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Subscribe to RSSIf you've ever thought that listening to your child whine was worse than having a buzz saw cut wood inside your house, it turns out you were right.
A new study has found that the power of whining to distract people while doing simple math was even greater than other noises that people typically find annoying. It didn’t matter whether someone was a parent or not.
Still, this could explain why packing a lunch while your children caterwaul over whose magic marker can touch a particular piece of paper makes your head want to explode.
“You’re basically doing less work and doing it worse when you’re listening to the whines,” said study co-author Rosemarie Sokol Chang, a professor of psychology at SUNY New Paltz. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman, everybody’s equally distracted.”
The researchers asked people to do subtraction problems while listening to an infant crying, regular speech, silence, whining, a high-pitched table saw and “motherese” -- exaggerated baby talk that adults often find irritating.
To ensure that people weren’t distracted by the words themselves, they used foreign language for the speech samples in the study, which was published in the Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology.
In raw numbers, people made more mistakes per math problems completed when listening to the whines than any of the other speech patterns or noises (though the only statistically significant differences were between whining, the table saw and motherese).
And people completed fewer subtraction problems when listening to the whining, crying and baby talk than when it was completely quiet.
This comes as no surprise to Eileen Wolter, who is raising a 6-year-old and nearly 3-year-old in Summit, N.J.
“My older son has this whole 'no fair, no fair' mantra that drives me insane, and the younger one, the minute you say ‘no’ to him over anything, he just gets crestfallen and then there are tears. There is a lot of whining,” she said.
Lately, she’s made a concerted effort to stop being so bothered by it, to simply lay out the rules and remain above the fray.
But, as a mom, she has an almost physical reaction to the noise, even if it’s just a minor argument over sharing a toy or who gets read a bedtime book first.
“It’s just really truly amazing that that’s their first instinct. It’s the first place they go. And there’s no differentiation in the scope of what’s upsetting them,” Wolter said. “My stress can’t tell the difference -- it’s just the sound. I can’t tell whether this is a real emergency or a real problem. I just know that my kid is upset so I need to react.”
On some level, that seems to be the evolutionary point of the whining, Chang said. Most people would tell you ignore it, and the child will eventually stop.
While she hasn’t yet tested this theory, except with her own 2-year-old, she suspects that trying to figure out what the underlying issue is may be equally -- if not more -- effective.
“It’s telling you to tune in,” she said. “Nobody wants to sit around and listen to a fire engine siren either, but if you hear the siren go off, it gets your attention. It has to be annoying like that, and it’s the same with the whine.”
Related:
- Mommyyy! How do you stop your kids from whining?
- What bugs you? Book uncovers science of what irks us
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Leave a Comment:
There is a difference between the most annoying sound and the worst sound.
Whining is not the worst sound in the world. The crashing of a tsunami, the tremdous roar of a tornado, the scream of a person or animal being injured or in fear, and even sometimes silence, when there should be a response, all would be far worse than whining.
mn-1062959 ~~ I think everyone would agree with your post. HOWEVER, the subject is not what is the most 'Terrifying Sound'. Here, we are talking about an 'annoying sound'. Anyone who has spent much time with a whiner knows exactly what I'm talking about. To have a child whine about everything, is very disheartening (and yes adults whine too) and it is indeed ANNOYING.
Then they should have entitled the article " Whining is the most annoying sound in the world, study confirms." They called it the worst. And it isn't.
mn - Your whining about minutiae is also incredibly annoying. And I can't even hear you!
I don't remember whining as a child back in the '50s. If the parent said no, that was the end of the discussion. I think we had more respect for our parents than children do nowadays. Children are smart: they will try any avenue that works to get attention. If you give it to them, you've relinquished the upper-hand.
Actually mn is doing a good job of once again pointing out that journalism in this country is dead and the so-called journalists have since robbed the grave and mutilated the body as they continue to try and dumb down America to their level.
seriously after four kids I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU THIS and it wouldn't have cost you anything! So now that we know this "officially" and have wasted someones money on it----now what?
Mozzie --WHATEVER! Parents forget how annoying kids are---not only were you annoying as a kid so were your little angels! The only difference is your parents just drowned their misery in an after dinner drink and sent you outside to play!
I really think that they should have included these sounds:
parents suck at being parents, ive witnessed enough it that I dont need a study to confirm it.
launching empty threats, lazy parents parenting from the seat of their chair.
you get what you deserve...a mini you.
That whining thing----it seems to be a "Conservative" quality.
