"Silence is for bumping into yourself."

     

       From the pursuit of absolute silence, to why we hear, to why we make noise, to what we are doing about noise, and to the middle ground of noise and silence that produces a little more quiet each day, is just a sample of the myriad of subjects covered in George Prochnik's In Pursuit of Silence.  During his pursuit of silence, the revelation came when absolute silence produces more noticeable noises. Because of the wish for silence and because of silence, the slightest noise is amplified, creating annoyance for the pursuer.  That is something I acutely noticed while reading this book. I could not have any noise going, but what was absolutely deemed necessary by me (like the air conditioner in a torrid southern climate). Anytime someone intruded upon my silent cone, I had to search for the calm again. This book will make you more aware of the danger of noise throughout your daily life.
      The realization that silence equals wisdom comes as an early ah-ha moment. You've always know that quiet is where ideas and revelations appear, but understanding that quiet is the best place to flesh out ideas because there is little to distract the thinker. Other people may be able to listen to music and multitask while thinking of ideas, but the best way to get to the bottom of something is in quiet.

 "...our brains are always searching for closer. When we confront silence, the mind reaches outward."

He looks at the solutions to noise and they are mostly about subduing it, not trying to solve it.

"...what happens when we try to create complete soundproofing: somebody ends up getting smothered. Their gasps for air will grow louder and louder until we surrender the fantasy of total noise control. Because, in the end, we are born into this world screaming as loud as out tiny lungs can howl, yet simultaneously terrified of loud sounds and demanding silence in order to sleep."

      Prochnik even takes it so far as to examine what the government is doing to regulate noise.  Which makes this a well rounded examination into most of the perspectives of silence. The only question I had about the book is why he explored boom cars as one of the most extreme examples of noise making.  It is just not clear why he choose that particular form of noise making when there are so many others and why exactly he did not look into other examples of extreme noise. That is the only thorn in my foot about this book. Yes, some of the sections on how your brain works and how your ears work are a little boring, but that is my personal aversion to learning about the inner workings of my body. (It gets me all tingly).
     Ultimately, his solution to noise is to educate the public on the harmfulness of noise and the benefits of silence while creating more places in urban environments where you can enjoy peace and quiet. 
     This books main theme is the pursuit of quiet, not silence. In quiet we can hear the birds singing, the wind blowing through the trees, and the steady flow of traffic, just to be reminded that the world is full of wonder.  Silence often leads to noticing more annoying noise, but quiet allows you to hear all the normal noises at a low level, just perfect for getting things done.
Anyway, enjoy this book, savior it in silence, and just appreciate the quiet.
 
Quotes
"The pursuit of silence, likewise, is dissimilar from most other pursuits in that it generally begins with a surrender of the chase, the abandonment of efforts to impose our will and vision on the world."

"...the larger idea of silence as a break, a rest, a road to reflection, renewal, and personal growth is one that resonates with many people."

"...the problem was that without silence people had no ability to understand one another."

"Even brief silence, it sees, can inject us with a fertile unknown: a space in which to focus and absorb experience -- a reminder that the person we are with may yet surprise us; a reflection that some things we cannot put into words are yet resoundingly real; a reawakening to our dependency on something greater that ourselves."

"Indeed, if there's nothing else to hear, at a certain point our own ears will often begin to make sound."

"...noise is sound that makes us, for the time it's there, cease to distinguish between the beings and objects outside us. Noise enables us to forget the larger world."