“All profound things and emotion of things
are proceeded and attended by silence.” Herman Melville In Western cultures, silence is commonly used
as a means to show respect and recollect. One example prominent in Dutch culture is
the Silent March; a ritual that grew out of the silent Catholic walks in Amsterdam. This Catholic tradition was a reaction to
a prohibition on their processions by the Protestant establishment. A march in silence, without prayer, singing,
religious garments, or attributes, wasn’t prohibited, and so, a new ritual arose that
survived to this day. As for the Silent Marches (often a response
to senseless violence), people react in a way that transcends the many hollow words
swirling around after a tragic event and our ‘culture of noise,’ in which violence
so frequently occurs. Similarly, the annual Remembrance of the Dead
answers the killing and murdering of all Dutch victims of wars and peacekeeping missions
with two minutes of silence. It’s silence that makes these rituals so
powerful; there’s no music, no words, or singing to distract oneself from the purpose. Moreover, what better resistance to the deafening
noise of war and the loudness of violent people engaging in mindless bloodshed is there besides
silence? And when words aren’t sufficient, isn’t
silence the most appropriate response? The power of silence is versatile. Silence can transcend speech, speak without
words, and complement where verbal language is lacking. And keeping silent also has advantages in
terms of creativity, mental health, spiritual and religious practice, achieving the upper
hand in negotiations, and even as a way to intimidate. This video explores the power of silence,
unfolding four benefits of being silent. (1) The quieter you are, the more you hear. The mystic and poet Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad
Rūmī once realized that the quieter we become, the more we’re able to hear. From his mystical point of view, listening
is essential, as Rumi tried to get closer to God and hear a “voice that doesn’t
use words” by being still. When we let go of all the words, we open ourselves
up to other voices previously suppressed by continual verbal noise. These could be inner voices (as philosopher
Ralph Waldo Emerson called the ‘inner knowing’) and outside voices and sounds that one misses
because of a lack of listening. We can listen effectively if we keep quiet,
inside and outside. By keeping quiet, we become receptive to our
surroundings. We pay attention to what our senses observe,
so we learn and eventually become smarter and wiser. If we refuse to keep quiet nor listen to what
others have to say, we only share what we already know and don’t learn anything. The ancient philosopher Pythagoras once stated:
“A fool is known by his speech, and a wise man by silence.” Similarly, Lao Tzu wrote: “Those who know
do not talk. Those who talk do not know.” Being quiet helps us learn about the environment
and recognize dangers (and opportunities) that we would have skipped if we were too
busy talking. But it also allows us to gather information
about ourselves. Often, people are so busy overthinking, worrying,
ruminating, and analyzing that they’re shutting down the underlying voices that are trying
to speak. For example, we may forget to listen to our
intuitions or let our bodily pains tell us about specific health issues. Or we block ideas and solutions that are already
within us from coming to the surface because our conscious minds generate too much noise. Keeping quiet can also lead to more philosophical,
spiritual insights. For example, generally, people tend to identify
with their thoughts and thus believe that we are what we think we are; that the ‘selves’
we’ve created in our minds are, in fact, us. In Buddhism, thoughts are one of the five
aggregates: fabrications of the mind we mistake for being ourselves. We are not our thoughts, according to the
Buddha. And if we quiet down and observe our thoughts,
we’ll discover that everything we think, all our ideas, concepts, identifications,
are fleeting. Hence, according to the Buddha, a fixed self
isn’t really there. But we only discover the illusory nature of
thoughts if we keep quiet and observe and recognize them for what they are. (2) Silence boosts creativity. The theoretical physicist Albert Einstein
argued that silence stimulates the creative mind. When he couldn’t come up with an idea, he’d
just stop thinking and “swim in silence,” (as he called it) and wait for the right information
to come to him. Therefore, like many other great minds, Einstein
spent a lot of time in solitude, using quietness to his advantage. As he stated, and I quote: “The monotony
and solitude of a quiet life stimulate the creative mind.” End quote. Executive director of the NeuroLeadership
Institute, David Rock, wrote an article for Psychology Today, stating that “An open
mind is a quiet mind.” He researches the so-called ‘aha’ moment
people have, during which a creative idea or solution arises by itself. These ‘aha’ moments involve weaker, less
noticeable connections between neurons, which are difficult to notice when other, louder
signals dominate the brain. I quote: Thus, we have insights when our overall activity
level in the brain is low. This happens when we’re either doing something
that doesn’t require a lot of mental effort, when we’re focusing on something repetitive,
or just generally more relaxed like when we wake up. Insights require a quiet mind, because they
themselves are quiet. End quote. So, it seems that we need to create the right
