Editor's note: Eagle River freelance writer and poet Frank E. Baker shares his upbeat thoughts on life in Alaska, and, as shown today, examples of the not-so-upbeat aspects of life today. His published poetry is available at the Book Shelf.

There are plenty of reasons to curtail watching television these days, but what I perceive is a relatively new phenomenon during talk shows has me lunging desperately for the remote control "off" button: Everyone is talking at once!

Hosts of these quasi-news, quasi-entertainment shows allow the guests to talk over one another and often join in themselves as they raise their voices higher and higher in no-holds-barred shouting contest. With everyone yammering at once, it all sounds like a mind-numbing cacophony of indecipherable babble. At least, it does to me.

I've noticed that other people, particularly younger ones, don't seem to mind five people talking at once. In fact, I think they understand what each of the persons is saying. Is this an obscure form of human evolution?

When I was younger, my hearing tested nearly off the charts. My hearing was so acute in both high and low frequencies that the U.S. Navy put me in radio school back when Morse code was an important backup means of communication. But as I've grown older I've begun to recognize a deficiency in separating sounds, particularly voices. In many cases, two or more voices will play a cancel-out trick on me, creating an inaudible jumble of sound.

I love symphonic music. For years I have prided myself in being able to isolate different instruments and listen only to a particular one at any given time. But that is different than trying to separate a voice from simultaneous voices, or a voice overlain by another sound. If two people talk to me at once, I cannot decipher either.

My hearing is basically good. My ability to distinguish different frequencies seems to be faltering. I'm told it's a function of age.

For awhile I believed it was my fault—a deficiency in my hearing apparatus- —that rendered me incapable of tuning into some of these television talk shows. Instead of understandable dialogues, all that came out of the box were multiple monologues; abrasive, annoying, incomprehensible. But then it struck me. Interrupting others and talking over other people is just plain rude. Perhaps it is symptomatic of our society. I don't think we should tolerate it. I know I no longer do. The remote control "off" button is quite convenient.