We live in a noisier world. Chainsaws and leaf blowers instead of hand saws and rakes. Sixteen speakers for your car radio or boat. Music, in particular, has grown continually louder as electronic amps have gotten bigger. Does this mean younger generations are getting hard of hearing at age 30 instead of age 65? Certainly, bars and restaurants are noisier than they used to be, and there is almost always somebody 3-4 rows behind me on the plane who I can hear distinctly, talking constantly, oblivious to his/her noise level. Fortunately, we're not bothered much by boat music. The folks who anchor in front of us are pretty far offshore and don't play music (or other group noise) that we can hear.
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