In her travels abroad, the character realizes that music's decline into mere noise signifies a global trend leading humanity into an era marked by profound ugliness. This shift is characterized initially by a pervasive auditory unpleasantness, including the sounds of modern machinery and traffic that dominate everyday life. Such a transformation reflects a broader cultural erosion where beauty in sound is being overshadowed by chaos and discord.

This auditory degradation foreshadows an impending visual ugliness that is expected to extend throughout society. As noise pollution becomes ubiquitous, it suggests an eventual aesthetic decline that will affect not just sound but also the visual environment around us. Kundera hints at a bleak future where both our auditory and visual experiences strip away the elements of beauty, leaving society in a state of disarray.