The act of hearing itself makes total sensory silence unattainable

Evidence

Everyone’s auditory system, apparently, makes noise, but the question remains, is it always audible to oneself? If so—if the auditory faculty comes down to a version of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, whereby the act of hearing in itself changes what can be heard—then my search is over. Silence cannot be because within the instruments through which I must measure it, a total absence of sound cannot exist. — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 526

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 526
• XREF: connects to: Absolute silence cannot exist because the body always produces sound — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 234; Silence in art functions as medium for listener’s own creative imagination — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 242; The brain fabricates phantom sound when expected sensory input is absent — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 324 (+22 more)

Library Connections

• The act of hearing itself may make true absolute silence unattainable #qualifies (0.95) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 526
• Pure, absolute silence has never existed and cannot exist #corroborates (0.90) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 603
• In sound’s absence the brain amplifies its own internal signals to compensate #expands (0.88) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 610
• The brain amplifies internal noise so total silence cannot be perceived #expands (0.85) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 609
• The brain’s evolved vigilance actively forecloses the possibility of true silence #expands (0.82)
• Near-total silence reveals that most people generate internal sound perceived as tinnitus #exemplifies (0.80) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 571

Broader Connections

• In near-total silence a person may hear the mechanics of their own body #exemplifies (0.75) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 578
• Zero decibels is a perceptual threshold, not a true physical absence of sound #qualifies (0.75) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 473
• The unattainable ideal of absolute silence is necessary to resist noise’s control #responds-to (0.65) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 616