The unattainable ideal of absolute silence is necessary to resist noise’s control

Evidence

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

Categorization

• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 616
• XREF: connects to: Perfect silence as an unattainable absolute still functions as real and necessary; Total silence is equated biologically and symbolically with death itself — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 611; Silence is a positive, self-contained reality rather than mere absence. — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute…, 19 (+20 more)

Library Connections

• Perfect silence as an unattainable absolute still functions as real and necessary #corroborates (0.95)
• The idea of an absolute silence functions as a necessary reset point for thought #exemplifies (0.85) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 531
• Pure, absolute silence has never existed and cannot exist #corroborates (0.80) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 603
• Creative thought requires an initial silence that clears prior mental assumptions #exemplifies (0.80) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 453

Broader Connections

• The brain’s evolved vigilance actively forecloses the possibility of true silence #exemplifies (0.75)
• Zero decibels is a perceptual threshold, not a true physical absence of sound #expands (0.75) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 473
• Silence resets the audience’s mental frame before a performance can begin #exemplifies (0.75) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 257
• Silence takes its meaning from surrounding sound #complicates (0.75) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 864
• Silence is a positive presence rather than mere absence #corroborates (0.70) — Gordon Hempton, John Grossmann, One Square Inch of Silence- One Man’s…, 1294