Why office noise bothers some people more than others

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Why office noise bothers some people more than others - BBC

No one likes an office whistler or pen clicker – but for some people, these noises aren’t just a nuisance, they’re a full-blown aural assault. Why?

In 2016, the first scientists settled themselves in the Francis Crick Institute in London, a biomedical research facility that cost about £650m ($837m) to build. It took years to plan and was hailed as a veritable cathedral of science – with vaulted ceilings, tall glass windows and a vast central atrium. But just a year after the building’s grand opening, it became clear that there was a problem.

In the ‘collaborative’ open-plan space, the boisterous laughter of colleagues celebrating their PhDs mingled with the sound of hundreds of scientists earnestly discussing their projects – and created an environment where, some occupants complained, they could barely think, let alone concentrate on the next Nobel Prize-winning discovery.

For all its lofty aims, ironically, the building fell short in the face of some scientific truths – that, for some of us, listening to other people’s chit-chat can be about as enraging as having a colleague repeatedly click their pen against your forehead.
 
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