sudden change or sudden stop in the noise stimulates you. White noise can also be used as a therapy. For parents of newborns, using white noise to stop the baby’s crying is a very effective sound therapy. Some people who are often polluted by environmental noise will use white noise to help them restore their work efficiency. For example, some office workers will use white noise to reduce the adverse effects of construction noise on their concentration. White noise has even been recognized as an effective “sound cosmetic treatment” for neurological disorders such as mental distraction, tinnitus, hyperacusis, and ADHD. Others use white noise to attenuate sounds that can disrupt their normal sleep.