The Transformative Potential of Silence in a Noise-Saturated Society
“What's the deepest silence you've ever known?
You can trust the first memory that comes to you. No need to overthink it. As you remember the experience, see if you can settle into it. Recall where you are, what's happening around you, and who, if anyone, is present. See if you can summon the atmosphere--the quality of light, the mood in the air, the feeling in your body.”
TALBOT-ZORN, JUSTIN. Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise. BANTAM PRESS, 2022.
This passage comes from the introduction of the book Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise. This book demonstrates how to navigate the cacophony of noise of the modern world utilizing different mindfulness strategies including stories from prisoners, neuroscientists, athletes, and writers. This book demonstrates that silence is more than just the absence of noise, but an experience that brings us clarity, calmness, and deeper connection with ourselves and the world around us. It is difficult to conceptualize “silence” in words as it is a feeling that encapsulates humans in many different scenarios. It is important for researchers to introduce the feeling of “silence” to the readers before diving into the topic.
“Silence in nature is balm to the tired soul in an increasingly noisy, frenetic world. It gives one a sense of serenity, repose, inner calm or peace, and stills the heart and the mind; like tranquil music, or the babbling of a brook, it has a healing emotional and spiritual power.”
"Silence in Nature". How to Do Things with Silence, Berlin, München, Boston: De Gruyter, 2015, pp. 115-130. https://doi-org.libproxy2.usc.edu/10.1515/9781501501449-012
“Eckhart Tolle (2003) nicely outlines our relationship to nature:
A great silent space holds all of nature in its embrace. It also holds you. … Nature can bring you to stillness. That is its gift to you. When you perceive and join with nature in the field of stillness, that field becomes permeated with your awareness. That is your gift to nature. … Through you nature becomes aware of itself. Nature has been waiting for you, as it were, for millions of years.”
Bruneau, Tom. “An Ecology of Natural Mindlessness: Solitude, Silence, and Transcendental Consciousness.” Explorations in Media Ecology, vol. 10, no. 1, 2012, pp. 55–73, https://doi.org/10.1386/eme.10.1-2.55_1.
This peer reviewed article, An Ecology of Natural Mindlessness: Solitude, Silence, and Transcendental Consciousness.” is written by Tom Breneau at Radford University. He uses this quote by Echkart Tolle, who is known for the book “The Power of Now'', and several other accomplishments in the field of psychology and spirituality. Tolle beautifully describes the benefits of tuning into nature and intrinsic awareness. Tuning into nature is a practical yet powerful tool for cultivating periods of “silence” in one’s day. Most scientists would agree nature is an integral to our lives and the human nervous system, as humans have lived in nature for millions of years.
“Though it's called a "silent retreat," it felt noisier than playing the radio at full volume--not because there was talking, but because the voice inside my head incessantly narrated everything. I listened to my breath move in and out. I listened to coughing, sniffling, throat-clearing, and a bevy of other bodily noises come and go. I was mindful of my judgments, fears, and physical pains rising and falling away again and again…I awakened to a voice inside my head that was self-critical and painful to listen to, and I loved that part of myself into healing.”
Eckstrom, Lauren. "The Sound of Silence: What happens when a seasoned yoga teacher and meditation practitioner goes on a 10-day silent vipassana meditation retreat?" Yoga Journal, no. 309, May-June 2019, pp. 18+. Gale Health and Wellness, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A598581492/HWRC?u=usocal_main&sid=bookmark-HWRC&xid=411f84cc. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.
This article written in the Yoga Journal dives into the accounts of experienced yoga teachers and meditators going on a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat. Vipassana, originating from Buddhist India 2500 years ago, means "to see things as they really are''. It is a logical process of mental purification through self-observation. It is important to understand every human experiences internal chatter, even seasoned yoga and meditation instructors. Self-observation has been essential in religions such as Buddhism, for thousands of years, and researchers are beginning to understand that self-observation is essential for the human psyche. It would be interesting to see a study on the effects of a 10-day Vipassana retreat on novice meditators compared to experienced meditators.
