It's fine with me that this thread is wandering all over the map, away from both the initial post and the experience we have here in this rural culture where hardy people tend to live so long that their experience varies widely from that of the prevailing culture. But Hardi and I are having a good laugh picturing some of our people out at rock or hippie concerts in their youth, damaging their hearing-- it's just not them. Also, we're not doing sound for festivals, either.

Here are a few comments from upthread (I am taking them out of context) that best reflect the reasons I started this thread:

Let's not forget that there are degrees of deafness in varying frequency ranges.

and

All good boilermakers are deaf.

and

Don't count folks out just because we can't hear everything.


What we are going to have to do is figure out how to set up sound/environment where those who need the higher volume can get it, and those who don't, won't. Something a little more sophisticated than earmuffs or target-range hearing protectors, but not much.


Fortunately, our band's founding member is, himself, a "progressive-hearing-loss elder," and can talk with us openly about the issues we need to address. We just never quite GOT it until now-- thus the DUH in the thread title.

Carry on,

~S~