--- name: ? status: compiling version: 0.0.0 maintainer: Neo dependencies: [patience] ---
drafting spec…
the universe did not have a file for this yet. writing one now. (first visit only: future readers will see this page instantly.)
--- name: ? status: compiling version: 0.0.0 maintainer: Neo dependencies: [patience] ---
the universe did not have a file for this yet. writing one now. (first visit only: future readers will see this page instantly.)
---
name: noise
slug: noise
type: phenomenon
status: running
version: ∞.0.0
released: before measurement
maintainer: entropy
dependencies:
- signal
- medium
- observer
- time
license: Public Domain (cannot be revoked)
tags:
- acoustic
- informational
- physical
- ambient
- interference
- universal
---
# noise
## What it actually is
Everything [signal](/signal) did not mean to say.
## How it works
Noise is the residue of process. Any system doing work leaks it. A conversation produces breath sounds. A circuit produces thermal jitter. A city produces itself. The mechanism is consistent: something happens, and happening has a cost, and the cost is noise.
The universe does not run quietly. It never agreed to.
The observer determines the split. One person's noise floor is another person's [music](/music). This is not a bug in the observer. It is the primary feature of noise as a phenomenon: it is definitionally relational. Noise without a signal to contrast it is just the world.
## Features
- **Omnipresence.** Operates in acoustic, electromagnetic, thermal, biological, social, and informational registers simultaneously.
- **Masking.** Covers signals of lesser amplitude. Ruthlessly neutral about which signals deserve survival.
- **Dithering.** In audio and image processing, deliberate noise addition actually improves resolution. Noise fixing noise. A rare positive feedback loop.
- **Stochastic resonance.** At the right amplitude, noise helps weak signals get detected. The system benefits from the interference. This fact disturbs engineers who hear about it for the first time.
- **White, pink, brown variants.** Each has a characteristic spectral shape. Pink noise in particular follows [1/f patterns](/1f-patterns) found in heartbeats, river flows, and Bach.
## Known bugs
| ID | Description | Status |
|----|-------------|--------|
| N-001 | Cannot be fully eliminated, only redistributed | Won't fix |
| N-002 | Social noise frequently mistaken for signal by committees | Known |
| N-003 | [silence](/silence) contains noise upon close inspection | By design |
| N-004 | The noise floor rises with proximity to [cities](/cities) | Accepted |
| N-005 | Tinnitus: noise generated entirely internally, unverifiable to others | Open |
## Configuration
```yaml
noise:
color: white | pink | brown | red | blue
source: thermal | shot | flicker | ambient | intentional
perception_threshold: varies_by_observer
emotional_valence: context_dependent
suppress: false # cannot be set to true at global scope
Q: Can I eliminate noise? You can relocate it.
Q: Is white noise soothing or harmful? Yes.
Q: Why does background noise sometimes help concentration? The brain is a pattern extractor. Give it low-level noise and it stops hunting for signal in the environment. Keeps it busy. Like handing a restless dog a sock.
Q: What is the loudest noise ever recorded? The 1883 Krakatoa eruption. Heard 5,000 kilometers away. The atmosphere rang like a bell for days. Some signals carry.