[AUDITORY] Frequency + Political Acoustics

[Adam Weisser <adam_weisser@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear all,

I would like to share with you my latest piece on the topic of frequency. While it is not strictly within auditory science, this work would have never materialized if it weren't for the deeply-ingrained approach to acoustic signals that has time and frequency as more or less independent dimensions - two attributes of sound that are interrelated, but which we generally perceive as essentially different. Contrasting this understanding with the fundamental definition of frequency in physics - the reciprocal of the period  - leaves much to be elucidated and is duly riddled with paradoxes.

In this manuscript, I review the different instantiations of the concept of frequency in physics, engineering, mathematics, and perception, partially tracing their historical evolution, in attempt to answer the question of whether frequency can be counted as a separate dimension of reality, in addition to space and time. The resolution ties together time, frequency, and determinism in a highly counterintuitive manner:

https://zenodo.org/records/15162477

While I have no illusions regarding how this text (and its author) may come across given the extraordinary claims put forth, I have tried to go about it in the most rigorous way I could, while methodically scrutinizing some long-held dogmas in the sciences, in hope of sparking further discussion, somewhere down the road.

For what it's worth, I'm indebted to what I have learned (or maybe, mislearned) by virtue of being part of the auditory community. Yet, these days appear to be challenging to many members of the Auditory List. I once had a good colleague (PKR) who lamented how we were never trained in "political acoustics" in engineering school, that would have endowed us with the necessary skill set to be able to juggle between the various demands of our whimsical bosses. Even today, still nobody teaches this subject, and people are expected to figure out this vital skill as they go along, while trying to survive and stay true to what they were originally hired to do. It's perhaps ironic, because in every other respect, hearing science must be one of the most unifying and all-encompassing of all human endeavors, being positioned in the nexus between physics, biology, psychology, neuroscience, perception, communication, language, music, engineering, medicine, environment, architecture, computer science, mathematics, and many other disciplines. All this is in opposition to politics, which usually excels in sowing division, whether we are ready to get directly involved with it or not.

I hope that we can transcend these unpleasant times both as individuals and as a community and eventually get back to what we do best, which is study hearing and sound.

With wishes for better times to come,

And thank you for your attention and time,

Adam.