tollie.org/blog thoughts and reflections of Tollie Williams

Soundly sleeping – seems scientific

I'm having difficulty unifying these into a narrative, so I'll just leave it at bullet points.

Caution: Some science ahead. But perhaps it's interesting, and maybe even insightful.

* I've grown accustomed to going to sleep while listening to something. TV, music, podcast, or audiobook.

* Yes, it's possibly causing permanent hearing damage from long-term exposure.

* Who knows what effect it has on how the brain processes sound ordinarily? Maybe this is why I have a hard time distinguishing words from background noise and music. Perhaps that process is controlled by chemicals that the brain normally stores up during down-time, and I'm getting none. I simply don't know.

* I usually listen to podcasts to fall asleep. It helps me catch up, and the content is such that I rarely feel like I should take notes, nor that I am greatly missing out if I never go back and pick up from where I fell asleep at.

* Occasionally I'll listen to audiobooks, however, they have to have a unique quality about them. They have to be engaging enough not be frustrating or grating, but yet, they can't be so engaging that I simply must stay awake to listen to them.

* Other times, it's music. Usually orchestrated film score. However, this can be too 'non-stimulating' - leaving my brain free to run around in circles with whatever non-sense has clouded it. On the other hand, for this reason, sometimes music is helpful in reaching the "sweet spot:"

* There is a sweet spot between regular thought and sleepily drunken stupor - and in that sweet spot, wonderful ideas occur. That's why I keep a pen and paper nearby at all times.

* I'm listening to "The Ring Goes South" as I write this bullet point. It's from The Lord of the Rings soundtrack.

* Listening to nothing, I can fall asleep, but depending on my level of exhaustion, it may take a great deal longer. It's not that the sound wears me out. Therefor, I wonder how unique vs. universal this "lulling" effect is, and to what degree it's social.

* In fact, if suffciently tired, I am more easily made to fall asleep listening to a half-dozen people talking, than to nothing or some generated "noise" such as a fan.

* Another trapping of classical music: the sameness. The process of appreciating the musical quality is, for me, an almost active one. Appreciate it, and the mind is too engaged. Reducing it to mere background melody tends to make for monotony, and the mind is bored.

* I've said nothing of TV yet. TV is perhaps the most dangerous. First: good luck finding a channel worth listening to. If you do, who knows what junk will be on in 2 hours, invading your sub-conscious? Then there's commercials and this awful trend of turning up their volume. The FCC should fine networks for doing this - decibel neutrality. (That's sarcastic.)

* What about a movie? This usually works as far as stimulation levels go, as long as it's one I've seen before. However, inevitably, the change from dialogue to theme music for the credits will wake me up in 2 hours.

* I'd be interested in your thoughts. What applies to you? What doesn't? Am I factually right or wrong anywhere?

- Sound sleep to you,
Tollie