SENECA ON NOISE - a summary

Seneca is writing to a friend called Lucilius. He is arguing that noise does not disturb
people studying as much as people imagine.

He then lists the noises from the baths below his house: they are many and varied. He
says that they could make you feel hatred.
Exercising with lead weights
Massage
Ball-player scoring
Brawler
Thief
Singer in bath
Man jumping into bath
Drink/sausage/sweet/ other sellers
Note how he mentions the different noises.

The implication (not stated) is that he can study (and write this letter) in spite of all these
noises.

He suggests that Lucilius will say he must be deaf or very hard not to be disturbed.
Chrysippus, an important Stoic, used to complain about people annoying him just by
saying good morning.

For him noise distracts him as little as the pleasant sound of water - although one tribe in
Egypt hated the roar of the Nile so much that they moved. (Not relevant)

He says a voice distracts him more than other noise, as he ends up thinking about it as
well as hearing it.

He lists noises from nearby which do not disturb him (unlike a voice):
Chariots
Craftsman
Carpenter
Pipe-tuner

Sudden noise is worse than continuous noise.

He has got himself used to hearing noise so much that he could hear a man shouting the
beat to rowers without being distracted. This is because he has trained his mind not to
notice external noises. This is possible if your mind is at rest itself and not confused by
emotions. If your mind is troubled, even silence will not help you to concentrate.

It is a sign of inner calmness (a Stoic goal) if you do not notice noise of any kind.

Lucilius might say that it would be even better without noise. And Seneca agrees: he has
proved to himself that he can ignore noise and so will now move away from the baths - as
it is such an easy solution, as Ulysses found with his men whom he wanted to protect from
the Sirens' singing.

Seneca is clearly aware of noise but it does not distract him from his thoughts, particuarly if
it is not human voices. He believes that this is a sign that he is at peace inside himself.