But the most significant change in modern science is not just about the amount of noise, but how we experience it. Noise is no longer understood solely as a problem that affects hearing, it is also recognised as a systemic environmental pollutant. Transport noise is now one of the leading environmental cause of illness in Europe, second only to air pollution.
im with you there. i have a pair of these i wear when i really need quiet. the best sound isolation ive been able to find has been those with a pair of ear plug headphones playing some kind of noise, usually ocean waves because i find them relaxing. when i do that i literally cant hear anything that isnt strong enough to physically feel the sound.
people always try to recommend noise canceling headphones of some kind to me but honestly theyre all kind of garbage. they dont attenuate the sound nearly enough and they cheap out on passive attenuation so they barely do anything without the active damping. a lot of them will also amplify some noises, especially sudden short bursts of noise, which is insufferable to me.
i know that this is because they arent nearly as sensitive to sound as me, but its still kind of annoying that people act like active noise cancelling will solve all your noise related issues. theres no replacement for preventing the sound from getting to your ears in the first place.