Interoception describes the detection and perception of stimuli originating from within the body [1]. To perform well, elite track athletes must monitor and utilize internal afferent sensations, such as those related to effort and fatigue. For example, early research found that elite long-distance runners reported regulating their pace by "reading their bodies", as well as attending closely to bodily input such as "respiration" and "sensations in their feet and legs"
Seabury, Tom, et al. "Interoceptive differences in elite sprint and long-distance runners: A multidimensional investigation." PLoS ONE, vol. 18, no. 1, 25 Jan. 2023, p. e0278067. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A734593906/AONE?u=usocal_main&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=8332494e. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.
This study examined the role of interoception in elite sprinters and long-distance runners. Interception: the ability to detect and perceive stimuli originating in the body. The study found elite sprinters and runners compared to non-athletes had more bodily trust, attention regulation, and self-regulation. Rigorous exercise is not only a physical demand but a mental task, requiring bouts of mental fortitude. According to research, exercise induces a biochemical response in the brain and body, releasing endorphins and brain derived growth hormone (BNDF). Researchers should consider if the act of exercise in other athletic endeavors is causal with interoceptive abilities.
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
Stewart, H. F. Pascal’s Pensées. 1st edition, Routledge, 2020, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429059131.
This famous quote was highlighted in the book Pensees. The book is a collection of writings by French philosopher and mathematician, Blain Pascal, a pioneer of existentialist philosophy. In summary, existential philosophy means we are each responsible for creating purpose or meaning in our own lives. In regards to the quote… imagine sitting in a room for an hour with no external entertainment. Difficult, right? Although this was said in 17th century France, it could not be more true today. In an age of distraction, our society has eradicated boredom. But, in reality, boredom is good for us. It allows us to go within and figure out what we really want out of life.
“Its homepage neatly sums up why so many of us are feeling overwhelmed by the constant noise of alerts, notifications, outrage and other reactions deliberately stoked by social media: 'Today's tech platforms are caught in a race to the bottom of the brain stem to extract human attention. It's a race we're all losing. The result: addiction, social isolation, outrage, misinformation, and political polarization-all part of one interconnected system …that poses an existential threat to humanity.”
Jackman, Christine. Turning down the Noise : The Quiet Power of Silence in a Busy World, Murdoch Books Pty Limited, 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/socal/detail.action?docID=6308794.
The odds are stacked against us, in regards to cultivating silence in our lives. In the book, "Turning down the Noise: The Quiet Power of Silence in a Busy World,” the author describes why society is so distracted. From the point in which Steve Jobs released the iPhone in 2007, human attention has been exploited by addictive technologies to maximize profits. It is important to understand the motives and ways technology giants exploit human attention, and the role it plays in our lives. The mere convenience of handheld devices, and the addictive features of social media have hacked our reward system, leading us to seek out short term pleasures. This has led to increases in anxiety, depression, isolation, among several other mental disorders.
“The worth of pristine human attention—enjoying great art, for example, or in a quiet moment of reflection by the ocean or playing with your children—doesn’t count as monetary value unless it turns into eyeballs on a screen that can be used as a basis of advertising revenue, like when an app’s built-in algorithm deduces that you’re in a quiet moment of your day and swoops in with a notification to win your attention.”
Modi , Kunal. “Author Talks: Quiet!” McKinsey & Company, McKinsey & Company, 8 July 2022, www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-on-books/author-talks-quiet.
“In the short term,” Williams says (2018, pp. xi–xii), “distractions can keep us from doing the things we want to do” while in the longer term, they can accumulate and keep us from living the lives we want to live, or even worse, undermine our capacities for reflection and Self-regulation.”
David Hayter (2021) Review of ‘silence and silencing in psychoanalysis’, Psychodynamic Practice, 27:4, 453-459, DOI: 10.1080/14753634.2021.1938176
Psychoanalysis is the system and therapy aiming to treat mental conditions by examining the unconscious and conscious elements of the mind and bringing repressed fears and inner conflicts into our conscious awareness. In this review, David Hayter analyzes the book “Silence and Silencing in Psychoanalysis, Psychodynamic Practice” describes the issue with distraction in our lives. The author spotlights how reflection and self regulation are essential to live healthy, purposeful lives. Technology companies are not held accountable for imposing these distractions in society, so research on how to best mitigate distractions has become a hot topic in the field.
