Quote:
Originally Posted by 4691mls
At first I wondered why anybody wouldn't be able to read with music in the background - then it occurred to me that a lot of people don't listen to my kind of music (classical instrumental). I can absolutely understand that music with lyrics could be distracting.
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I'm afraid this is the issue in a nutshell. Because listening to classical music while reading isn't an issue for you, you assume it can't be an issue for anyone, or if it is, it's because they don't like classical music. Basically you're projecting your own tastes and preferences onto everyone else as reasonable.
In fact, I like classical music. But I don't want it on in the background while I'm reading, ever. I can't read and listen to music and thus the music is just a distraction. Moreover, there's something about electronic noise that gets on my nerves and I can't just tune it out; I almost never watch television and part of that is that I hate the noise a television makes. If I'm somewhere with a television, I try to find another room. Waiting rooms where the tv is on are horrible. I can handle being an active listener, when I'm choosing to listen, but I'm a very bad passive listener.
Yes, some ambient noises are worse than others. Give me chamber music over heavy metal with a loud bass every time. But the justification that's used to foist classical music on unwilling listeners is exactly the same as that of the heavy metal fan, i.e., that "my tastes are or should be universal." Or, more briefly, "I don't care." Just don't. And there's no excuse these days; every music lover who wants to muck up the public air space should be using bluetooth headphones and having a private listen instead.