ABSTRACT
This chapter emphasizes the importance of sound for perceiving the world. Consciousness and cognition are both affected by sound. In addition to a narrator's speech, sound effects can 'produce greater mental imagery compared to message-only commercials'. Harmful effects to the human ear can disturb hearing both temporarily and permanently, depending on several sound qualities like the sound level. The human ear detects auditory information emanating from a source. The eardrum vibrates according to the acoustic stimulus and thus differentiates between frequencies. The effects of unwanted sounds vary from annoyance to severe side effects like cardiovascular problems and permanent hearing loss. Annoyance due to heavy traffic, live music, and air traffic noise promotes those harmful effects. Environmental music that is supposed to stimulate consumers in a positive way is a phenomenon known since the early 1920s. The disappearance of public space and its replacement by multiple private versions of it result in both individual fulfillment and social coldness.
