The 9 Most Annoying Sounds and Why They Bother Us

6. Baby crying

Evolution has made us particularly sensitive to the sound of a baby crying. The sound spectrum of crying is composed mostly of frequencies from 2000 to 4000 cycles per second. These frequencies are perceived as ‘sharp’, an unpleasant acoustic property. The evolutionary reason for being more sensitive to sharp and rough sounds is probably so that we are roused to action by human shrieks and babies crying.