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Can You 'Hear' Silence?

Do you hear silence?

  • Yes, it's fun!

    Votes: 36 67.9%

  • No, it must suck.

    Votes: 2 3.8%

  • What the......?

    Votes: 10 18.9%

  • My life is too loud to hear it.

    Votes: 5 9.4%
  • Total voters
    53
Mammoth

Mammoth

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 29, 2005
938
0
Canada
I can hear silence, I hear it when I'm in a completely silent spot (My friends car when it's turned off for example) and I start hearing a high-but-not-high-pitched frequency. After a minute or so it starts to ring as well. But the trick to hearing it is to focus on the silence. So do you hear it?
 
Mammoth said:
I can hear silence, I hear it when I'm in a completely silent spot (My friends car when it's turned off for example) and I start hearing a high-but-not-high-pitched frequency. After a minute or so it starts to ring as well. But the trick to hearing it is to focus on the silence. So do you hear it?
Click to expand...

I hear exactly what you described, but I dont know if its silence:p
 
I've always thought I could hear silence. Sometimes it bugs me - I need something making noise in order to sleep (just a slight noise - like a computer running).
 
i know this sound.....i experienced it a few seconds after i switched off the TV. very high pitched, and if you focus on it, it actually becomes annoying! i always thought it was just the general hum of all the electronic whizz-bang around me. however, i dont know for sure.

i know that a CRT tv makes a high pitched noise (albeit quiet) when on, which my parents and other older members of my family do not notice.....something regarding this phoenomenon maybe? just throwing it out there...

S
 
If you really want the full blast of it, sit in your car (somewhere quiet like a garage) for a few minutes. (Just like I did in my friends car)
 
Patmian212 said:
I hear exactly what you described, but I dont know if its silence:p
Click to expand...

Yes - I do not know if I would descibe it as silence as you are hearing something. Perhaps it is perceived as silence - or maybe it is our ears correcting themselves after loud sounds.

The real question needs to be do you hear on a different frequency or hear between the words...
 
Then thats not silence, imo.

If someone asked me on a game show what silence is, I would answer:

The lack of sound.

So if you hear anything then its not silence.
 
Xander562 said:
It's called Tinnitus.
Click to expand...

Beat me to it :D

I have it occasionally - its from using chain saws back in the 80s without ear protection mostly, I imagine. And sometimes it gets worse for a day or so if I've been listening to really loud music.

Now I wear ear protection no matter what power tool I use.

D
 
Xander562 said:
It's called Tinnitus.
Click to expand...


ha, yeah, i hear that sound. i have been told by doctors (MD) and Ph.D. (professors) that the sound comes from your ears loosing hearing of a certain frequency. for example, you hear a gun shot, then loud ringing after. if you hear gunshots often (unprotected) then you will eventually 'not' be able to hear the gunshot. this is because you will essentially destroy that part of your ear drum that perceives those frequencies. in the process of destruction, you will hear a ringing sound. i hear this sound because i often listen to my music too loud!

anyway, just curious, but can you see darkness?
 
I'm a music professor and there's a famous story about an infamous American composer, John Cage. He's the one that "wrote" the piece 4'33" (the piece where a pianist comes out on stage, sits down, positions their hands just above the keyboard, and holds them there for 4'33". The "music" is the audience's reaction). Back in the 1960s Cage wanted to know if there was such a thing as complete silence. He went to AT&T's sound lab, which had the best sound room at the time. He discovered that even when there was nothing audible, his ears picked up the sounds of his central nervous system. So the answer to this question is no, there is no such thing as silence.
 
Kashchei said:
I'm a music professor and there's a famous story about an infamous American composer, John Cage. He's the one that "wrote" the piece 4'33" (the piece where a pianist comes out on stage, sits down, positions their hands just above the keyboard, and holds them there for 4'33". The "music" is the audience's reaction). Back in the 1960s Cage wanted to know if there was such a thing as complete silence. He went to AT&T's sound lab, which had the best sound room at the time. He discovered that even when there was nothing audible, his ears picked up the sounds of his central nervous system. So the answer to this question is no, there is no such thing as silence.
Click to expand...

Word... interesting.

Everyone has experienced it. I think about it when I'm sittin' on the can :D
 
Surely...'sound' doesn't exist until air waves strike our ear mechanism and our brain interprets them into 'sound'. Therefore 'silence' would mean the lack of airwaves hitting our ear, which wouldn't happen unless you were in a complete vacuum (and, vis-a-vis above post, there was no physical medium between said ear mechanism and the rest of our cardio-vascular system). The physicists can take it from there.
 
yes and no

Technically, I don't think you can hear silence. Your ears will always pick up something, even if it is your own heartbeat or breathing.

However, the near perfect silence of a frigid winter day is wonderful.

When there isn't any wind, no leaves on trees to rustle, no animals or birds moving around, it seems so quiet you'd swear you could hear the snow falling. Growing up in a rural area has its benefits. :)

As for the ringing sensation - stop listening to music so loud, and protect your ears when doing something loud like operating machinery ;)
 
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