Perfect silence as an unattainable absolute still functions as real and necessary

Evidence

Pure, untouched silence has never existed, and never will. — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 603 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Absent the idea of absolute silence to strive toward we have no way to measure, and therefore to fight against, the torrent of noise of all descriptions with which the mass-media/consumer system floods our sensory organs. If we don’t fight against that torrent, however, we cannot think clearly. And if we cannot think clearly, we lose control over our lives. — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 616 (#pays-off, via linked claim)

Most significantly, information overload must deteriorate independent thought itself. That’s because of the factor I came to grips with in reference to making stories, or music, and also in the context of SNOLAB researchers, for this factor has a hand in crafting scientific theories. Man makes stories and thinks creatively via a three-part process, the first element of which is a strong silence, similar to the silence before the curtain lifts on a stage, which for a shard of a second eliminates prejudices and preceding notions and allows the coming together of concepts that prior to this instant did not exist, in the mind of the thinker at least. — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 453 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: The idea of an absolute silence functions as a necessary reset point for thought — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 531; The unattainable ideal of absolute silence is necessary to resist noise’s control — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 616; The desire for silence outlasts and exceeds mere relief from noise fatigue — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 211 (+17 more)

Related

• The unattainable ideal of absolute silence is necessary to resist noise’s control (similarity 0.93)
• Pure, absolute silence has never existed and cannot exist (similarity 0.91)
• Creative thought requires an initial silence that clears prior mental assumptions (similarity 0.91)
• The idea of an absolute silence functions as a necessary reset point for thought (similarity 0.91)
• Perfect silence equates to infinity and is the precondition for existence (similarity 0.88)
• Absolute silence cannot exist because the body always produces sound (similarity 0.88)
• The desire for silence outlasts and exceeds mere relief from noise fatigue (similarity 0.88)
• People fear true silence because it threatens rather than merely rests their worldview (similarity 0.87)
• The act of hearing itself makes total sensory silence unattainable (similarity 0.87)
• The brain amplifies internal noise so total silence cannot be perceived (similarity 0.86)
• Silence is not the mere absence of something else, but a complex positive phenomenon (similarity 0.85)
• The act of hearing itself may make true absolute silence unattainable (similarity 0.85)
• People instinctively generate noise to assert existence against overwhelming emptiness (similarity 0.84)
• The brain’s evolved vigilance actively forecloses the possibility of true silence (similarity 0.84)
• Dictionaries define silence only negatively, as an absence of sound (similarity 0.84)

Library Connections

• Pure, absolute silence has never existed and cannot exist #corroborates (0.90) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 603

Broader Connections

• Creative thought requires an initial silence that clears prior mental assumptions #exemplifies (0.78) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 453
• Silence takes its meaning from surrounding sound #expands (0.50) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 864