“All profound things and emotion of things

are proceeded and attended by silence.”

Herman Melville

In Western cultures, silence is commonly used

as a means to show respect and recollect.

One example prominent in Dutch culture is

the Silent March; a ritual that grew out of

the silent Catholic walks in Amsterdam.

This Catholic tradition was a reaction to

a prohibition on their processions by the

Protestant establishment.

A march in silence, without prayer, singing,

religious garments, or attributes, wasn’t

prohibited, and so, a new ritual arose that

survived to this day.

As for the Silent Marches (often a response

to senseless violence), people react in a

way that transcends the many hollow words

swirling around after a tragic event and our

‘culture of noise,’ in which violence

so frequently occurs.

Similarly, the annual Remembrance of the Dead

answers the killing and murdering of all Dutch

victims of wars and peacekeeping missions

with two minutes of silence.

It’s silence that makes these rituals so

powerful; there’s no music, no words, or

singing to distract oneself from the purpose.

Moreover, what better resistance to the deafening

noise of war and the loudness of violent people

engaging in mindless bloodshed is there besides

silence?

And when words aren’t sufficient, isn’t

silence the most appropriate response?

The power of silence is versatile.

Silence can transcend speech, speak without

words, and complement where verbal language

is lacking.
And keeping silent also has advantages in
terms of creativity, mental health, spiritual

and religious practice, achieving the upper

hand in negotiations, and even as a way to

intimidate.

This video explores the power of silence,

unfolding four benefits of being silent.

(1) The quieter you are, the more you hear.

The mystic and poet Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad

Rūmī once realized that the quieter we become,

the more we’re able to hear.

From his mystical point of view, listening

is essential, as Rumi tried to get closer

to God and hear a “voice that doesn’t

use words” by being still.

When we let go of all the words, we open ourselves

up to other voices previously suppressed by

continual verbal noise.

These could be inner voices (as philosopher

Ralph Waldo Emerson called the ‘inner knowing’)

and outside voices and sounds that one misses

because of a lack of listening.

We can listen effectively if we keep quiet,

inside and outside.

By keeping quiet, we become receptive to our

surroundings.

We pay attention to what our senses observe,

so we learn and eventually become smarter

and wiser.

If we refuse to keep quiet nor listen to what

others have to say, we only share what we

already know and don’t learn anything.

The ancient philosopher Pythagoras once stated:

“A fool is known by his speech, and a wise

man by silence.”

Similarly, Lao Tzu wrote: “Those who know

do not talk.
Those who talk do not know.”

Being quiet helps us learn about the environment

and recognize dangers (and opportunities)

that we would have skipped if we were too

busy talking.

But it also allows us to gather information

about ourselves.

Often, people are so busy overthinking, worrying,

ruminating, and analyzing that they’re shutting

down the underlying voices that are trying

to speak.

For example, we may forget to listen to our

intuitions or let our bodily pains tell us

about specific health issues.

Or we block ideas and solutions that are already

within us from coming to the surface because

our conscious minds generate too much noise.

Keeping quiet can also lead to more philosophical,

spiritual insights.

For example, generally, people tend to identify

with their thoughts and thus believe that

we are what we think we are; that the ‘selves’

we’ve created in our minds are, in fact,

us.

In Buddhism, thoughts are one of the five

aggregates: fabrications of the mind we mistake

for being ourselves.

We are not our thoughts, according to the

Buddha.

And if we quiet down and observe our thoughts,

we’ll discover that everything we think,

all our ideas, concepts, identifications,

are fleeting.

Hence, according to the Buddha, a fixed self

isn’t really there.

But we only discover the illusory nature of

thoughts if we keep quiet and observe and
recognize them for what they are.

(2) Silence boosts creativity.

The theoretical physicist Albert Einstein

argued that silence stimulates the creative

mind.

When he couldn’t come up with an idea, he’d

just stop thinking and “swim in silence,”

(as he called it) and wait for the right information

to come to him.

Therefore, like many other great minds, Einstein

spent a lot of time in solitude, using quietness

to his advantage.

As he stated, and I quote: “The monotony

and solitude of a quiet life stimulate the

creative mind.”

End quote.

Executive director of the NeuroLeadership

Institute, David Rock, wrote an article for

Psychology Today, stating that “An open

mind is a quiet mind.”

