"Comparing information and knowledge is like asking whether the fatness of a pig is more or less green than the designated hitter rule." -- David Guaspari

I think it means you're underread within that period, for what it's worth.

The voice in that quote differs from Twain's and sounds neither like a journalist, nor like a river-side-raised gentleman of the time, nor like a Nineteenth Century rural/cosmopolitan fusion written to gently mock both.

It could be more than four. Someone might have upvoted you.

Despite what they are taught likely to be about themselves, what they might think of themselves, and what western culture expects of them, programmers are more creative artists than analytic engineers.

The difference is most tangible from the management perspective since motivating programmers is less like motivating chemical, mechanical, or any other sort of engineer and more like motivating commercial artists with less pretense, who were never led to believe they were meant for something greater. Dissatisfaction from programmers grows in much the same way it grows in commercial artists as well, though they programmer is less likely to specifically identify his or her complaint and the artist is more likely to complain about having sold his or her soul.

Common responses to criticism of work among programmers align more with those among artists than those among engineers. Again, I learned this from a managerial perspective.

The most important advice that may be given to starting artists (excluding all the low-hanging fruit advice that is best for everyone in general, of course) isn't about discovering your own inner talent or anything similar, instead it is about discipline: "Ideas are not swords you can brandish about in triumph. What matters most is the Sit Down, Shut Up And Get It Done. Only there will you find the true steel for your craft. Only there, will you know if you are worth the words out of your mouth."

On the contrary, whichever wildernesses most shaped our hearing were not silent places. The places people lived, that we know of, in the ice ages were quite wet. Rivers and even streams are constant sources of noise.

There are issues of levels and likely specific frequencies, but complete silence puts the stoppered ear further from the conditions in which it formed as well.

To disclose, I have worked in call centers for a cumulative decade and found that ear infections were more likely if I did not switch which ear was covered at least every week, when ear-covering headsets were the only option. I expect that stopping up ears overnight will have a similar consequence for at least a portion of the population. And so I advise caution.

I do not find fault in that action.

The human ear has not previously been under selection pressure to accommodate extended periods of stoppage. Plugging up or cover ears for significant fractions of the day on a regular basis is out-of-spec use of the human body and may have consequences including infections and skin irritation.

Just be careful and talk to a pediatrician before applying this solution to children.

If the foil is visible from outside it signals behaviors that are widely disapproved of. To that end, it would be wise to put something between the foil and the glass, perhaps colored paper or arbitrary fragments of unwanted posters.

Light may also come in around doors. In this case, a folded flap of duct tape with foil inside may be attached to the edge of the door on the swingward side and on the frame on the contra-swingward side. That may eliminate all light.

Particularly thin (cheap) foil may get have small tears that let through points of light. A piece of duct tape will patch those.

Blacking out windows is less beneficial than adapting to a conventional day/night cycle when possible. Natural light improves quality of life.

I thought my brevity spoke for itself. When I learned it didn't, I did.

Details?

Not today.

I supplied a very short summary because that's all I wanted to write. You may read the book with a skeptical eye or ask a friend with a skeptical eye to read it for you or make a friend with a skeptical eye to that end or find someone with a skeptical eye online who has already read it and written a review.

If it were my job to respond to this I would say, "I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you." But it isn't and I'm not sorry at all.