Kallie - Take some midol and stop whining.
Santrich - Take your right hand, slap as hard as you can across your face and hopefully recognize reality. Then stop whining.
My 82 year old mother whines whenever we get into a store that she says she has to go to (grocery, etc.) because she can't remember what she needs. I have left her notepads, etc. for her to write a list up of things she needs but she refuses to do that, says she'll remember when she gets to the store, and the minute we get inside she breaks down whinning/crying that she can't remember anything, and yes we've had her tested for dementia and she manages to pass although the last time she was showing more problems but it's like with her hearing, she doesn't think she has a problem. The problem that I have is that it's harder to deal with an adults whining, because if I say anything to her in the store about her whining I get very nasty looks like she's enduring elder abuse! I thought after my daughter grew up I was through with it until I became a grandma!
While your knee-jerk comments may apply to your situation, they are totally inaccurate in my case. My parents told us they loved us every day, and they knew how to raise well-behaved children. And I don't have any "little angels" of my own.
I think hacking up a noogy is annoying and gross.
I think hacking up a noogy is annoying and gross.
I think hacking up a noogy is annoying and gross. Not to mention double posts that you can't delete.
You know that button that says "Post Comment"?
It's a button.
You don't double-click it.
Then you don't get duplicate posts.
My opinion, for whatever it's worth, is that whining from any source is aggravating as hell. As for the whining kids, well, now we know that is the reason some little ones wind up in dumpsters. It's effective, but is it only a manifestation of some parent whining?
Every summer as a kid I remember whining about being bored halfway through. That's when I "learned" to dust and oil intricately-detailed pieces of wood furniture, clean my bathroom, etc. That was my mother's solution to my boredom. Sure stopped that particular whining in a hurry. I repeated the favor with my own kids. :)
By far for me is the sound of the dentist drill. It brings back memories of childhood and having cavities filled without novocaine......
It's a toss up between a Harley and compulsive whistling. Both are what I consider disturbing and most annoying.
I think adults whining is even a worse distraction than children who whine.
Indeed. At least children have the very reasonable excuse of being a child.
Darvis, you nailed it. Read the posts in any of these vine forums, and you will find the same predictable whiners across the board, and they are ANNOYING. I listed so many to ignore, it's pathetic. And if it's not the writers, sometimes it's the articles about whiners, that take the cake.
Now I sound like I'm whining. I'd better just quit it. Note to self: whining is contagious. Kill it at the earliest possible moment.
If there were no liberals in the world whinning would be reduced by over 90%! This is a fact! Their whining is also much worse than a child's and probably harmful to innocent bystanders!
End Liberalism, End Whining! Vote in 2012! :)
I was wondering how long it would take for this to end up as conservatives versus liberals, though this article has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Pride & Joy: Really? An actual fact? Please cite your source.
Your post sounds a little whiney to me.
Yes, children are children. In most cases, however, they become adults. So the earlier they learn to stop whining, the better.
It's good to know that there is a biological reason that liberals, and unions are so repulsive.
Darvis. You are absolutley correct. It takes plenty of patience to deal with that kind of thing. Mygirlfriend is 31 and speaks like she's 3. It drives me insane. However if I say something about it, it starts an argument where all the adult words come out. Still I disagree that they needed to conduct a study and waste money to figure this out.
Agreed, So stop the whining and do something:
The past decade has seen the decline of America and Americans. We build new infrastructure for our enemies, we raise their quality of life, while our Nation is in sore need of basic infrastructure improvements and our quality of life declines. We are considering to tell our Grand Parents and Parents sorry but we can't afford you any longer.
The Party Games are for fools and useful idiots since neither Party cares about the Average American and both truly believe Americans are too incompetent to know what is best for them. Their best example of this is if we Americans were even half way intelligent we would not elect any of them into office in the first place.
Join us on 6-25-11 high noon @ your local Federal Court House and every Saturday after that if you have had enough of the insanity. Join the Day Of Reason. All Americans are welcomed who are fed up with the Fed.
