To: quiet-list@igc.org,acoustic-ecology@sfu.ca In what follows I'm not arguing with the idea of walking in the
wilderness as one of "the best sources of solitude and sanity."
In fact, I'm a true believer and I practice the faith whenever
possible. However making statements that the wilderness is "a
place where all you can hear is Silence" is not only confusing,
it's nonsense. Promulgating nonsense about sound and its perception
will undermine the efforts of the quiet movement.
If you're fortunate you may find quiet in the wilderness but silence
simply doesn't exist in life except as an abstract dictionary
definition. Silence can't be heard; it is by definition the absence
of sound. There are common meanings associated with the way we
use the term silence. The verb silence means to stop whatever
sound is in the forefront and that, in effect, makes you more
sensitive to what's in the middle ground. Silence the middle ground
and you become more sensitive to the background. Silence the background
and you become more sensitive to the actual base level ground
(internal body sounds and fundamental life sounds). Trying to
find silence by placing yourself in an anechoic chamber will cut
out all external sounds but you'll hear the blood coursing in
your veins, your heart pounding away, and possibly the buzzing
of your nervous system.
It's a good bet that if you want true silence you probably have to die for it.
Now quiet is another matter entirely. The quieter it gets the
more you hear. The key principle for this statement (the difference limen) has been around at least since 1860 when the German scientist
Gustav Theodore Fechner (the father of experimental psychology)
discussed it in his book on THE ELEMENTS OF PSYCHOPHYSICS. This
nonintuitive and completely ignored principle is based on the
psychological notion of the difference limen or just noticeable
difference. The difference limen refers to our ability to distinguish
between two nearly equal stimuli; the operative word is "nearly."
The points at which we're able to distinguish different stimuli
(difference limen) are called threshold levels. The quieter it
gets the closer the threshold levels. Fechner determined that
the relationship between those threshold levels is logarithmic.
In other words, the difference in intensity between too very loud
sounds will have to be much greater than the difference in intensity
of two very soft sounds for a difference limen to be perceived.
Another principle to consider is that there is an obvious ceiling
at the top end of sound perception yet there seems to be no true
bottom. Thanks to the wonders of synchronicity what follows between
the ***** markings was taken from an email message I received
today from Mrs. Jenny Kerr of Carrollton, GA, a psychology graduate
student at State University of West Georgia:
***** I propose that there is not. The constant hum of the universe
is omnipresent. It is the sound of atom bouncing against atom,
which resonates within all of us. It is the "music of the spheres",
the "OM", the NADA BRAHMA (which is also an excellent book on
the subject). Physics has found that the cosmos is matter, constantly
changing forms, but never vanishing. Through this process, and
the essential compositional form of the vibrant universe, we see
that "the world is sound" (WE are sound)...though this may not
be completely audible to humans. This is perplexing to our western,
rational, analytical society.
It is our dualistic mentality which has created the word "silence"
as a means for identifying the space between the waves. Yet there
is an odd phenomenon in which millions of people FEAR silence.
We see this in the need of some to leave the television or radio
on constantly. I see this often in therapy: when faced with several
seconds of silence, clients will hurriedly rush to speak. I have
never quite been able to comprehend this need, perhaps because
I hear music (beneficial or damaging) in everything. Ultimately,
we fear death. Silence is the absence of sound. We ARE sound.
Therefore, fearing silence is reflective of a fear of our own
nonexistence." Unfortunately we seem to be in an evolutionary phase when people
believe more of anything can only be had with more power. But
the reverse is true with sound. So, if we're quiet we'll all hear
more and hear more deeply. Education has a long row to hoe.
Ron Pellegrino
>=== Quiet-List message from David Staudacher >From the Environmental News Network http://www.enn.com/multimedia
>T.A. Barron, author of To Walk in Wilderness, remembers one of
the most >http://www.enn.com/multimedia/1999/04/042299/042299sile_2794.ram >Transcript:
>"An author recommends a walk in the wild and a moment of Silence
to cure >the ailments of modern life. I"m Richard Hoops for EarthWatch
Radio."
>Hoops: "If you"re feeling hassled by the ever-faster pace of
life and if >Barron: "I was sitting on a rock about mid-way through the month
and I >Hoops: "Barron says Silence is yet another part of nature with
which peoplev >have lost touch."
>Barron: "Being quiet is one of those things that animals haven't
forgotten >Hoops: "Barron say everyone should take a few moments to find
a quiet >"EarthWatch Radio is a service of the Sea Grant program and the
Institute >= = =
>Net Links
>http://www.tabarron.com/books/wildplaces/wild.html - "To Walk
in Wilderness"
>http://wilderness.org/profiles/barronbio.htm - Wilderness Society
profile of >http://www.nrdc.org/sitings/lookup/probarr.html - NRDC profile
of Barron
>http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/earthwatch - EarthWatch Radio
>http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu - Sea Grant program
>http://www.ies.wisc.edu - Institute for Environmental Studies
at the >email: rhoops@seagrant.wisc.edu - Richard Hoops
Booking information and comments. ©1996-2004 Ron Pellegrino and Electronic Arts Productions. All
rights reserved.
From: Ron Pellegrino
Subject: Re: Silence in Nature
Date: 4/23/99
"I want to propose to you some food for thought which I have been
exploring: Is there really such a thing as SILENCE? (Pardon my
further enthusiastic expounding, for this topic excites me.)
******
>profound moments of his month-long trip in the Colorado wilderness
was when
>he realized he was surrounded by silence. He says silence is
a part of
>nature that people have lost touch with and is an important source
of sanity
>in our fast-paced lives.
> - A short (1:59) article in Real Audio format about silence
in nature.
>you"re tired of the multimedia assault on your senses, your best
tonic might
>be a simple walk in the woods. Author T.A. Barron says nature
is still the
>best source of solitude and sanity. Barron is the author of "To
Walk in
>Wilderness", a book about a month-long hike in the Rocky Mountains
of
>Colorado. He says one of the most transforming moments of his
adventure was
>the realization that he had gotten away from noise."
>realized that as hard as I could listen, I couldn't hear anything
except my
>own breathing and that wondrous sense of Silence that was all
around me.
>And that was a very special realization because it's a hard thing
in modern
>times to find a place where all you can hear is Silence."
>how to do but people often have forgotten. I've often forgotten
how to do it."
>place. He says it doesn't have to be a vast Rocky Mountain wilderness.
One
>of his favorite places while growing up was a spot beneath a
tree where he
>could sit and think and get away from his troubles for awhile.
He says even
>a backyard garden, a grove of trees, or a marsh, can provide
at least a small
>break from the noise and a chance to reconnect with nature and
your better
>self."
>for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin."
>T. A. Barron
>University of Wisconsin
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