<p>"As audio ecologist Gordon Hempton defines it, silence is “the complete absence of all audible mechanical vibrations, leaving only the sounds of nature at her most natural. Silence is the presence of everything, undisturbed.”</p>
<p>And silence, Hempton believes, is rapidly disappearing, even in the most remote places. He says there are fewer than a dozen places of silenceareas "where natural silence reigns over many square miles"remaining in America, and none in Europe. In his book, One Square Inch of Silence: One Man’s Search for Natural Silence in a Noisy World, written with John Grossman, Hempton argues that silencea precious, underrated commodityis facing extinction. …</p>
<p>[Grossman said, "] It has become an increasingly rare experience to be in nature as our distant ancestors were. Even in our national parks today, despite laws to protect them, you are much more likely to be hearing noise pollution, particularly overhead aircraft, than you are to be hearing only the native sounds of the land. </p>
<p>Yet to be in a naturally silent place is as essential today as it was to our distant ancestors. Besides spending time away from the damaging noise impacts present at our workplace, neighborhoods, and homes, we are given the opportunity not only to heal but discover something incrediblethe presence of life, interwoven! Do you know what it sounds like to listen for 20 miles in every direction? That is more than 1,000 square miles. When I listen to a naturally silent place and hear nature at its most natural, it is no longer merely sound; it is music. And like all music, good or bad, it affects us deeply…"
[America’s</a> Vanishing Silent Spaces - Newsweek.com](<a href=“http://www.newsweek.com/id/232668]America’s”>America's Vanishing Silent Spaces)</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s perfectionist to look for an absence of mechanical sound. it seems sane to me. And a place where a loud noise (waterfall, waves) masks the sounds is not the same thing as a lack of them.</p>
<p>I have been tracking wildlife in the foothills of the cascades in order to get info for wildlife bridges & while it isn’t remote- it is disconcerting to hear the constant roar of the freeway- as well as the occasional Pisten Bully grooming the ski trail.</p>
<p>I would also agree that the roar of a natural sound that masks other sound, both natural and man made is not the same as silence.</p>
<p>My basement is lined with stone (concrete) and sound absorptive materials. It is very quiet down there when all the machines are turned off.</p>
<p>The idea that silence is only available to us in natural environments is a false assumption. (Lots of people pay good money for noise-canceling headphones and then don’t listen to music.)</p>
<p>Dmd–I’ve read about Gordon a lot. The silence he’s talking about is the absence of mechanical sound, in a natural setting. He’s not saying that’s the only kind of silence. It’s the kind he has studied particularly, and written about. It resonates for me, too. I’d like to be out and not hear motors and humming.</p>
<p>Maybe he’s talking about a quiet place without mechanical sounds. The seaside is lovely, but (though I love it) it is noisy.</p>
<p>I never appreciated natural silence until one day when my mother and I went to a park with my baby. It was in the middle of nowhere in the country, and she commented on the quiet. And it was quiet, and something I’d not experienced much before. Relaxing, really.</p>
<p>I agree that traffic noise, lawnmowers, snow grooming machines and the like infringe on silence.</p>
<p>I guess I’m not so sure about an occasional aircraft flying overhead, and this seems to be one of the major obstacles to the perfect silence Hempton is seeking.</p>
<p>Of course an aircraft, even if we can’t hear it, reminds us that civilization is out there, but our rubber boots or a nylon tent can remind us of that as well.</p>
<p>I guess he means “ever and always”. I can sit in my breakfast area, in the middle of a subdivision in suburbia, and listen to birds chirping and wind blowing and crickets. Yes, sometimes a car drives past, a lawnmower runs, or a plane flies overhead, or my refrigerator motor runs. So it is not “nature silent” always, but enough to give me a sense of peace when I want it.</p>
<p>One of the things I enjoyed in Germany is that the communities are very tightly built - more apartments than single family homes - and surrounded by farmland. The farmland invariably has walking trails going through them, meant for the public, with no motorized vehicles allowed. It is very possible to get out there and hear nothing but nature. Yes, a plane might fly overhead (not that often) or you might hear a tractor or a cow. But because there is a few moments of noise versus hours of silence doesn’t seem fair to say there is no silence.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I agree with his obsession for perfect silence. But I do understand where he’s coming from. I live in an area that is VERY convenient. A quick drive to all the stores I want. Very near highways which is cool for getting out to my clients quickly. So it saves me precious time. But it’s LOUD around here. I hate sitting out on my deck…when the wind is blowing a certain way, the roar of traffic really gets to me. I like to hear the birds. </p>
<p>We have a second home in the boonies. Far out in the woods and near the mountains. It’s a hassle to get to a store or restaurant - long drive…(no TJs or Wegmans for sure) but I like it that way. We escape there and sometimes just sit on the deck and bird watch. Or we go on bike rides on deserted trails near the river. We feel lucky. I’m not sure I could live there full time but I sure appreciate the retreat. Maybe I could eventually find some place to live that is convenient AND quiet…I don’t know.</p>
<p>I guess I really disagree with the premise that silence is “a vanishing experience” (the title of the thread). If you qualify it with “natural, undisturbed silence 24/7”, sure, that’s vanishing. Can anyone who wants silence have it? Yes. You might have to retreat to a corner of your basement with headphones on.</p>
<p>Many now-silent areas used to have a lot of noise… yes, from natural sources, like the chattering of nesting birds, the roar of walruses… but still, they weren’t silent. Quiet and peaceful and natural is not the same thing as silent.</p>
<p>I’ve read a lot of journals about the frontier women’s experiences, and one of the things they hated was the relentless silence. </p>
<p>I’ve been camping on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, where the nearest airstrip only got a plane if you chartered it, and no one flew overhead… and believe me, the sound of a snake hitting the roof of your tent as it drops out of the trees…</p>
<p>Have hiked in the back country in Yosemite National Park and you can’t hear a thing. Even the aircraft are seen and not heard. It’s beautiful to hear the wind rustling through the trees and smell the pine scent from the trees. </p>
<p>We live near the beach and especially during storms or big waves the ocean is soooo loud. It’s a beautiful sound to me.</p>
<p>For 2 days after 9/11 the skies were eerily quiet. I thought at the time that I was experiencing something that no one has experienced for decades and that it may be the last time in my life the skies would be so quiet. I still think about the sky in 2001- even lack of jet trails was weird. </p>