eli5 why can’t people fall asleep when there’s a lot of noise

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eli5 why can’t people fall asleep when there’s a lot of noise

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9 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Seems like a question based off a false premise. Some people can fall asleep anywhere with anything going on. Some can’t.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Your brain is like a security guard on high alert when there’s noise. It’s trying to filter out potential threats, and that keeps you awake. Evolutionary survival stuff, ya know.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Evolution. Our caveman ancestors who found quieter (therefore secluded) places to sleep out-survived people who did something as vulnerable as sleeping in places with lots going on. More survival = outbreed the competition.

Fast forward a few thousand years and here we are, all descended from the ones who couldn’t sleep in noisy places and risk getting ambushed, eaten or stabbed or something.

It’s easy to forget or not realize that behaviors and instincts are evolved just like legs and organs are. Brains are physical too!

Anonymous 0 Comments

What you talking about? I feel asleep in movie theatres and night clubs before.

Sudden loud sounds will wake you, but a wall of consistent sound you can tune out.

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s kinda like trying to read a book while someone is repeatedly poking you in the arm. Sound is basically a constant stimulus that your brain has to acknowledge. When it’s quiet, your brain can chill and let you drift off, but with noise, it’s in “alert mode” and thinks you might need to do something about it.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Its more inconsistent noise, and a lot or loud noises are harder to ignore, as they’re less predictable. You can ignore two people talking, but a phone call is one sided and requires thought to fill in possible blanks. Sometimes subconsciously you can’f even ignore that, the mystery, the missing information to complete a whole.

As for a lot of noise, my best naps were at my friends metal band’s jam space. Small room, I had plugs in but it was loud. I’d pass out on the coach in front of the amps in full light and the like wall of really loud noise was almost southing. I did not like their music though. I think it was that its so loud you can’t hear any movement, not even your own. So close eyes, no movement sensed, you get real calm.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

They can. It’s a matter of attitude. I can sleep anywhere just by accepting the noise level and not letting it interfere with my sleeping. It requires some mental discipline to control your thoughts.

Anonymous 0 Comments

You can, once you get used to it. I used to live 2 houses away from a railroad track. Directly across the street from a factory that did metal stamping, that you could clearly hear inside the house during the daytime hours. I happened to work nights, so when i went to bed, you could hear the constant booming of the big press running. And of course, the constant sound of trains and their horn when approaching the crossing.

At first, it was difficult because they were all new, unexpected sounds. But once you got used to it, you didn’t even notice any of it.