When is background noise not background noise?

Waiter, I Hear a Fly in My Soup!

When is background noise not background noise?  When it is information.  We tend to define background noise as anything we don’t want to hear, like the other 100 people talking in the same room.  But what if we hear someone talking in another room.  Is that background noise or is it information?  It’s information because it lets us know that someone is in the other room.  Have you ever the experience of someone suddenly being there because you didn’t hear them coming.  The footsteps are information. 

Being able to hear gives us a sense of being a part of our environment.  This includes the background noise because some of it is information.  The sound of a passing car, laughter of children in a playground, a baby crying, a dog’s bark or a cat’s purring…these are all environmental noises that give a sense of being a part of our surroundings.  Some of them block out what we want to hear but even if that is the case, we don’t want them to go away.  So, if you think you hear a fly in your soup, call over the waiter, it’s information, not background noise and, in fact, there may be a fly in your soup!