It’s essential that from time to time we find a moment to batten down the hatches and look closely at what’s going on within our body and mind. When there’s awareness, there’s the possibility of growth, change, and transformation. Silence helps us cultivate this awareness, whether it’s the collective silence of a Buddhist retreat or the solitary silence of our daily meditation practice.
SUMANO, BHANTE. “The Power of Silence.” Lion’s Roar, 14 Dec. 2023, www.lionsroar.com/the-power-of-silence/.
“Silence is essential. We need silence, just as much as we need air, just as much as plants need light. If our minds are crowded with words and thoughts, there is no space for us.”
Gohman, Julie. "Silence: The power of quiet in a world full of noise." Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, vol. 47, no. 2, 2015, pp. 293-296. ProQuest, http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/silence-power-quiet-world-full-noise/docview/1785267648/se-2.
“This embracing of inner experience furthers what Schafer (Citation 1977) suggests as a move “toward an integrity of inner space” (p. 118). The cultivation of meditative silences leads to ‘inner space’, which invites the mind to ‘settle down’. In this way, silence is likened to a stillness within meditators. Silence is not the void of sound but is found in and around sound, like a pregnant pause between drawn out notes on a saxophone, for example. The silences or pauses with stillness are as integral as the sound.”
S.A. Bliss (2018) Tuning Out of This World: Silence and Mantra at an Urban Ashram in Zygmunt Bauman’s Liquid Modernity, Educational Studies, 54:4, 448-464, DOI: 10.1080/00131946.2018.1473867
“A state of deep calm seems to be part of nature and our make-up. The great mystery of life is the juxtaposition of constant motion and stillness. How do these two states go together? It’s actually not such a conundrum. The term dynamic stillness defines it. We are a blend of the two, dynamism and stillness. You can drop into a state of stillness and experience the fury of motion that’s going on inside of you. The mind can be still and the body can be still, too, but the huge hive of activity in the physiology of the body is a constant. The more you can drop into that motion with stillness, the more you will start to experience states of bliss and presence.”
Aldridge, David. Spirituality, Healing and Medicine : Return to the Silence, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2000. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/socal/detail.action?docID=3015837.
“The results of the present research suggest that mindful meditation in nature can be used to reestablish or strengthen perceived connectedness to nature for urban adults. Substantial evidence for a relationship between self-nature interconnectedness and other important constructs, such as pro-environmental attitudes and psychological well-being (e.g., Nisbet et al. 2011; Schultz 2001)”
Unsworth, Sara, Sean-Kelly Palicki, and Jim Lustig. "The Impact of Mindful Meditation in Nature on Self-Nature Interconnectedness." Mindfulness, vol. 7, no. 5, 2016, pp. 1052-1060. ProQuest, http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/impact-mindful-meditation-nature-on-self/docview/2920040063/se-2, doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0542-8.
“I urge you to find a way to immerse yourself fully in the life that you've been given. To stop running from whatever you're trying to escape, and instead to stop, and turn, and face whatever it is. Then I dare you to walk toward it. In this way, the world may reveal itself to you as something magical and awe-inspiring that does not require escape. Instead, the world may become something worth paying attention to.”
Dr. Anna Lembke. Dopamine Nation : Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. Dutton, 2020. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2641520.
Anna Lembke is professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine, and in the book Dopamine Nation she explores the role of dopamine, uncovering the age of indulgence that we live in and strategies to keep our reward system at bay. This passage is short, but powerful. In order to fully immerse ourselves in life, we must stop trying to escape. But, a question for researchers: in an age of indulgence, where short term pleasures are at one’s fingertips, how is a healthy boundary created? The neurobiological perspective of distraction is important to make positive changes in daily habits with the understanding of the human nervous system reward cues.
