From Margaret Kettlewell
Stephen Kirby suggests monkeys may prefer silence to any music at all so that they can listen for danger (15 March, p 22). This poses the further question: why do humans like noise so much?
Children playing can sustain their shouting and screaming for long periods. Adults generate hours of noise in football crowds or musical events.
Perhaps early humans used noise within their settlements as a sonic equivalent of a bee’s stripes: a warning to predators of spears and arrows. When out on our own, however, staying silent and alert is the safer option.
Bournemouth, Dorset, UK
