Why do certain noises (such as a metal utensil in a saucepan)cause a physical discomfort to the body?

Friar Tuck

We need somebody like Eliasen to answer this. I think that as sound is different vibrations, some of them must have the wrong pitch that affect our hearing. Vibration can cause deterioration and breakdown of lots of things so why not the human body and parts there of. Jun 13 02, 6:01 AM

Jac

Kidney stones can be broken up with sound - I think it is something to do with frequencies, and certainly a lot of frequencies can cause pain (high squealing ones, low rumbling ones). I can't think of a good reason for metal on metal (nail on blackboard, whatever) to hurt but IT JUST DOES. Just like bright lights cause noises behind your eyes... (or is that just me?) Jun 14 02, 2:43 PM

eliasen

Hey! I'm called by name! Actually, I dunno. I don't answer anything that requires anything higher than high school physics. Complex neurologic reactions are way beyond me. I just remember reveling in the fact that I could send my sister right up a tree by scratching unglazed pottery. I remember, though, a quote from some science fiction author (I think it was Larry Niven) saying that we have this fight-or-flight reaction to such sounds because it's the same sound as sabretooth tiger claws on the rock above us. Are such sounds the sounds of bone on bone? Fingernail on bone? Fingernails dragging on rock as we slide helplessly off a cliff? In any case, these are unpleasant things that we've evolved to avoid at any cost... it could cause the same sick reaction that we get from seeing someone else injured. Jun 20 02, 1:00 AM