circumstances for our minds to quiet down. For some people, this may be going for a walk
and repetitive forms of exercise or listening to calming music. For others, like Einstein, it might be dwelling
in silence and solitude. Many of the great minds of the past, like
Isaac Newton, Elizabeth Bishop, and Nikola Tesla, worked alone in quiet places. (3) Silence can send a powerful message. In many cases, keeping quiet can send a much
stronger message than using speech. By responding to words with silence or using
rightly timed pauses during conversations, we’re able to communicate effectively without
speaking or writing. The Dutch silent rituals exemplify how silence
creates a strong message. For example, during the Remembrance of the
Dead on the 4th of May, the two minutes of silence are always the most impactful moment
of the entire ceremony, including other rituals and speeches by different people. Silence allows us to express what discourse
cannot. The many words uttered, ideas shared and promises
made, never fully encompass the human experience. However, the power of silence as an answer
to tragedy is that we acknowledge that no amount of words do justice to what we seek
to commemorate; it’s so significant to us that we’re willing to stop talking and be
silent for a certain amount of time. Is there a better way of showing respect? In conversation, using silence can be powerful
as well. American author Mark Twain stated, and I quote:
“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed
pause.” End quote. Academic research shows that silence in a
conversation starts to feel unbearable after approximately four seconds. Author of the book Cringeworthy: A Theory
of Awkwardness Melissa Dahl wrote in an article that awkward silences can be a powerful tool
for getting what you want. Dahl stated, and I quote: In researching my new book, Cringeworthy,
which is about the psychology of awkwardness, I found that uncertainty is a big factor in
the unpleasantness of feeling awkward. These are life’s unscripted moments, when
there’s no clear indication of what to say or do next. It’s a well-established finding in psychology
research that not-knowing tends to make people uneasy. End quote. So, the uncertainty caused by such silences
in conversations makes people uneasy. Did I say something wrong? Does this person dislike me? What’s going to happen next? And so, the person on the receiving end of
the silence may proceed to make any decision just to end the uneasiness of the uncertain
gap in the communication. And this decision could be beneficial to the
person brave enough to keep silent at the right moment. Another benefit of keeping silent during conversations
is that it’s safer than speech. In some situations, whatever we say weakens
our position. For example, if we’re part of a conversation
about a subject we don’t know anything about. In such cases, it’s more powerful to listen:
not just because listening grants us the opportunity to learn but also because we don’t make
a fool out of ourselves by trying to appear knowledgeable when we are not. Moreover, keeping silent shows that we’re
interested and willing to listen, which people generally appreciate. Roman writer Publilius Syrus once stated:
“I often regret that I have spoken; never that I have been silent.” (4) Silence improves well-being. How can one take refuge from a noisy world
and a noisy intellect? Innumerable experiences of many different
people across the ages tell us that silence helps us calm our busy minds. A significant body of research suggests that
silence relaxes the mind, enhances sleep, and lessens insomnia. Also, a study found that two minutes of silence
has a more calming effect than listening to relaxing music. Other studies show that environmental noise
exposure increases stress hormone levels and can cause disruptions in sleep structure. “Unnecessary noise is the most cruel absence
of care that can be inflicted on sick or well,” wrote Florence Nightingale, an English social
reformer and founder of modern nursing. In an article on Psychology Today, author
George Michelsen Foy tells us that we’ve learned to tolerate noise and see it as something
positive in our modern society. Noise means that the machines are working;
all technologies we’ve created are up and running. But by tolerating this noise, we “make a
serious mistake,” according to Foy. Noise kills, and that excessive input does
real damage and is detrimental to our ability to function: an argument backed up by a copious
amount of studies. Hence, to escape the unhealthy flow of information
and noise, we need to build silence into our lives. Moments of silence improve overall well-being
and performance. I quote: Release is what I’m truly craving here,
and release comes from emptiness. The emptiness of silence, of lonely landscapes,
of closed eyes, of lying down in a dark, quiet room. The drop in tension that happens when we take
a vacation somewhere calm, the instant of zero gravity during orgasm, the psychic leap
of a good joke when it flips the world on its head for a splinter of a second. Such void cuts off the fascist flow of constant
information, and allows us to recalibrate. To think better. To question, for a second, our baseline. It is really, really important to do that. End quote. Silence is minimalistic and empty, yet imposing
and powerful. We can’t verbalize silence, but everyone
understands it. It’s all-encompassing: mysterious but clear,
soothing but painful, idle but useful, consenting but rebellious, and elusive but accessible
to anyone. Thank you for watching.
