https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Singmasterexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-20T22:52:09ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1590:_The_Source&diff=103404Talk:1590: The Source2015-10-14T16:25:47Z<p>Singmaster: Changing Opinions - Phillip Glass illustrated</p>
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<div>As soon as I finished this comic, I started to hear it. Please, make it stop. It's not on the basement, nor the attic. It's getting louder. Driving me crazy. Please. Maybe this gun would help me to shut the noise down. Now, where should I aim it?<br />
:Very dark humour there from anonymous... I guess it will be to late to help him now. But if he misses he will have even more ringing noises in his ears than after reading this comic. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:13, 14 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Just shoot wherever. If you're lucky, you'll be partly deaf and not hear the hum anymore. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.146|141.101.104.146]] 13:49, 14 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
::No, hearing damage (for instance as a result of loud noise) is what very often ''causes'' tinnitus. [[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 14:44, 14 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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The background noise created by appliances like refrigerators and washing machines is typically generated by their electric motors/pumps which operate at 60 Hz; a frequency I would not consider "high pitched". The only devices I can think of off the top of my head that generate what I would consider high-pitched noise are TVs (both CRT and flat-screen). [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 13:13, 14 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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It's 50Hz over here in Germany<br />
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I can think of only one potentially high pitched hum generator that would look something like that, and I didn't know Cueball lived with a lesbian who uses a symbian. Let alone such a person leaving their rather high wattage sex toy plugged in. [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 13:55, 14 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I suspect the title text may be a reference to “why do we even ‘'have’’ that lever?” from The Emperor’s New Groove: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw2B9knw58U [[User:ZevEisenberg|ZevEisenberg]] ([[User talk:ZevEisenberg|talk]]) 14:00, 14 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I agree, and made my account to make that observation. (Panther)<br />
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:I suspect the title text to be the most common wording for this kind of question, so it could not be a reference to whatever in any way. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.23|141.101.66.23]] 14:33, 14 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
: That was my first thought too. My second was "I guess they're going to find out." See [https://www.chesterton.org/taking-a-fence-down/ Chesterton's fence]. [[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 14:58, 14 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I had once thought about why do I sometimes hear high pitched noise. We have all kinds of tiny random noises all around us. Hums, pulses, bugs, elecs,etc. Human ear canal is a few centimeters long. And it has resonant frequency around 2000~3000Hz and its odd multiples. So, my conclusion was, of all the tiny noises the 2000(or 3000)Hz and its third(6000 or 9000Hz) and fifth harmonic(10000 or 15000Hz) frequencies,or even higher harmonics would get amplified by resonance. Pls correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks. [[User:Parsec|Parsec]] ([[User talk:Parsec|talk]]) 15:30, 14 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Phillip Glass: Changing Opinions<br />
"Gradually....we became aware...of a hum in the room....<br />
an electrically hum....in the room.It went mmmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm.<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC01ZVEXCBY<br />
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Gradually<br />
We became aware<br />
Of a hum in the room<br />
An electrical hum in the room<br />
It went mmmmmm<br />
<br />
We followed it from<br />
Corner to corner<br />
We pressed out ears<br />
Against the walls<br />
We crossed diagonals<br />
And put our hands on the floor<br />
It went mmmmmm<br />
<br />
Sometimes it was<br />
A murmur<br />
Sometimes it was<br />
A pulse<br />
Sometimes it seemed<br />
To disappear<br />
But then with a quarter-turn<br />
Of the head<br />
It would roll around the sofa<br />
A nimbus humming cloud<br />
Mmmmmm<br />
<br />
Maybe it's the hum<br />
Of a calm refrigerator<br />
Cooling on the big night<br />
Mmmmmm<br />
Cooling on the big night<br />
Maybe it's the hum<br />
Of our parents' voices<br />
Long ago in a soft light<br />
Mmmmmm<br />
Long ago in a dimmed light<br />
Mmmmmm<br />
<br />
Maybe it's the hum<br />
Of changing opinion<br />
Or a foreign language<br />
In prayer<br />
Mmmmmm<br />
Or a foreign language<br />
In prayer<br />
Maybe it's the mantra<br />
Of the walls and wiring<br />
Deep breathing<br />
In soft air<br />
Mmmmmm<br />
Deep breathing<br />
In soft air<br />
Mmmmmm</div>Singmaster