Need More? Read the Vine Article Day of Reason Americans for America or Enough is Enough. Join us and put an end to Party stupidity and Media Propaganda.
my son is 3 years old and has some mental and behavioral problems. whining, crying, screaming, tantrums, sudden fits, and self abuse, among other things are daily occurrences for him. he even whines, cries, screams, and talks in his sleep. he regularly wakes up during the night whining, crying, and screaming. i will not lie, this gets very stressful, especially as a single mom. it can be very frustrating and sometimes i feel like i am going nuts, but he is my son, my responsibility, and i love him.
the sound that annoys the heck out of me is when i'm out somewhere in public with him, he starts doing what he usually does, and i have to listen to ADULTS who WHINE and make comments to each other, or out loud to "theirself" about his behavior. well, i am sorry if my son screaming hysterically, throwing himself around and slapping himself in the face disturbs you while you are trying to read your magazine or talk to your friend when you are having to wait in the same waiting room as us. i apologize if my son is crying and yelling so hard that he is nearly choking and is trying to throw himself out of the shopping cart while you are in the same grocery store line as us. i'm sorry if my son is screaming, crying, kicking me, and trying to scratch my face and chest while i carry him through the same store that you are in.
i'm sure some people are going to read this and say that i'm whining myself, but my personal opinion is that ADULTS should have some common sense, class and respect before they go whining and making comments about a baby when they don't even know him or his situation.
I agree with Pride's post and So. Democrat's post, so much political whining and not enough action... too many 'armchair quarterbacks' on the internet that never get involved! Complacency has become very comfortable for Americans these days!
Does the results of this study mean that Amy Whinehouse should not be a successful entertainer????
Considering her name is spelled Winehouse, not Whinehouse, I'd say your question doesn't even apply here.
I would propose that someone else's child whining is the worst noise.
I had to listen to a 15-ish year old and her drunk mother in the airline lounge last week. They cleared the whole section. I'm not sure which one whined the most.
Oh no. Now I'm whining. But at least you don't have to listen to it. LOL
I dunno - one's own kid can be just as grating, and harder to escape. Funny thing, though: my ex wife would listen to the whining for a while, then give in. If they tried the whining on me, they just got in trouble. The way it worked out was that they always whine to her to get what they want, and I almost never hear it. I'm consistent; when I say "no," they know I mean it. They just say "OK" and move on. Seems the main advantage of one's own kids whining is that it's curable.
It's not really the sound that is bothersome. It's the intent.
I think the pitch of it is very close to some primal primate alarm sound, and that's why it can't help but get your attention, even though you don't want to pay attention to it. Even though any parent can tell the difference between a child's whining cry, for instance, and an actual cry of pain, the two sounds are close enough that some alarms are still triggered.
My last dog had a whine that happened to hit the exact pitch of my children's alarm cries, and it was an extraordinarily effective whine -- she could wake me out of a sound sleep with it. Very annoying. My latest dog has never managed to quite hit the right note, with the result that he whines less, because it's less effective for him.
Sorry...when I hear a child whine, I want to knock it across the room...No I'm not a parent, and don't intend to ever be. I know my limits.
me922: you can expect people to jump all over you, but i feel the same way, and made the concious decision not to be a parent. i would be the kind of father i had, and that would not be good. i make a great uncle, however....
Not having children because you can't tolerate them is the mature thing to do. It is the right thing to do. Having children you can't tolerate and then abusing them...no comment needed.
Children learn to whine by listening to their parents.
The sad thing is, you would probably be a very good parent, because you would teach your children that using emotional manipulation to get their way is counterproductive. Our society could benefit from some more of that lesson.
No, I absolutely agree with you ---it takes a very patient, unconditionally loving, creative, energetic person to be a great parent. If that it your limit I respect that immensely!!! My brother feels the same way and he makes a great uncle to my four children. When he has had enough of my rat pack he goes back to his bachelor pad :) I think only certain people should be parents---its a brave smart person that knows the difference. The whining is a normal stage of development that needs to be lovingly ignored and not given into....then it won't last much past four or five years of age.
@Kallie - you make a good point - whining IS a normal stage of development, and properly treated, won't last more than a couple of years. Not giving in is the key to teaching kids to not whine. When I hear "I'm going to count to three" and then the parent keeps counting to 10, I want to SHAKE him/her. The parent, that is. I can't even stand to watch that show about the British nanny coming to "fix" the dysfunctional American family because the parents are always namby pampy people who have no CLUE how to say no to their kids.
@ME922 - that's ok - I feel the same way. And I DID have kids (who are both grown). :)
The world needs less complaints and more solutions.
America needs more people to support America do something:
The past decade has seen the decline of America and Americans. We build new infrastructure for our enemies, we raise their quality of life, while our Nation is in sore need of basic infrastructure improvements and our quality of life declines. We are considering to tell our Grand Parents and Parents sorry but we can't afford you any longer.
