Anybody else find life to loud, colourful and fast? Looking back at old tv things has made me long for the past.

[Superhansrantowindsor]

Am I being silly or is life just too hectic and busy. Big screens everywhere- on the bus , in the waiting room at the doctors. Loud music in shops with bright displays. Even billboards at the bus stop change and flicker.
I was watching an old documentary on YouTube and it just seemed like like was duller in the past but calming and just nicer.
Anyone else feel like this?

edited to say I’m sorry about the typo in the title.

Yes! Probably why everyone is so tired all the time!

Yeah - I don't like cities - just too noisy. All the engines and piped music everywhere and the constant beeping and people just shouting shouting over it and more people shouting to be heard over them. I can't stand it. The flashing and beeping. Those cold flickering lights that make you feel dizzy and strange. It's like being punched in the face.

My house is very quiet and simple - just a fire and a good chair and the hills outside. I'm so grateful for it.

I feel so validated!

Also I grew up in the 60s and 70s with much older parents so it was much more old fashioned still. My home was very quiet.

They both hated background noise, as do I. Tv or radio switched on to listen to something specific, then off again,

I never really won the battle of noise in their care home rooms. They could not comprehend that someone would want to sit in silence, looking at the view.

Not true. I love it. The noise, the loud music everywhere, cities, screens, cars, ads, AI, Christmas when it's loud and big on steroids. I want MORE tech, no less. Less human interaction, more screens. It doesn't tire me, I love it.

I ADORED a trip to London as a child. We would check out the Harrods window and then take a bus the length of Oxford street to see the lights. Finishing with a trip to Hamleys. It was magical. The colour and the lights and the music.

Nothing seems quite that special any more. Displays are everywhere all year round. It makes me sad that DS has never marvelled at anything because he is constantly surrounded by vibrant things.

I agree. Christmas was a really lovely time, as were all the seasons and events - they had their dedicated time and place in the year, and they were so special because they were so individual and so time-limited. They didn't assault the senses, each one was precious and there was time to savour and enjoy each one - now it's buy, buy, buy with events bleeding into each other and so much commercial pressure to have everything related to that event.

I agree. Silence is important. People are being bombarded with screens & noise everywhere they go. Our brains never get a chance to switch off.

Yes absolutely! Loud and overstimulating.

i find my 2 year olds tv too much - too fast too bright . Compared to telly in the 80s…

Noise begets noise. It's called the Lombard effect: in a noisy setting, people talk louder in order to be heard, thus adding to the noise they're talking over. Most of us give up on eg noisy pubs in our thirties, and the best ones often have carpet and no music. So much more relaxing.

Yes! I was telling my young adult nephew about how quiet the eighties were and how I'd do quite literally anything to go back

Same here

I've been reading Hannah Hauxwell's (based in Yorkshire during the last century) books and that really was a different time.

I think there was a lot of peace to be found in routines, and no electronics. They worked hard in the day, played music, cards, sat around the fire and went to the odd dance in the evenings.

Obviously it was a hard life, no central heating, no hot running water, farm work etc but I bet they slept at night and didn't feel massive anxiety over stuff

My kids, especially DD, is absolutely exhausted after school

And I think it's because it's so busy, so noisy, so bright and so stimulating.

My primary school was in the country, sat at individual little wooden desks (from 4 years old, sat in silence, no messing!!) , nothing on the walls, copy from the blackboard. Run around the field at break time. Hymns in assembly, high expectations, low stimulation.

Yup! Especially the extremely loud display type fireworks the neighbour's set off earlier.
Lorry reversing beeps, screeching kids, bright LEDs everywhere especially on car headlights.
It's exhausting.

It's exactly this. I saw a therapist about 15 years ago for anxiety and he said then that the advancement of technology was overtaking the human brain's evolution and therefore capacity to cope. And that was before social media etc. The world is moving too fast for us.

