Silence
July 2nd 2007 12:29
Can silence be nothing or does silence always mean something?
Susan Sontag may have been right when she said, "Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech." Beckett, of course, loved silences in his plays and has been called "the poet of nothingness".
Of course we can try that out ourselves. When a woman asks a man how he likes what she is wearing, wo betide him if he answers with a silence. That silence is not nothing; it is a definite no, as far as she is concerned. And what does it mean when the question "Do you love me?" is met with silence? The silence itelf is the answer and the answer depends on the question, the questioner and the context. Nothing it is certainly not!
Susan Sontag may have been right when she said, "Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech." Beckett, of course, loved silences in his plays and has been called "the poet of nothingness".
Of course we can try that out ourselves. When a woman asks a man how he likes what she is wearing, wo betide him if he answers with a silence. That silence is not nothing; it is a definite no, as far as she is concerned. And what does it mean when the question "Do you love me?" is met with silence? The silence itelf is the answer and the answer depends on the question, the questioner and the context. Nothing it is certainly not!
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Comment by Deorre
Stress Alive
Man Lessons
Interesting, that silence. I find it golden, often.
Comment by Ronald Green
nothing
Comment by Lara M
Love Speaks
Food Slate
Deorre...couldn't agree with you more - "silence is golden".
Comment by David
I often look at people's text on the page/screen.
It's often an indicator of whether or not they like silence.
Or as Deorre writes:
David ...
Comment by Anonymous
I was thinking this the other day when contemplating the phenomenon of MySpace. People's objective on there is so have "their space", but, in fact, they are busy filling it up with as many "friends" and as much chatter as possible.
Silence is as interesting as noise, just as nothing is as interesting as everything.
Comment by Ronald Green
nothing
Comment by David
The art of two-way conversation is fast becoming a lost art in the modern world.
My theory is:
People have lost the ability to listen and ask questions. (Or failed to learn the ability?).
While Blogging is text-based, there are parallels to verbal conversations.
Does the person read (listen to) what the other person has written (said) or is that person so intent on getting their own say (words) in, and not even concentrating on what the other person has written (said)?
There's rarely complete silence in our own minds. There's always the noise of thought-processing, but are we listening to the sound of our own thoughts processing or the sound of our minds processing the other person's thoughts? There's a huge distinction.
I like Blogging because it gives me the opportunity to process the other person's text (thoughts/words) before responding, whereas in real life, there are so many bloggers who wouldn't give me that chance.
I should have gone to university and written theses?
David ...
Comment by Ronald Green
nothing
Have you ever tried to convince someone of something? Have you succeeded? People have their fixed ideas from way back and for whatever reason/s.
Perhaps I have put it a little extremely and perhaps it isn't like that in all cases, but in the vast majority of cases I have found it to be true.
Regarding silence, I agree with you. There is NEVER silence - not around us or even in our own minds. We cannot shut off our thoughts, so even when we alone we are listening to ourselves.
Comment by Miss Nomer
I was once afraid of silence...
But it has begun to occur to me that silence can be the space in time required to process thoughts and feelings before expressing them.....
I hope silence becomes my friend.....
best wishes
Miss Nomer
Comment by Ron
nothing
But silence in that sense is actually the absence of external sounds. We are left with our thoughts, so that the noise is in our heads. And without external input, we are fee to wander, to let our minds and imagination work.
Comment by Miss Nomer
Comment by Ron
nothing
A real cone of silence would mean that you would hear NOTHING. Not your thoughts, not your heart beat, not the buzz in your ears, not the sound of anything. That is impossible. What would happen, actually, is that your senses would take on an added element of awareness, and that would ceratinly not be internal silence.
Now you may not answer me, so "proving" that you are in your cone. But that doesn't mean that it is working. Once you stop thinking, you cease to live. Now THAT is silence (but not really, but - luckily for you - I won't go into that).