The Party Games are for fools and useful idiots since neither Party cares about the Average American and both truly believe Americans are too incompetent to know what is best for them. Their best example of this is if we Americans were even half way intelligent we would not elect any of them into office in the first place.
Join us on 6-25-11 high noon @ your local Federal Court House and every Saturday after that if you have had enough of the insanity. Join the Day Of Reason. All Americans are welcomed who are fed up with the Fed.
Need More? Read the Vine Article Day of Reason Americans for America or Enough is Enough. Join us and put an end to Party stupidity and Media Propaganda.
I learned at a young age that whining in my house got you nowhere. My mom always said, "If you're going to whine I'm going to give you something to whine about." It worked really well and I plan on using it with my son.
"If you're going to whine I'm going to give you something to whine about".....like what????
I'm going to apologize ahead of time before I type my next sentence, because I've already drawn some conclusions....
That's the kind of thing an impatient, abusive mother OR father would say. I know guys whose mothers said that to them, and then whacked them, and it wasn't just a simple swat, it was a backhanded WHACK on the head, sometimes worse. Think about what your saying....and how that child feels, with a HUGE adult saying it. To a child, that is terrifying, and to them, you're no longer the sweet caregiver, but the monster that's "going to give them something to whine about"....but you don't care, since your mother pulled that @!$%# with you.
If you're a woman, and if this IS the case, your son could grow up hating women, and if you're a man, he's going to have a childlike respect for men throughout his life, whether they deserve it or not....or he may HATE men who remind him of you.
The only reason it works, is because your mother instilled in you that she was someone to fear..."i better not whine, or mommy make me whine...how will she do that??? :'(" And you actually plan on using it on your own son??? I hope that doesn't mean you're gonna start "giving him something to whine about", and if you do, I hope he gets @!$%#ing brave as he grows up, and defends himself. That's right, I hope he has the courage to stand up and fight back, because you know what I see when I read your post?
I see the cycle of abuse continuing, through you, and your son will have to bear that on his shoulders. I could be wrong though, and I hope I am wrong. I reeeaaaalllly hope my assumptions are wrong.
"If you're going to whine, I'm going to GIVE you something to whine about"....nice stuff huh!?
Like... oh, maybe grounding or taking away computer time or any other number of things that aren't physical. I mean, that's how I I mean it when I tell my kids the same thing and if they didn't stop whining they got sent to bed to cry it out until they were ready to talk like a normal person. Surprise of surprises, none of them whined past the age of three.
Actually, yes, when used in a productive manner. Whatever your issues are aren't always involved with other people.
And amazingly enough so many of us who heard those words understood VERY quickly that whatever it was they would give us to whine about was not going to be pleasant. It didn't have to be a spanking or a swat, there were plenty of unpleasant things creative parents can come up with. Of course, there were the swats too and amazingly enough, we didn't all grow up to be anti-social, sociopaths, or psychopaths. Odd that based on thousands of years of experience where children were punished or threatened we now for some reason believe that the occasional swat on the butt, or even a solid spanking is going to create generations of maladjusted adults.
Right. Because Dr. Spock and all the other psuedo-science tripe that advocate non-physical forms of punishment have been so successful. I understand that whiny, controlling, wimpy men and women will never understand this concept, but their ideas have no value. Whiny, entitled kids are the product of weak parents. Spank your kids if you love them. Especially boys.
This reminds me of a client I had and he was talking to me about the proper way to raise children ( his stripper girlfriend was pregnant) He said if they get out of line or whine then " pow" ( pow meaning to slap the child) He said verbatim "I turned out fine and that is what my mother did !' This guy was just finishing his second incarceration in the state pen! LOL
Idiot....I wasn't spanked or slapped and neither were my siblings ( hippie loving parents) and we are all college educated with great jobs---except my sister who ended up being a lawyer :) My kids are not spanked either ( though disciplined) and are straight A students......I think of this all the time. PLEASE, before you say "I was spanked and I turned out fine..." really THINK, did you ????????
....What? So you're saying that just because you were spanked doesn't mean you'll be a straight A student or go to college or get a good job? Ma'am, sometimes you should really think before letting your fingers just fly across the keyboard.
I don't think getting spanked has No correlation to how well you do in school, unless your parents are that superbly abusive type and beat you out of spite, maliciousness, rage, anger, etc etc you get the point.
