Noise is more tolerable than complete silence.
Man of Noise. Photo from shakinglikeamountain.com
I can’t stand the complete silence. I feel like my head is about to pop. Every second more of silence will add up to the chances of me being mad. I’ll do all things, even writing, with music if the surrounding is mute. The sound of fan would do, or the wind brushing the trees outside, but not the silence.
Do you know that silence kills? Of course you don’t, because I made that up. But it will kill me if you locked me into a room of blankness, nothing that could make any sound at all. That is a terrible nightmare I just imagine myself of being into, and see, this is what silence do – creeps you out!
Silence causes trauma to the brain. The temporal lobe is constantly expecting waves from the acoustic nerve. If there’s silence, there’s no message to deliver to the brain. So it makes you uncomfortable because there’s an anomaly. From ears to your brain and everything in between is not functioning the natural way. This is my reasoning why I hated silence, and I’m impressed at how this paragraph looked so academic as I made this up as well.
We reason in accordance to what we believe, and we accept that reason because it supports us. I just feel nothingness in silence, like I’m not moving forward, stagnant like the dead. Silence is really unfavorable.
Which would you prefer, silence or noise?
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There are some noiseless rooms in the world. They are constructed so that no noise can enter the room, and any noise one makes while inside gets completely absorbed by the walls, ceiling, and floor. Just a few minutes inside of one of these and you begin to hear your pulse, your breathing, and all the squishy noises a body like ours can make. I don’t think you’d like that of silence. I might not either. I do, however, do like a normally quiet place. Background noise isn’t necessary for sanity. Besides, that is ‘the place the music is playing’ (to quote the movie Conspiracy Theory) in my head. Hehe.
May the noise be with you.
Perhaps the silence lets us recalibrate and listen to our inner voice
I enjoy silence. I’m not sure, though, that I have experienced complete silence all that often in my life. I know the eerie feeling you speak of, but it’s rare. Overall, I prefer the quiet to noise. Sometimes life feels like there is too much coming at me at one time, and it’s nice to be still and rest.
I prefer silence over noise, though this has taken a lifetime to reach! A dozen years ago I was at my best with background music constantly playing. Now if there’s an absence of sounds of civilization, there’s nothing sweeter (to me) than the subtle sounds of nature.
I prefer the silence…..too much noise and I think I’m going mad 😉
this is so cool.
I do really well with the silence. I don’t find it silent haha 🙂 My brother and I actually just talked about this as he’s gonna stay over at my place. He said he needs a fan in the spare room to sleep as the silence is like insanity for him (that’s what he said). I asked him what silence, there are tree frogs and other night sounds etc. He looked at me like he didn’t know what I was talking about. 🙂 Excellent post I love it.
Silence does kill. People always wonder how can I work with music or TV on, but the fact is I cannot work in silence.
While touring a cavern in Ky or Tn, they told the story of the man who walked away from the group and was left behind. Now, to be left being in a deep cavern is to be plunged into complete and total dark. But just as bad as the complete darkness, was the complete silence.
They illustrated the dark and silence by having turning off their lanterns and having us all stand quietly – it was eerie.
The man ended up there until the next group came through, the next day! (I guess no one knew he was in there) – he had had to sing to himself aloud all night just so he wouldn’t lose it.
While I like “silence” – which i have a lot of it here in this cove – it isn’t that kind of “complete and utter silence” – there are critter sounds and breezes/wind through the trees, the creek rushing.
But, I did have a thought while reading your wonderful post: I wonder what deaf people “hear?” – is it complete silence? Or? I’ve never thought about it until just now – how if they hear that complete and utter silence, how do they adapt? Or do they hear something?
I get a lot of migraines, so I love the silence. 😛
I loved reading this! It made me smile, the way you wrote it and also – it’s so completely opposite (or maybe not, really) to the way I feel about it. For me I LOVE silence – silence is the companion I seek to have with me everywhere – I look for silence in the clamour, silence in the chaos, silence in every cascade of noise from the trickle to the roar.. from the whispering breeze to the shout of the man-made racket! I look for the silence in the silence and the silence beyond that. For silence is the only place where anything is happening, and I would say that it is silence which keeps me alive. I am am most at home in the silence, I feel supported, ambraced, nourished, guided by silence. If I could not find silence – everywhere – I would be unable to function – on all levels – and feel myself be lost completely! xxx
yes, yes, and yes… equally lovely and true for me as well…
Tinnitus gives me no peace, hence a fan running makes sleep possible. Total silence is a bit disturbing isn’t it…
I prefer silence but I guess not COMPLETE silence…that could be spooky. But too much noise drives me crazy too. 😉
sometimes silence let’s us sigh… gives us pause from relentless noise… silence may test our inner abilities and/or (un)comfortabilities with listening to and hearing inner sounds… from the body… heart… mind… from the universe. is there really such a thing as total silence? after all, there’s always humming the music of the spheres and attuning to the harmonies of soundless sounds… that said, I much prefer quieter, natural sounds of breeze… birdsong… breathing… and simply being with the silence.
I think I’ve outgrown the phase where silence made me uncomfortable…I enjoy the silence now, but interspersed with noisy times, of course 😉
I agree with Eliza Shane I like there to be silence sometimes it just seems like everything starts to run together and there is just a bunch of noise coming from every where. The best kind of silence is when the power goes out and there is no one home and it is night time. It is so quite and such a different feel in the house.
Knowing and accepting complete silence is the only way to know what noise is. Noise, even the most faint of it, is noise. To know and contemplate our own thoughts void of external noise is to know ourselves. To avoid that silence is to listen only to the noise. The noise is not who we are. It’s not even what we can become. It is the part of the world that is not us, and we cannot be ‘not us’.
When the noise of the world abates, we are more like ourselves than at any other time.
I prefer to be myself, not simply part of the noise.
Hi there, thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog Vacant Pages and liking yesterdays post, much appreciated. I like silence, as I find there is just too much noise in the world, that we have forgotten what it is like to hear our own thoughts.
That is soooooo not true. Actually, we live in such a white noise world it is good to unplug, switch off, and experience the sound of your own heart beat, the world around you; silence. It is in that silence that you can hear your own inner thoughts or clear your mind and breathe.
Hi! I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award. Best wishes!!
Silence is best. It helps you find yourself. And when you’ve got over the shock of that, it gives you the space to accept yourself, and to find yourself in others.
Yes! To resist meeting silence is to avoid that discovery of the self. Silence is to be undressed of all disguises – face to face with infinity. Once you have found the silence within yourself, you can look for the silence in others – that space from which and in which all things are seen – meet them there and the real conversation can begin…
You should go in one of those sound void rooms, where all noise is cut out and you can literally hear the blood running through your viens … apparently, I havent tried it but really want to!
Like a recording studio?
Even though I am a drummer, I really love the silence. That’s why i like going to Wales, silence even when outside, no background hum or drone, just pure silence punctuated by RAF low flying exercises!
I don’t need to have anything on in the background as I notice every sound that is happening and if it’s the radio, I have to turn it off as I don’t like the music.