Silence is not the mere absence of something else, but a complex positive phenomenon

Evidence

Silence: The Phenomenon and Its Ontological Significance (Indiana University Press)

Categorization

• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Silence is a positive, self-contained reality rather than mere absence. — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 19; The desire for silence outlasts and exceeds mere relief from noise fatigue — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 211; Total silence is equated biologically and symbolically with death itself — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 611 (+27 more)

Related

• Silence is a positive presence rather than mere absence (similarity 0.93)
• Silence is nothing merely negative; it is not the mere absence of speech, but has a kind of Being of its own. (similarity 0.93)
• Silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything, the presence of time, undisturbed. (similarity 0.91)
• Silence carries deeper meaning and value than speech does. (similarity 0.90)
• Silence is nothing merely negative; it is a positive, a complete world in itself (similarity 0.90)
• Natural silence is a positive presence felt in the body (similarity 0.90)
• Total silence is equated biologically and symbolically with death itself (similarity 0.90)
• Silence is real, as darkness and cold are real; we feel these as positive sensations, not merely negations of something else. (similarity 0.90)
• Silence is an active presence that must be experienced, not imagined (similarity 0.90)
• Silence is a positive, self-contained reality rather than mere absence. (similarity 0.89)
• People fear true silence because it threatens rather than merely rests their worldview (similarity 0.89)
• Contrary to the view that silence perception is merely the cognitive accompaniment of an absence of experience, perceptual systems can track events with no positive sensory content. (similarity 0.88)
• Silence is a primary, objective reality which cannot be traced back to anything else, preserving the mark of the Divine in creation. (similarity 0.88)
• Pure, absolute silence has never existed and cannot exist (similarity 0.88)
• Dictionaries define silence only negatively, as an absence of sound (similarity 0.88)

Library Connections

• Deep silence can feel like a sensory presence rather than mere absence #exemplifies (0.85) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 35

Broader Connections

• Silence functions as an underrated conversational presence #expands (0.80) — Gordon Hempton, John Grossmann, One Square Inch of Silence- One Man’s…, 1023
• Perfect silence equates to infinity and is the precondition for existence #expands (0.75) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 534
• Silence takes its meaning from surrounding sound #qualifies (0.75) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 864