Physics prof. says tune out crackle, find calm

by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition

Photo credit: cottonbro studio

Professor Kent Gee, chair of Brigham Young University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, who recently received the university's 2024–25 Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award, advised students to tune out the crackle and find the calm. Gee discussed how noise bothers people and causes hearing loss. He specifically mentioned what acoustic engineers measuring military aircraft noise call “crackle,” dozens of shock waves per second that are perceived as annoying pops.

My only quibble is that Gee states that prolonged exposure to sounds above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss. That isn’t inaccurate, but it’s misleading. Auditory damage begins at lower noise exposure levels, possibly as low as 55 A-weighted* decibels (dBA) for a single noise event and a daily average of only 55-60 decibels.

Gee quoted the university’s president, also a Maeser lecturer, who said, “Quiet time is sacred time.” I’m not sure I’d go that far, but a quieter world would certainly be a better and healthier world for all.

*A-weighting adjusts unweighted sound measurements to approximate the frequencies heard in human speech.