I don’t think shops are any noisier than they were in the 80s really, they always had music and bright lights. There might be more screens everywhere but I bet you are all looking at your phones…
Its cars for me- the traffic is insane all day every day but a lot of that is because of people working from home, running errands thru the day as it’s got a lot worse since lockdown. Also the fact that people get in their cars for every little thing. I walk loads and I barely see a soul on the streets in my neighbourhood, other than teenagers and the odd dog walker, but the roads are rammed with cars the size of transit vans at all times.

I'm ok with the noise of cities etc but I can't stand loud volume TV or music any more. I'd much rather have the TV on a quiet volume but with subtitles. When I go to my in laws my PIL is clearly a bit deaf (but won't admit it) and the TV is on so loud and I just can't cope, it makes me frazzled and headachey.

Also get overwhelmed by big supermarkets these days- the other day I had to leave a huge Asda and go to the smaller Sainsbury's instead because I felt like I didn't know where anything was and it was overwhelming just traipsing around when all I needed was a few bits. I never used to be like this. I also get anxiety over decision making, I wish there was less choice in life!

Yes, I'm autistic so obviously think that, but it's got a lot worse over recent years and I think you can see that in the increased rates of autism & ADHD diagnosis.

Generally, these things don't bother me but I was on a busy bus yesterday where it did. People were chatting to people on video calls (why is there's always a kid screaming/whinging in the background?). Someone else was showing someone stupid clips with the sound up. People were talking loudly. I found it quite overwhelming! I had my own headphones in with my choice of music but could still hear others unless I had the volume super high.

I notice it when watching old TV shows too. I watched the 1980s adaptation of The Woman in Black the other week, and it was so quiet.

No relentless, booming background music, which meant the little music they had genuinely added tension; and what’s even better, you could hear the dialogue!

Without sounding wanky, it elevated the whole thing. I felt like I was watching a proper drama.

I'm in total agreement with this thread. My DH became long term sick and disabled last year and now watches the TV or YouTube all day every day unless I take him out. I love visiting my parent's home where they read, play board games and do crosswords together - it's so calming and peaceful. That was how I was brought up and I'm struggling to cope with the constant noise in my home now! I have to take myself out for walks and escape to the garden and then really enjoy the peace and calm. Life has definitely become too noisy and stimulating for me!

I was at Oxford Circus for half an hour yesterday as DD wanted to go to Bershka.We both walked in the shop and were shocked by how bright and loud it was-not just me being old even she found it too much.And so hot.Oxford Circus has always been hectic but now it's unbearable on a Saturday.Then all the moving screens in the tube.

I completely agree. I love nothing more than sitting in silence reading or embroidering. Our street lamps were changed this week to an awful bright white light. It’s too much. I even have to dim the lights in the office to get through the day.

A quiet village pub near us has been taken over by a chain and suddenly has been flickering screens with adverts, inside, in several places. It has never had a screen before, is not a sports pub. There is usually one in your line of sight. I hate them.

I was a very young child in the 70s and I can remember playing for a long time with a very few toys. I can remember looking at things and thinking about how things worked for a long time. I miss having unpressured time, as i did as a child, and it's not just because adults have more responsibilities - it's because when you are off the clock, for once, and have a bit of time to yourself, there is so much crap crowding into it that you can't just have some peace with one thing.

Yes, it is. But if you have the means you can create a quieter life for yourself. I like a slower pace of life.

We live in a small seaside town so life for us is quiet. We're rarely in the car and hardly ever in the city anymore. We walk everywhere around town. Days are spent on the beach with my 3 year old, or feeding the ducks, visiting the library and so on.

We have television but we don't have any kind of live tv and stream things instead, so we're a bit choosier with the programmes our child watches. I think a lot of kids tv now is too fast paced and lacking in substance.

This actually sounds like heaven to me. Christmas is the most over hyped, over priced, frantic time of the year. And the noise and light pollution that goes with that, where ever you go, to the shops or just walking down the street, is exhausting, energy draining.