We're terrified by the still sound of silence

The horror, the sheer spine-tingling terror, must have been unimaginable.

A decade ago scientists invited a group of men and women to sit alone for a short time in a quiet room with little else but their thoughts. The participants were excited. The world was too noisy, they complained. Here, finally, was an opportunity to enjoy the sound of silence.

But within moments the quietness turned deafening. The University of Virginia researchers had wondered about this. Modern life saturates us with constant noise, leaving many of us fearful of silence. Would people prefer an unpleasant experience over complete solitude? They gave their test subjects a choice. Rather than endure fifteen minutes without any distractions or stimulation, they could push a button and give themselves a mild electric shock.

A quarter of the women and almost three-quarters of the men pressed the buzzer. One found the silence so unbearable he shocked himself 190 times, preferring pain instead of the torment of his own thoughts.

Such experiments underline how we have lost the ability to be still, and to appreciate stillness. Little more than a century ago our evenings were punctuated by the spatter of melting candle wax, the whispering of the wind and the mesmerising crackle of a fireplace. Silence was abundant and highly valued. "I think 99 times and find nothing," said Albert Einstein. "I stop thinking, swim in the silence, and the truth comes to me."

These days we cannot swim in silence. We drown in it. Frightened by its emptiness, we hide in the shallows, scrolling, clicking, flicking and texting, so scared of silence we do anything to avoid it, clinging to any distraction like capsized sailors to driftwood. My granddaughter goes to sleep each night with white noise in the background so she can grow up to be like the rest of us, addicts all, loathing our addiction to noise but craving the protection it offers from the terrors of our solitary thoughts.

Yet the older I get the more I want to shout at the world to shut up. I'm a veteran noise junkie, probably like you. But I'd love a shot at going cold turkey because a recent move from a quiet coastal retreat to the suburban fringes of a city has amplified my growing irritation with noise.

I've taken to walking the dogs with noise-cancelling earphones. I've experimented with meditation classes. But not even the Dalai Lama could ignore the whining of power drills and machine gun jackhammering in a suburb constantly being renovated.

I can't entirely blame my hostility toward noise on this suburban shift. As we age the hair cells and nerve fibres in our ears deteriorate, altering our perception of sound. Don't I know it. Restaurant meals are now ruined by the mumbling of fellow diners and the incessant thumping of background music. A stroll through a shopping centre becomes an assault on the senses more overwhelming than the front row at a heavy metal concert. The crinkling of a chip packet at the movies is as cringe-inducing as fingernails scratching a blackboard.

We live in this maelstrom because the modern world has convinced us that silence equals emptiness. To be quiet is to be boring. Solitude means you're missing out. Noise - often a television or radio - provides company for the lonely. But many of us are trapped in a paradox, longing for serenity yet bewildered when we finally experience it.

Today's example: When I sat down to write this column I deliberately turned off the background music I normally play. With my wife, out the only distraction was a snoring dog. I began writing. Then, despite no pinging notifications demanding my attention, I repeatedly reached for my phone to start another round of doom scrolling.

The bellowing soundtrack of our lives has only worsened with the rise of what is called informational noise - the mental stuff like pinging messages, emails and calendar updates. A former CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, has estimated that "every two days we now create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilisation up until 2003".

Science tells us our brains need quiet. Two hours of silence a day encourages cell growth in our hippocampus, the part of our brain tied to memory and emotions. Lengthy exposure to noise raises stress hormones, putting us on edge. We all know this. But we don't care. Our distrust of silence outweighs the alternative.

Because it's not silence we fear the most.

It's what we hear when the noise stops.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Are you comfortable with silence? What techniques do you use to escape from the noise of modern life? What sounds irritate you the most? Do you find yourself more annoyed by noise the older you get? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au

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THEY SAID IT: "Noise is the most impertinent of all forms of interruption. It is not only an interruption, but also a disruption of thought." - Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher

YOU SAID IT: In these tough times, a little inspiration from our political leaders would go a long way. Sadly, Dutton and Albanese are incapable of providing it.

Wayne writes: "The current government has achieved many successes despite a biased press showing little acknowledgment. We do not vote for a leader but a party that has sound policies and competent ministers. Many of the so-called cost of living issues are state controlled and not a federal responsibility."

"How often a few words explain a major problem better than whole columns," writes Murray. "The final line of Thursday morning's missive from the burrow gives a succinct summary of our predicament. Albanese has been described as the worst prime minister the country has ever had. Strong words. But on recent performance, one would have to be an incurable optimist to believe Dutton would be a measurable improvement. Churchill promised that Britain would fight on the beaches. Dutton looks like he couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag. Given repeated opportunities to strongly oppose various actions or lack thereof from the government, he appears fearful of just calling a spade a spade. With only weeks until a federal election, we are in a dire situation. We can't have Churchill, but someone offering some solutions would be nice."

Jennifer writes: "No party head enables hope or vision of a bright future, instead negatively focused on problems to be avoided. Well-informed independents are motivated, energised and enlightened with great ideas, plans, policies and bills to cut through that crap, but they're opposed by depressed old men desperately hanging onto power, stuck in their funk and unable to move forward. It's obvious that we need to spill and refresh the power base."

"I think the rate cut offers the hope that the economy is moving in the right direction," writes Sue K. "The biggest worry for our future is the international situation over which we have even less say. I fear the next 12 months will make us wish we could go back to just worrying about Australia's inflation and not have the international chaos that will drag us further into misery."

Peter writes: "It looks like it'll be a choice between a contemptible, timid Albanese and a disgusting, Trumpesque Dutton - except that the prospect of teals and independents might restore sanity and sense. They represent the best of our democracy. Albanese's pathetic political cowardice and Dutton's unprincipled opportunism are both unwanted."

"With the way politics has been done in recent years I am expecting an increase in independent members to be a positive for government in Australia," writes Stuart. "I will most definitely be voting independent in Farrer, NSW. Replacing a party hack with a community-minded representative would be a dream outcome."

Sue B writes: "My mortgage is finally small enough that I hope to pay it off soon, that is if the house, now 35 years old, doesn't provide me with too many repairs and maintenance costs for jobs that I am too old to be able to do myself anymore. I had hopes that a strong party behind him would aid Albo and give him the boost he needed. It didn't happen. But Dutton is full of sound and fury and we all know what that signifies. Once again, I will go into an election choosing the best I can from my local candidates rather than supporting a political party, or perhaps even submitting a vote that doesn't support any candidate because I can't, in all honesty, endorse any of them, even though this is an action I once totally disapproved."