Too much noise in system for solutions

THERE was nothing on the television worth watching. There are several nights like that!

So I was sitting quietly contemplating the possibility of having to talk with my wife over a cup of lukewarm coffee, eating a sandwich long past its best. Its edges were beginning to curl up as sandwiches tend to do if they are eaten too slowly or with too little butter... It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. I have never actually heard a pin drop but I bet it would be fairly difficult to hear even at the quietest of times...

It was a most appropriate time for me to turn my attention to the whole issue of “noise” and its influence upon our lives. No noise at all is very worrying. We seem to want to be aware of what is happening to us and around us. A little noise helps us to be aware of the presence of others; it’s very comforting!

Too much noise and we can very quickly become annoyed!

We are told that a noisy noise annoys an oyster but all that is far too clever for me! The only noise that I get from an oyster is the shout of joy that can accompany a plate of them, eaten with friends and plenty of juicy prawns!

We use the word “noise” in quite different and contrasting forms.

“He’s a big noise around the town” suggests somebody of real importance whereas “He’s all noise and little consequence” is usually quite the reverse. Getting one’s no(i)se out of joint can be more than just painful or annoying whereas “knowingly persistent” can sometimes be a good way to arrive at a little-known solution...

Noise can sometimes interfere with one’s understanding of issues. One of the real difficulties, for example, of arriving at useful solutions to a whole range of science or engineering problems is “the noise in the system”. Spurious facts creep into a solution and can make it very difficult to know what should or should not be believed.

One of the most important aspects of working on new problems is always the need to be aware that the investigator can be led up garden paths, only there because the garden itself is too difficult or too beautiful compared with a boring but useful way forward.

A most important aspect of teamwork, be it in a research project or on the football field, is the openness of team members towards each other, including the giving and taking of honest criticism in the best interests of the team as a whole. Team members telling a colleague that she or he is talking goggle-de-gook can sometimes work wonders as long as it is done with honesty and everyone is given a right of reply.

I can remember many occasions when a friend, or perhaps even a rival, has said to me “that’s nonsense” (or cruder words to that effect.) I am thinking of those times when I was lecturing, for example, and fighting back an inner reaction of “how dare you tell me that...I know better than you...” Then as indignation faded, it became obvious that my opponent/ colleague was right and I would be well-advise to re-think, re-act and adjust my behaviour!

It often hurt but “the pain” turned out to be beneficial. So I guess I concluded many years ago that people were generally of good will and trying to be helpful! Again, many, many years ago, when playing soccer for a UK Northern League team, there were times when well-meaning spectators made their view of my performance as less than favourable.

They were not always moderated by goodwill, or so it seemed to a new boy from the South of England.