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There are many ways to answer the question posed by the title of this post. We're only going to look at one aspect today: how much money is it worth to you to avoid excessive noise exposure on a 24/7 basis?
Apparently, it's worth exactly $5000 (that's $2500 per ear) to many residents in Morrow County, Oregon, where people are taking $5000 checks from Caithness Energy (a private company) in return for signing waivers that they will not complain now or in the future about wind turbines. Note that the waiver includes any and all wind turbines build in the future as well. It's already established by acoustic experts that the turbines' noise output exceeds state statutes for turbine noise, but the companies involved are contesting it with questions like "What does it mean to be in compliance?" Meanwhile, they're getting people signed up on the waivers. For more on this interesting offer, here's the article:
Here's a question, though: What if one of our patients came to us and asked whether it was in their best interest to sign the waiver? What would/could we say? Clearly, this is a cost benefit question that requires each person to weigh in all their factors (e.g., what if they are moving next week, right after they get their check?). But, in general, our advice would be along these lines: noise hurts your ears and your hearing. Your hearing is worth a lot more to you than $5000 (don't you think?). And don't forget that the research is full of data showing that noise also affects your blood pressure and other bodily systems in ways that are NOT in your best interest. If it were our ears and our bodies, I think we'd tell them to come back when their offer is around $5,000,000 and then we could revisit the issue! Our patients' ears and hearing are as important to us as our own, so guess that's the final word on our advice in this situation.
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