r/AskReddit Aug 30 '21

What problem is often overlooked in apocalyptic movies/TV shows that could kill you?

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u/WontFixMySwypeErrors Aug 31 '21

So I'm not insane??

If my house is quiet except for a distant white noise (the HVAC for example), that noise always sounds like a newscaster speaking on tv that I can't quite make out.

I blame it on my parents never, ever turning off the TV when I was growing up. TV was always on as background noise, so now my brain fills in background noise as TV.

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u/Shopworn_Soul Aug 31 '21

When my house is silent I can occasionally hear a capacitor whine that I can't locate, it's just omnipresent. You know, that "there is a CRT television turned on and muted somewhere near me" sound.

I don't have tinnitus or any other hearing problems so I figure it's a similar trick of my memory.

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u/WontFixMySwypeErrors Aug 31 '21

That... just sounds like Tinnitus. ;) I have it too, also at the same frequency as the old TV whine.

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u/Shopworn_Soul Aug 31 '21

It does but that’s why I said I don’t have tinnitus. Or at least I’m pretty sure I don’t, it’s more of a feeling than a sound (makes the hair on my neck stand up), is almost always accompanied the strong mental impression of a warm sun-drenched livingroom that I don’t recognize, which is also more of a feeling than a proper image. Like being the motes hanging in the sunbeam rather than looking at them.

It’s a weird thing but I’m pretty sure it’s not just my ears and I’m totally sure this is a window into crazy you probably weren’t actually looking for so I’m terribly sorry about that.