I know I got my way through school getting my ass whupped all the way simply because I was slackin' off. And you know, it actually made me do better * Shrugs * Sure there's always ways to handle things without the whuppin, but for you to say something like....THAT. Stop trying to get an ego boost off bragging about your spanking-less life and how well you did in school.
Wow, isis, it's good to know that you've got the whole whining thing worked out and that YOUR opinion is the be all and end all of good parenting. You should have your own talk show. Where on earth did Holland even remotely imply that corporal punishment was and would be involved?
@Holland - I learned the same thing. My mother followed through with the "I'll give you something to whine about" and assigned all manner of very unpleasant household chores to me, as did I with my kids. Want to whine about being bored? Fine, I'll give you something [unpleasant] to do. Whining because you're cranky and tired and you stayed up too late the night before? Fine, go to your room until you can come out and talk like an agreeable person. And God forbid we should whine about the food my mother cooked. These kinds of lessons taught us to not depend on our parents to provide constant entertainment or at the very least to not WHINE to them when we were cranky.
Kallie - I was spanked a total of two times and I'm pretty ok. No criminal record and a fulfilling career as a nurse before psoriatic arthritis sidelined me. And yes, I believe spanking has it's place. The more rare it is, the more of an impact it has and a discussion beforehand reiterated the why of it. Just like raising your voice only has an impact if it's rare. Most of life's little complications can be handled without both but there is a time and a place for everything, even a swat on the butt. When my eldest stole a pack of gum from a store, oh yes, he got a pop on the butt, and a talking to, and he had to go into the store and explain and apologize to the manager by himself. No, I don't think any one thing had an impact on him as much as all the things combined. That's the impact.
Also, be a hippy all you want, but spend a week or so with a bipolar kid and then tell me you don't understand why some animals kill their own offspring. And no, chill, I'm not advocating killing, just that you expand your horizons a little and realize that spanking isn't always abuse, sometimes it is needed and sometimes it's not and all children are different, one rule can not possibly explain how to raise every child, but you have find the to the one that works for yours. It's great that you did but not everyone else is in the same boat.
Also, I thought hippies were really big on the whole empathy thing.
Right on. I'm 62, have never been a parent and have never wanted to be. I can be in a store exposed to a kid's whining and wonder how anyone could ever put up with that. It's a wonderful life living all of it unencumbered with children...
When one suicides, one has no body to hear oneself, such as one's whining. And our culture has no compassions to listen other's whining.
Our culture is also reluctant to care anyone who has extra whining, such as depression, PTDS.
Our culture has accepted the physical illnesses, such as cancer, obesity; but our culture refuses to acknowledge the mental illness is part of the physical illnesses, such as smoking, alcoholism, depression, obesity, schizophrenia,...
Our culture has no courage and no assertiveness to recognize that the whining or more severe whining, such as mental illnesses, as part of the human immunity responses to burden/stress or illnesses.
Now there will be military coming home; hope that there are specialty to train their families and relatives to listen to their whining...
It is our culture to suppress the whining and to label the expression of one's experience, either good and laughing or bad or crying, as negative term, "whining".
Please do allow our human beings, especially boy and girl, to have whining opportunities. It is a way to ventilate the stress and burden, instead of accummulation of all the stress and then blowing up to somewhere, either suicide or killing a lot of innocent people.
Whining is a negative term but with tremendous positive healing power. For instance, our fellowship group has allowed our members to whin our weaknees and success.
Take it; use it well in a non-violent way, a healthy way to express burdens and stress and to seek help.
Let us have a compaasionate ears. Or we may need some compassionate ears to hear our whining too.
I think the whining of mn-1062959 proved the point of this article.
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My goodness! A lot of you are taking this way too seriously! I have 2 year old twins who have taken up whining as a hobby. It is true that there is a visceral response to the sound. It is hard to concentrate on even the simplest task when the whining is going on. My children are well taken care of and I can tell you that 99% of the time, the whines are not for any emergency other than one twin has the other's toy, or they want their milk to magically appear in their hands, instead of having to wait the 2 minutes while I go to the kitchen and get it for them. It is extremely frustrating. Children do not know how to handle their emotions and this is the evolutionary strategy. No one can ignore whining!!
I didn't see anywhere in here where they compared it to a dentist's drill.
Another useless study probably paid for with tax money in a grant. Next up, "Study shows your head will hurt if I hit you with a brick." Currently enlisting test subjects...I mean scientific volunteers.
