Silence: What is it?

What is silence?

Recently I wrote (more like did not write) about silence. The post was meant to be a silent post: one that refrained from communicating anything beyond the silence.

The post was however not truly silent. John Cage is attributed with saying that “there is no such thing as silence. Something is always happening that makes a sound.”

Since this is a writing platform, then the silence may be equated to an empty space, to which Cage similarly mentioned that “there is no such thing as empty space. As long as the human eye is looking, there is always something to see.”

I might have intended for my post to be ‘silent’, or more appropriately, ‘empty’. However, the viewer of the post will be inundated with numerous things that will fill their field of vision. Not only does the post have a visible (and in this case, audible, not silent) title, it also has a link to the associated podcast. Furthermore, the page will feature all the other typical elements of this blog from the menu to the comment section. My effort, therefore, at creating a silent post were for the most part, null.

Even a soundless chamber still has sound, for one can almost hear the sound of their beating heart and the sound of blood coursing through their head and veins. One’s breath is audible and so are the movements of the limbs, joints and the body in general.

Even in an empty space, one will still see something. In the darkest of chambers, one can still perceive the “darkness”, basically the absence of light. This darkness is visible, as much as one may claim to be hindered in their sight.

Therefore, my attempt at a silent post did nothing more than amplify the volume of the elements and factors around and besides the post itself.

What is silence?

What is emptiness?