{"id":4848,"date":"2012-11-17T12:50:32","date_gmt":"2012-11-17T16:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=4848"},"modified":"2012-11-17T12:50:53","modified_gmt":"2012-11-17T16:50:53","slug":"perhaps-listening-is-undervalued-skill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/perhaps-listening-is-undervalued-skill\/","title":{"rendered":"Perhaps listening is good for us"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I’ve always believed that, over time, the process of listening through static to hear a distant shortwave broadcast, has been good for not only increasing my listening skills in general, but has been healthy for the grey matter.\u00a0Seth S. Horowitz, auditory neuroscientist\u00a0at Brown University, has just\u00a0substantiated\u00a0this belief in his NY Times piece, The Science and Art of Listening<\/a>:<\/p>\n

[…]Hearing, in short, is easy. You and every other vertebrate that hasn\u2019t suffered some genetic, developmental or environmental accident have been doing it for hundreds of millions of years. It\u2019s your life line, your alarm system, your way to escape danger and pass on your genes. But listening, really listening, is hard when potential distractions are leaping into your ears every fifty-thousandth of a second \u2014 and pathways in your brain are just waiting to interrupt your focus to warn you of any potential dangers.<\/p>\n

Listening is a skill that we\u2019re in danger of losing in a world of digital distraction and information overload.<\/p>\n

And yet we dare not lose it. Because listening tunes our brain to the patterns of our environment faster than any other sense, and paying attention to the nonvisual parts of our world feeds into everything from our intellectual sharpness to our dance skills.[…]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the full article in the NY Times<\/a>. Thanks, David, for passing this along!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve always believed that, over time, the process of listening through static to hear a distant shortwave broadcast, has been good for not only increasing my listening skills in general, but has been healthy for the grey matter.\u00a0Seth S. Horowitz, auditory neuroscientist\u00a0at Brown University, has just\u00a0substantiated\u00a0this belief in his NY Times piece, The Science and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[508,8],"tags":[1481,1479,1480,1478],"class_list":["post-4848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-2","category-articles","tag-art-of-listening","tag-listening-vs-hearing","tag-radio-listening","tag-shortwave-listening"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-1gc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53463,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/07\/listening-to-shortwave-australia-this-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":4848,"position":0},"title":"Listening to Shortwave Australia this morning","author":"Thomas","date":"July 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm traveling at present and staying in a hotel where, let's just say, QRM is heavy. I decided to cruise the KiwiSDR network and found myself on the VK2GGC KiwiSDR in Hunter Valley NSW, Australia. As I was band-scanning, I stumbled upon Shortwave Australia on 4,835 kHz around 9:40 UTC.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Shortwave-Australia-KiwiSDR-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Shortwave-Australia-KiwiSDR-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Shortwave-Australia-KiwiSDR-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Shortwave-Australia-KiwiSDR-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Shortwave-Australia-KiwiSDR-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":63746,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/carlos-illustrated-radio-listening-report-and-recording-of-un-radio-and-listening-to-the-world-radio-network\/","url_meta":{"origin":4848,"position":1},"title":"Carlos\u2019 Illustrated Radio Listening Report and Recording of UN Radio and Listening to the World Radio Network","author":"Thomas","date":"August 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor and noted political cartoonist,\u00a0Carlos Latuff, who shares the following\u00a0illustrated radio listening report of a recent UN Radio broadcast via WRN. Carlos notes: U.N. radio, via World Radio Network (Russia), 13650 kHz https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/c_KGnQ26aGc?si=UkT_IdeJXv5UYMZA Click here to view on YouTube. Listening to the World Radio Network https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/c_3wDizXDxI?si=zzxTy2Lo4ip-Nv1T","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Latuff-UN-Radio-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Latuff-UN-Radio-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Latuff-UN-Radio-2.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Latuff-UN-Radio-2.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34843,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/marcus-countryside-mobile-listening-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":4848,"position":2},"title":"Marcus’ countryside mobile listening post","author":"Thomas","date":"November 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marcus\u00a0Keulertz, from\u00a0D\u00fcsseldorf, Germany, who writes:. Here are some nice pics about my own special way practicing our beloved radio hobby. I was quite satisfied with my logs. I heard Radio Taiwan's Mandarin broadcast and All India Radio National Service in vernacular languages. I did\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Skyline-Urban-Dusseldorf-Germany-City.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Skyline-Urban-Dusseldorf-Germany-City.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Skyline-Urban-Dusseldorf-Germany-City.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Skyline-Urban-Dusseldorf-Germany-City.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18743,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/video-listening-to-radio-australia-via-the-bst-1-car-shortwave-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":4848,"position":3},"title":"Video: Listening to Radio Australia via the BST-1 car shortwave radio","author":"Thomas","date":"May 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been evaluating the BST-1 car shortwave radio for a review that will soon appear in The Spectrum Monitor magazine. I must admit: it's mighty fun to be able to listen to shortwave broadcasters through my vehicle's audio system. Last week, the BST-1 saved my sanity, too. You see, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile Shortwave"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile Shortwave","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/mobile-shortwave\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Car-Shortwave-Radio","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Car-Shortwave-Radio.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Car-Shortwave-Radio.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Car-Shortwave-Radio.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54888,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/12\/toms-recommendation-earbuds-for-shortwave-listening\/","url_meta":{"origin":4848,"position":4},"title":"Tom’s Recommendations: Earbuds and EQ Settings for Shortwave Listening","author":"Thomas","date":"December 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor,\u00a0TomL, who shares the following guest post: Earbuds for Shortwave Listening by TomL A few years ago I had bought the discontinued Sennheiser MM 50 earbuds for a cheap price on Amazon to use in my various radios.\u00a0 The portable radios in particular can use more fidelity\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SennheiserMM50-Freq.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SennheiserMM50-Freq.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SennheiserMM50-Freq.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SennheiserMM50-Freq.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SennheiserMM50-Freq.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18848,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/listening-to-the-link-via-shortwave-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":4848,"position":5},"title":"Listening to The Link via Shortwave Service?","author":"Thomas","date":"May 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"As we mentioned in a post last month, Radio Canada International's program \"The Link\" is now being broadcast via Shortwave Service in Germany. If you've been listening to The Link via shortwave, SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, encourages you to send\u00a0RCI a short listener report. You can either send a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"TheLinkRCI","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/TheLinkRCI.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4848\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}