I teach kindergarten which is also called "whine city". I have learned to teach the kids problem solving skills the second they walk into my classroom. It takes patience, but we do get to the point every year where my para and I can say, tattling/whining/having a fit doesn't work here. Solve the problem with your friend. And they know we will not listen anymore. The kids have been given the tools and are expected to use them. Can you imagine trying to listen to 25-30 five year olds tattle and whine six hours a day? No wonder I'm crazy! :)
Tina, you have my utmost respect.
While it would be frowned upon nowadays, in the 60s whining, asking for something in the store, etc. got me more than just a "swat". Learned very quickly what behavior wasn't acceptable. Got it from Mom immediately, then Dad when he got home. I think that's double jeopardy, but I turned out well, if I do say so myself. Well, besides the alcoholism (quit in 1990), extreme discomfort being around children, and total lack of paternal instinct. Details, details.
Bless you and all teachers! If half the people in the world knew what teachers go through on a daily basis, they would fall down on their knees before you. I subbed for a very short time, and I know how very difficult it is to retain your sanity on a day-to-day basis (especially with third graders, OMG!) Kindergarten is a whole other ballgame. Thank you again.
"Whining is the worst sound in the world." Do ya hear that, republibaggers????? STOP IT!!!!!!!!
The past decade has seen the decline of America and Americans. We build new infrastructure for our enemies, we raise their quality of life, while our Nation is in sore need of basic infrastructure improvements and our quality of life declines. We are considering to tell our Grand Parents and Parents sorry but we can't afford you any longer.
The Party Games are for fools and useful idiots since neither Party cares about the Average American and both truly believe Americans are too incompetent to know what is best for them. Their best example of this is if we Americans were even half way intelligent we would not elect any of them into office in the first place.
Join us on 6-25-11 high noon @ your local Federal Court House and every Saturday after that if you have had enough of the insanity. Join the Day Of Reason. All Americans are welcomed who are fed up with the Fed.
Need More? Read the Vine Article Day of Reason Americans for America or Enough is Enough. Join us and put an end to Party stupidity and Media Propaganda.
The most annoying sound in the world is a whining wife, then comes children, then comes every whiner, then comes people, who just have a whiney voice. When I come accross a person with a whiney voice, I go away or change the channel, etc. It's too annoying.
When I hear a child whine... wait... I'd love to have a glass of wine. Yes please.
Reminds of of some of the women I've dated
Was their whining sort of like this..........Ewwwww why is your penis is sooooooooooo small!?
Another reason never to elect Michelle Bachman or Sarah Palin to higher office...MY GOD, those WHINING HARPIES are enough to drive Nations to mass suicide.................................ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!
I can't believe that this study seems to conclude that whining is the most annoying sound in the world, when clearly that title should go to the high-pitched child screaming in the back of the plane or in the restaurant seat behind you. I travel a lot for business and I just want to slap these damn screechboxes for ruining my peace of mind.
Parents, please keep your annoying spawn at home because guess what?
NO ONE wants to hear your frigging kid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's pretty obvious that the people who arranged the experiment did not include a ferret's scream among the sound clips: that, to me, is the single most horrible, irritating, even nightmare-inducing sound in the world. Seriously, human whining is nothing compared to the sound of a ferret whose tail has gotten caught in its cage door. Any screams, in fact, are worse than whining, a fact that was probably so obvious to the scientists that they deliberately left screaming out of the experiment.
That said, I'm amused that adults' arguing wasn't also included in the sound clips. In my experience, whining children and angry, defensive adults are equally terrible, annoying noises to hear. I can just imagine what the flamewar in these comments (as in the comment sections of most news articles on MSNBC, thanks to the GIFT) would sound like were it recorded by a group of actors.
Okay, I am going to turn Whiney the Pooh on you all and complain about the fact that a study was needed to determine that whining was the most annoying sound. In my opinion, my boss saying good morning is the most annoying sound. It means he's in the office.
Hah!! That just made my day. :)
Mine too - I feel the exact same way!! LOL!!
I can unequivocally tell you that to me, the most annoying sound is the sound of someone chewing - anything, and most especially with their mouth open.
I can hear it from all across the office...popcorn can be the worst, but i can hear a coworker chew gum, and hear her teeth meet between the gum (its like she chomps or something, rather than chews) and this noise...regardless of what im doing, will stop me dead in my tracks and it takes a long long time to "get beyond" the noise.
Kids whining, ive learned how to tune them out I think...or, I just get up and walk away since none of them are mine :-)
I cant just get up and leave at work, damnit!