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by necovek 1968 days ago
It's amazing how we are repeatedly going full circle: we managed to stigmatize a completely natural farting sound (you are in a bathroom so the smell is contained), and then come up with "solutions" to feel free to produce the same sounds.

It took me a while, but I've convinced my wife that farting is ok, and that you should only worry about subjecting others to lousy odours, and even that only when you are visiting someone or some place (indoors). Closing the door usually resolves this. The stigma is especially bothersome with a naturally shy toddler who wouldn't take a dump anywhere but home.

FWIW, music does not stop people walking into smelly toilets, but to each their own. :)

The product likely even makes sense, I just find the phenomena curious and sometimes infuriating (like with my toddler).
2 comments
testmasterflex 1968 days ago
Well, the bathroom hasn’t always been existing in our own homes. We used to do our business in privacy away from the living quarters. So it’s great we can use technology to help us be comfortable again in the modern world.

That’s my understanding of it anyways.

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bastih 1968 days ago
My room was next to said bathroom with rather thin walls, so I always appreciated the sound at least be a bit played down by the music.

Another side effect was that you always knew when the bathroom was in use (aside from someone forgetting to turn the light off, which you now had radio playing to remind you off).

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necovek 1967 days ago
Oh, I am not disputing the fact it was likely helpful (and I only replied to your comment since it was one of the examples of "solutions" yet to get a reply; if anything, that one is pretty neat).

But why and how did we become bothered by the _sounds_ of it? Are you bothered by the coo-coos of birds, or morning rooster calls. Cats purring, screeching cat calls or dogs barking? All of these can be similarly annoying, but we are not "solving" them.

It's weird how our association of sounds with smells and dirtiness of taking a dump has made sounds which are rarely that bad in objective sense (loudness, pitch...) so unpleasant.

It's also how it's considered impolite to slurp a soup, and some people are outright disgusted by hearing it being done.

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