Noise

Chapter 2Huh? We’re Going Collectively Deaf

We’ve all heard the expression “in one ear and out the other.” It says everything about the tendency to tune out.

So where does this infamous phrase come from? Reportedly, the first recorded use was from Geoffrey Chaucer, the Father of English Literature, in his poem “Troilus and Criseyde” from the late fourteenth century.

The original is written in old English but is translated like this:

These words he said for the moment all/to help his friend, lest he for sorrow died:/doubtless to cause his woe to fall,/he cared not what nonsense he replied./But Troilus, who nigh for sorrow died,/took little heed of anything he meant:/one ear heard it, at the other out it went.¹

We can all relate to what Chaucer wrote. We’ve all tuned out information or chosen to ignore it, yet the reasons we do this varies from person to person.

So, Why Do We Tune Out? A Variety of Reasons

Here is a brief sampling of what’s going on when we are so dialed in that we decide to check out:

• “It really doesn’t apply to me.”

• This reaction is driven primarily by relevance versus irrelevance. You don’t need to pay attention when you are convinced the information is meant for someone else. If you have kids at home, this is the predictable response when you tell them that it’s time to do the dinner dishes. “You clearly weren’t talking to me, so I didn’t even hear you ask.”

• “I was daydreaming and totally spaced out.”

• In a moment, your mind begins to wander, and everything ...