“Self-control is the ability to control one’s emotion, cognition, and behavior in accordance with internal or external goals. The ACC is part of a network implicated in monitoring, controlling, and resolving conflict among competing response tendencies… In meditation research, ACC functional changes and structural changes (e.g., white-matter connectivity) have been shown. For example, five sessions of IBMT induce greater ACC activity and 10 sessions of IBMT changes brain white-matter structure. Moreover, white-matter Sympathetic and parasympathetic systems in meditation Chapter | 5 95 changes surrounding the ACC are correlated with emotion regulation (Tang et al., 2012, 2015). Therefore these studies provide evidence that meditation can induce increased brain activity and strengthen the connectivity of the ACC, a region critical for self-control, suggesting that meditation could potentially be used for treating or preventing problems and disorders associated with deficits of self-control such as addiction, mood disorders, ADHD, and PTSD (Tang, 2017; Tang et al., 2010, 2013).”
Fábián, Tibor Károly. Mind-Body Connections: Pathways of Psychosomatic Coupling under Meditation and Other Altered States of Consciousness : Pathways of Psychosomatic Coupling under Meditation and Other Altered States of Consciousness, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/socal/detail.action?docID=3019684.
Meditation is a complex topic that both life sciences and liberal arts researchers continue to tackle today. This book educates the reader on what scientific research can teach us about meditation. In this quote, the author explores the impact of meditation on the angular cingulate cortex (ACC) - the region of the brain responsible for self control; the ability to control one’s emotion, cognition, and behavior. Scientific research is important because it solidifies the validity of these claims. In today’s society, where people are at an increased risk of addiction and deficits in self control, it would be noteworthy to look into the effects of meditation within drug and/or alcohol recovery patients.
“High noise levels in hospitals stress patients and have a negative effect on patient care (Short et al., 2010) and recovery (de Lima Andrade et al., 2021; Mazer, 2010). Exposure to prolonged noise can lead to abnormal central nervous system development, hearing loss, and speech and language problems in preterm infants, whereas reduced noise levels foster physiologic stability and brain development (Gilad and Arnon, 2010). In contrast to noise, silence leads to a lowering of the heart rate (Bernardi et al., 2009), diastolic blood pressure, and breathing rate (Bernardi et al., 2006), as well as a decrease in cortisol levels (Trappe and Voit, 2016).”
Ben-Soussan, Tal Dotan, et al. Neurophysiology of Silence. Part A. : Empirical Studies. Zoe Kruze, 2023.
This book explores the neurophysiology of silence, including the role of silence in medical and hospital settings. According to the book, prolonged high levels of noise in hospitals negatively affect patients in recovery. In order for researchers to cultivate strategies for society to induce states of silence, they must look where noise in our lives comes from. From the neurophysiological perspective, Benardi notes that silence in hospital patients leads to lower heart rate, breath rate, blood pressure and cortisol, which is the hormone attributed to stress. To be more relatable, a study on the effect of phone notifications and cortisol level would be interesting in today's tech-saturated world.
“During a Quaker meeting every member of the group engages in the act of ‘centring down’, ‘the manner in which, silently, we make our interior journey to the still centre of our being… Silence becomes a shared experience, part of ‘the common journey inwards’ that the entire meeting is expected to make;19 a way of opening ourselves to our innermost thoughts, fears and anxieties free from the many diversions of everyday life that otherwise inhibit such a process. ‘[A]t the very lowest’, as Caroline E. Stephen has remarked, a Quaker meeting constitutes ‘a witness that worship is something deeper than words.”
SIM, STUART. Manifesto for Silence: Confronting the Politics and Culture of Noise. Edinburgh University Press, 2007. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1g0b3js. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.
The book, Manifesto for Silence: Confronting the Politics and Culture of Noise, explores the different ways silence and noise play a role in religion and cultures throughout history globally. The cultivation of silence in quaker meetings is an essential part of prayer. The author explores the role of silence in other religions such as Christianity. Silence and prayer go hand in hand in Christianity, as a means to connect with one’s self and God. Moments of silence have been integral in religions around the world throughout the course of history, and are even common in today’s age after tragedies or times of hardship. Shared moments of silence allow individuals to access their inner selves and communicate more effectively.
