The act of hearing itself may make true absolute silence unattainable

Evidence

It’s tough to speculate that silence, absolute silence, might not exist if in “the quietest place on earth” as certified by the Guinness organization I hear my own auditory system. Or some damn thing. 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: Zero decibels is a perceptual threshold, not a true physical absence of sound — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 473; Pure, absolute silence has never existed and cannot exist — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 603; The hearing system actively filters and modulates sound more than passively receiving it — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 558 (+19 more)

Library Connections

• Near-total silence reveals that most people generate internal sound perceived as tinnitus #exemplifies (0.90) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 571
• In near-total silence a person may hear the mechanics of their own body #exemplifies (0.85) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 578
• The brain’s evolved vigilance actively forecloses the possibility of true silence #corroborates (0.85)
• Perfect silence as an unattainable absolute still functions as real and necessary #responds-to (0.80)