新概念英语4册第25课
2004-09-01 11:52
239 查看
Non-auditory effects of noise
Many people in industry and the services, who have practical experience of noise, regard any investigation of this question as a waste of time; they are not prepared even to admit the possibility that noise affects people. On the other hand, those who dislike noise will sometimes use most inadequate evidence to support their pleas for a quieter society. This is a pity, because noise abatement really is a good cause, and it is likely to be discredited if it gets to be associated with bad science.
One allegation often made is that noise produces mental illness. A recent article in a weekly newspaper, for instance, was headed with a striking illustration of a lady in a state of considerable distress, with the caption 'She was yet another victim, reduced to a screaming wreck'. On turning eagerly to the text, one learns that the lady was a typist who found the sound of office typewriters worried her more and more until eventually she had to go into a mental hospital. Now the snag in this sort of anecdote is of course that one cannot distinguish cause and effect. Was the noise a cause of the illness, or were the complaints about noise merely a symptom? Another patient might equally well complain that her neighbours were combining to slander her and persecute her, and yet one might be cautious about believing this statement.
What is needed in the case of noise is a study of large numbers of people living under noisy conditions, to discover whether they are mentally ill more often than other people are. The United States Navy, for instance, recently examined a very large number of men working on aircraft carriers: the study was known as Project Anehin. It can be unpleasant to live even several miles from an aerodrome; if you think what it must be like to share the deck of a ship with several squadrons of jet aircraft, you will realize that a modern navy is a good place to study noise. But neither psychiatric interviews nor objectives tests were able to show any effects upon these American sailors. This result merely confirms earlier American and British studies: if there is any effect of noise upon mental health it must be so small that present methods of psychiatric diagnosis cannot find it. That does not prove that it does not exist; but it does mean that noise is less dangerous than, say, being brought up in an orphanages -- which really is a mental health hazard.
工业和服务业中的许多人都有关于噪音的实际体验。却认为任何关于这个问题的研究是在浪费时间。他们甚至不承认噪音会影响人类的可能。另一方面，那些不喜欢噪音的人有时却拿不出足够的争取支持他们获得一个安静的环境。这令人感到同情。因为消除噪音的动机是好的，而如果和伪科学联系起来，就无法另人信服。
有一种意见认为噪音会导致精神疾病。例如在最近周报的一篇文章，标题是一位看起来正遭受极大痛苦的妇女的图片，而标题旁写着“她是另一位受害者，收到严重伤害”。当翻阅到正文时，发现这位妇女原来是一位打字员，她感觉办公室的打字机持续不断地影响她，以至于最终她需要到精神病院去。很明显的，这个小故事没有分清楚原因与影响。是噪音造成了疾病，还是对噪音的抱怨仅仅是一种症状？另一位病人可能同样会抱怨她的邻居联合起来孤立、迫害她，但是人们会很谨慎地看待这些报道。
在噪音的研究中需要的是对生活在噪音环境中的大量人群进行调查，以发现他们与其他人比较是否更容易患精神疾病。例如美国海军，最近对在航空母舰上工作的大量人进行了检查，即为Anehin工程。在飞机场几英里之内生活都是另人不愉快的，你可以想象在有多个喷气式飞行中队的甲板上会是什么情形。你会明白现代海军是一个研究噪音的理想之地。但无论是精神病理上的检查还是实体检查，都没有发现噪音对这些美国士兵造成任何影响。这个结果仅仅证实了早先美国和英国的调查：即使噪音会对精神健康造成损害，也非常细微，以至于使用现金的精神病理诊断方法无法发现。但这并不能说明这种损害就不存在，而是意味着噪音的危害比想象中的精神灾难要小。
2004年3月24日
Many people in industry and the services, who have practical experience of noise, regard any investigation of this question as a waste of time; they are not prepared even to admit the possibility that noise affects people. On the other hand, those who dislike noise will sometimes use most inadequate evidence to support their pleas for a quieter society. This is a pity, because noise abatement really is a good cause, and it is likely to be discredited if it gets to be associated with bad science.
One allegation often made is that noise produces mental illness. A recent article in a weekly newspaper, for instance, was headed with a striking illustration of a lady in a state of considerable distress, with the caption 'She was yet another victim, reduced to a screaming wreck'. On turning eagerly to the text, one learns that the lady was a typist who found the sound of office typewriters worried her more and more until eventually she had to go into a mental hospital. Now the snag in this sort of anecdote is of course that one cannot distinguish cause and effect. Was the noise a cause of the illness, or were the complaints about noise merely a symptom? Another patient might equally well complain that her neighbours were combining to slander her and persecute her, and yet one might be cautious about believing this statement.
What is needed in the case of noise is a study of large numbers of people living under noisy conditions, to discover whether they are mentally ill more often than other people are. The United States Navy, for instance, recently examined a very large number of men working on aircraft carriers: the study was known as Project Anehin. It can be unpleasant to live even several miles from an aerodrome; if you think what it must be like to share the deck of a ship with several squadrons of jet aircraft, you will realize that a modern navy is a good place to study noise. But neither psychiatric interviews nor objectives tests were able to show any effects upon these American sailors. This result merely confirms earlier American and British studies: if there is any effect of noise upon mental health it must be so small that present methods of psychiatric diagnosis cannot find it. That does not prove that it does not exist; but it does mean that noise is less dangerous than, say, being brought up in an orphanages -- which really is a mental health hazard.
工业和服务业中的许多人都有关于噪音的实际体验。却认为任何关于这个问题的研究是在浪费时间。他们甚至不承认噪音会影响人类的可能。另一方面，那些不喜欢噪音的人有时却拿不出足够的争取支持他们获得一个安静的环境。这令人感到同情。因为消除噪音的动机是好的，而如果和伪科学联系起来，就无法另人信服。
有一种意见认为噪音会导致精神疾病。例如在最近周报的一篇文章，标题是一位看起来正遭受极大痛苦的妇女的图片，而标题旁写着“她是另一位受害者，收到严重伤害”。当翻阅到正文时，发现这位妇女原来是一位打字员，她感觉办公室的打字机持续不断地影响她，以至于最终她需要到精神病院去。很明显的，这个小故事没有分清楚原因与影响。是噪音造成了疾病，还是对噪音的抱怨仅仅是一种症状？另一位病人可能同样会抱怨她的邻居联合起来孤立、迫害她，但是人们会很谨慎地看待这些报道。
在噪音的研究中需要的是对生活在噪音环境中的大量人群进行调查，以发现他们与其他人比较是否更容易患精神疾病。例如美国海军，最近对在航空母舰上工作的大量人进行了检查，即为Anehin工程。在飞机场几英里之内生活都是另人不愉快的，你可以想象在有多个喷气式飞行中队的甲板上会是什么情形。你会明白现代海军是一个研究噪音的理想之地。但无论是精神病理上的检查还是实体检查，都没有发现噪音对这些美国士兵造成任何影响。这个结果仅仅证实了早先美国和英国的调查：即使噪音会对精神健康造成损害，也非常细微，以至于使用现金的精神病理诊断方法无法发现。但这并不能说明这种损害就不存在，而是意味着噪音的危害比想象中的精神灾难要小。
2004年3月24日
内容来自用户分享和网络整理，不保证内容的准确性，如有侵权内容，可联系管理员处理 