Unexplainable

The Sound Barrier #3: What does silence sound like?

November 10, 2025

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  • People would rather give themselves a painful electric shock than sit alone in silence for 15 minutes, suggesting a strong aversion to unstructured quiet time. 
  • Auditory illusions, like the 'one is more illusion,' demonstrate that the brain processes silences in a manner similar to how it processes sounds, suggesting we are actively 'hearing' silence. 
  • True silence is virtually unattainable, as demonstrated by experiences in an anechoic chamber where internal bodily sounds (nervous system, heartbeat) become audible, reinforcing the idea that silence is full of noise. 

Segments

Silence Aversion Experiment
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(00:01:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Nearly half of participants chose to self-administer a painful electric shock rather than endure 15 minutes of silence.
  • Summary: Researcher Erin Westgate initially hypothesized that people would enjoy time alone with their thoughts in silence. When subjected to 15 minutes of silence, most participants disliked the experience, leading to a follow-up study. In that study, almost 50% of participants opted for an electric shock over continued silence.
Philosophical Debate on Silence
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(00:05:02)
  • Key Takeaway: There is a philosophical debate on whether silence constitutes a genuine experience or is merely the absence of experience.
  • Summary: Rui Zhe Goh questioned what he felt during a moment of silence at a symphony, prompting an investigation into the nature of silence. Some philosophers argue that experiencing silence is a genuine phenomenon. Others maintain that silence is simply the lack of any experience.
Auditory Illusion and Silence
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(00:06:14)
  • Key Takeaway: The ‘one is more illusion,’ where two short sounds seem shorter than one long sound of the same duration, applies equally to sequences of silence.
  • Summary: The ‘one is more illusion’ reveals the brain’s tendency to segment auditory input into discrete units, even when those units are silences. Goh replicated this illusion by replacing sounds with silences in a noisy background. The results showed that a single silence was perceived as longer than two silences of equal total duration, indicating the auditory system processes silence like sound.
Anechoic Chamber Experience
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(00:13:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Anechoic chambers eliminate echoes, causing sounds like one’s own voice to be absorbed, leading to surreal auditory experiences.
  • Summary: Melody Baglione guided the host into the only anechoic chamber in New York City, designed to absorb nearly all sound reflections. The wedges covering the walls, floor, and ceiling prevent echoes, making the environment feel ’thick’ and surreal. After adaptation, internal bodily sounds like breathing and heartbeat become prominent.
John Cage and Internal Sounds
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(00:17:52)
  • Key Takeaway: Composer John Cage experienced his nervous and circulatory systems as high and low sounds, respectively, within an anechoic chamber.
  • Summary: John Cage visited an anechoic chamber seeking silence but heard two distinct sounds: one high and one low. An engineer informed him these were the sounds of his nervous system and circulatory system. This illustrates that when external sound reception stops, internal biological sounds become perceptible.
Reframing Silence and Noise
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(00:18:45)
  • Key Takeaway: John Cage’s 4'33" reframes silence not as nothingness, but as an opportunity to hear the ambient sounds of the performance environment.
  • Summary: Cage’s famous piece, 4'33", is not a joke but a recontextualization of what silence is. The sounds heard during the performance—coughs, creaks, rain, or talking—become the intentional composition. This supports the idea that there is no absolute silence, only varying textures of noise.
Value of Experiencing Silence
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(00:23:34)
  • Key Takeaway: Silence, like natural wonders or grief, possesses inherent value simply by being an experience available to humans.
  • Summary: Silence is not empty but possesses a texture and can be powerful, awkward, or beautiful. Experiencing silence is a state of perceiving the world on its own terms, similar to appreciating the Grand Canyon. Part of the human wonder is the ability to experience and appreciate these states like silence or boredom.