Tuning High for Attention

Has it ever happened to you?

You are working in your office, your eyes glued on the computer screen and your brain stuck in some problem. Then all of a sudden loud music starts pouring into your ears from a nearby cubicle. Ah, the guy has started playing some really cool song in a totally uncool volume.

You went to sleep late in the night, thanks to the pressures of the present work culture. It’s five in the morning, and your eyes open. No, you don’t the healthy habit of getting up early. It’s just a devotional song based on some popular filmi tune coming out from the loudspeaker of a temple that made you sit up.

You are sitting in a meeting, listening to the guy who is speaking. Then somebody’s cell starts singing. Hey, it’s a ring tone based on a Bollywood song, and the owner has kept the volume level at the highest.

So, the question arises. Does the office guy enjoy music more when it’s louder? Does the temple priest become more religious when songs come bursting out from the loud speaker? Does the meeting guy miss his calls if the ring tone is not at its volume highest?

Of course, not!

Their need is different. And it may have nothing to do with music. On the contrary, it may have something to do with the hunger for attention.

Gosh! If I keep the volume higher, somebody is going to acknowledge my presence.

If I keep the volume higher, people would know I have a high taste in music. If I keep the volume higher, people would know my temple works harder for God. If I keep the volume higher, people would look at me when my cell screams.

After all keeping the volume knob high is a smarter way of saying, “Look at me. Or I’d die.”