Noise, noise, noise.

 Wednesday, January 14th. 

Who would have thought that the USA could tumble into the chaos it now finds itself in? Obviously, the President and his motley crew of advisors are not up to the job; they are incompetent, incoherent, non-diplomatic and a danger to world peace. They pick and choose what the ‘subject of the day’ is, putting showboating above the welfare and safety of their own citizens and issuing threats to any other country that does not bow down to their ‘idiot in chief’. 

Sound like ‘embryo fascism’? Sure does to me. 

This morning I was feeling good, not too much pain in the joints, so I went for a walk in our local (small ) nature reserve called ‘Wolvenberg’, which means ‘Wolf Mountain/Hill, a strange name seeing as there is hardly any elevation in this part of Flanders. 

It’s a well-thought-out refuge for birds and small wildlife, although it is wedged between the motorway, railway lines and a busy road. But it’s our little piece of nature, and it is well used. Early morning joggers and walkers use it, and schools take children there to spot birds. In a busy city like ours, it’s a welcome respite, although it’s hard to block out the noise of traffic in the background. Traffic noise is a constant in Antwerp; it’s a sort of ‘muzak’or our own little ‘theme tune’. 

They say that noise is one of the biggest stress factors in modern life; it is hard to find a quiet place to be. There are places where birdsong and wind are the only noise, but not in most towns and villages. 

Perhaps the increase in electric cars will help to mitigate the impact on our ears; if so, bring it on.

Noise is a nuisance and stressful, but it also lessens our ability to concentrate. Too much noise, and that is all you can think of. I sleep with earplugs and an eye mask. I sleep well, but it is not natural. Noise and light pollution are a big problem and also a health risk; we can all agree on that, right? Can you hear me? 

Noise. Social media is (they say) the biggest news source for most people nowadays. Short clips and catchphrases instead of analysis and debate, scrolling on your favourite social media channel, you never really get a balanced account of things. We (unknowingly) train the algorithm to cater to our favourite side of any story on social media every time we give a ‘like’.

Nuance is gone; it’s trench warfare, not debate and reason. Whoever creates the most ‘noise’ gets more attention, more attention leads to relatively more ‘likes’ and more ‘likes’ leads to more attention, and so Social Media becomes more and more addictive. It doesn’t give us time to think or work out our own point of view; it’s a case of ‘pick a side’ and stick with it, then you can find a community that will always agree with you. 

Probably that’s the factor that drives the PR service at the White House the most. I can imagine their motto being ‘Make More Noise’, and so they do. It’s noise, it’s unhealthy and dangerous, and it rules out debate.