“He calls his project One Square Inch of Silence. Following leads, crisscrossing the country, he searched for one square inch where he could listen for 15 minutes and not hear a human sound. In Olympic National Park, where 95 percent of the land is protected as wilderness, he found the "widest diversity of soundscapes and the longest periods of natural quiet of any unit within the national park system."
Moore, Kathleen D. "In Search of SILENCE." Utne, no. 152, Mar, 2009, pp. 64-69. ProQuest, http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/magazines/search-silence/docview/217431627/se-2.
https://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/nature.htm
Gordon Hempton is an acoustic ecologist on a journey to the edges of the world to record the soundscapes of the natural world. In this article, Kathleen Moore dives into Hempton’s project, One Square Inch of Silence. Hempton’s goal is to spread awareness on the issue of noise pollution, and has made a career as sound recordist - even receiving an Emmy Award. It is not easy to find a space in the modern world absent of human-made sounds. Hamptons describes real quiet as presence - not the absence of sound, but the absence of noise. His message is strong, but many people in our society don’t have access to natural environments, especially in urban areas.
“We depend on nature not only for our physical survival. We also need nature to show us the way home, the way out of the prison of our own minds. We got lost in doing, thinking, remembering, anticipating - lost in a maze of complexity and a world of problems. We have forgotten what rocks, plants, and animals still know. We have forgotten how to be - to be still, to be ourselves, to be where life is: Here and Now.”
Tolle, Eckhart. “Stillness Speaks: Chapter 7.” Nature by Eckhart Tolle, www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/nature.htm. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
Part II
I chose this topic after a friend recommended the book "Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise." Initially, with no expectations, I quickly found myself captivated by its content. I reflected on how social media's addictive features had slowly imprisoned my mind, leading me away from the peacefulness of quiet contemplation. Even the simple routine of reading before bed was foreign to me. My deep interest in scientific research initially steered me towards seeking insights from studies on the subject. However, as I explored USC libraries and various online sources, I found myself drawn to books rich in personal anecdotes and stories, like Eckhart Tolle's "Stillness Speaks." While I consider scientific research crucial for its ability to validate claims, personal stories tend to connect with the audience more effectively.
Delving deeper into the realms of silence and meditation, I discovered the importance of embracing a variety of perspectives to tackle the topic of silence. Initially, I viewed silence, especially through meditation, as a subjective tool, with its usefulness varying from person to person. However, further research revealed to me that incorporating periods of silence is not just essential for some, but are beneficial for everyone. Gormon's 2020 statement, "'Today's tech platforms are caught in a race to the bottom of the brain stem to extract human attention,'' underscored the need to recognize and mitigate the distractions and noise permeating our lives. I sought out the best practices according to research for cultivating silence, frequently finding that natural environments play a significant role. Descriptions like the "babbling of the brook" or "the rustle of the leaves'' not only resonated with me but also highlighted a journal article about Gordon Hempton, "ecology acoustic," aiming to record the soundscapes of the natural world. This, coupled with scientific studies on the physiological benefits of nature exposure, emphasized the power of nature to foster states of tranquility.
The historical context of silence also fascinated me, revealing how the struggle between distraction, desire, and clarity has persisted since the very first forms of civilization. Buddhist texts, for example, teach that attachment to external circumstances leads to suffering, with enlightenment achieved through embracing the internal. Similarly, Christian value silent prayer as a means to connect with God and oneself. One particularly intriguing scientific discovery I encountered suggested that meditation could enhance brain activity and strengthen the ACC, the region associated with self-control. This finding, highlighting meditation's potential to address issues like addiction and mood disorders, underscored the tangible benefits of meditation beyond mere physiological changes.
In discussing this topic, I find that blending narrative essays with scientific writing offers a powerful approach that aligns with my writing style and thought process, fostering a connection with the audience. Personal stories provide relatability, making the subject matter more accessible, while scientific research lends validity, ensuring that the information is not taken with a grain of salt. This combination ensures a detailed exploration of the topic, appealing to a wide range of audiences and providing a solid scientific foundation for understanding the profound impact of silence and in our lives.