He researches the so-called ‘aha’ moment

people have, during which a creative idea

or solution arises by itself.

These ‘aha’ moments involve weaker, less

noticeable connections between neurons, which

are difficult to notice when other, louder

signals dominate the brain.

I quote:

Thus, we have insights when our overall activity

level in the brain is low.

This happens when we’re either doing something

that doesn’t require a lot of mental effort,

when we’re focusing on something repetitive,

or just generally more relaxed like when we

wake up.

Insights require a quiet mind, because they

themselves are quiet.
End quote.

So, it seems that we need to create the right

circumstances for our minds to quiet down.

For some people, this may be going for a walk

and repetitive forms of exercise or listening

to calming music.

For others, like Einstein, it might be dwelling

in silence and solitude.

Many of the great minds of the past, like

Isaac Newton, Elizabeth Bishop, and Nikola

Tesla, worked alone in quiet places.

(3) Silence can send a powerful message.

In many cases, keeping quiet can send a much

stronger message than using speech.

By responding to words with silence or using

rightly timed pauses during conversations,

we’re able to communicate effectively without

speaking or writing.

The Dutch silent rituals exemplify how silence

creates a strong message.

For example, during the Remembrance of the

Dead on the 4th of May, the two minutes of

silence are always the most impactful moment

of the entire ceremony, including other rituals

and speeches by different people.

Silence allows us to express what discourse

cannot.

The many words uttered, ideas shared and promises

made, never fully encompass the human experience.

However, the power of silence as an answer

to tragedy is that we acknowledge that no

amount of words do justice to what we seek

to commemorate; it’s so significant to us

that we’re willing to stop talking and be

silent for a certain amount of time.

Is there a better way of showing respect?

In conversation, using silence can be powerful

as well.

American author Mark Twain stated, and I quote:

“The right word may be effective, but no

word was ever as effective as a rightly timed

pause.”

End quote.

Academic research shows that silence in a

conversation starts to feel unbearable after

approximately four seconds.

Author of the book Cringeworthy: A Theory

of Awkwardness Melissa Dahl wrote in an article

that awkward silences can be a powerful tool

for getting what you want.

Dahl stated, and I quote:

In researching my new book, Cringeworthy,

which is about the psychology of awkwardness,

I found that uncertainty is a big factor in

the unpleasantness of feeling awkward.

These are life’s unscripted moments, when

there’s no clear indication of what to say

or do next.

It’s a well-established finding in psychology

research that not-knowing tends to make people

uneasy.

End quote.

So, the uncertainty caused by such silences

in conversations makes people uneasy.

Did I say something wrong?

Does this person dislike me?

What’s going to happen next?

And so, the person on the receiving end of

the silence may proceed to make any decision

just to end the uneasiness of the uncertain

gap in the communication.

And this decision could be beneficial to the

person brave enough to keep silent at the
right moment.

Another benefit of keeping silent during conversations

is that it’s safer than speech.

In some situations, whatever we say weakens

our position.

For example, if we’re part of a conversation

about a subject we don’t know anything about.

In such cases, it’s more powerful to listen:

not just because listening grants us the opportunity

to learn but also because we don’t make

a fool out of ourselves by trying to appear

knowledgeable when we are not.

Moreover, keeping silent shows that we’re

interested and willing to listen, which people

generally appreciate.

Roman writer Publilius Syrus once stated:

“I often regret that I have spoken; never

that I have been silent.”

(4) Silence improves well-being.

How can one take refuge from a noisy world

and a noisy intellect?

Innumerable experiences of many different

people across the ages tell us that silence

helps us calm our busy minds.

A significant body of research suggests that

silence relaxes the mind, enhances sleep,

and lessens insomnia.

Also, a study found that two minutes of silence

has a more calming effect than listening to

relaxing music.

Other studies show that environmental noise

exposure increases stress hormone levels and

can cause disruptions in sleep structure.

“Unnecessary noise is the most cruel absence

of care that can be inflicted on sick or well,”

wrote Florence Nightingale, an English social

reformer and founder of modern nursing.
In an article on Psychology Today, author
George Michelsen Foy tells us that we’ve

learned to tolerate noise and see it as something

positive in our modern society.

Noise means that the machines are working;

all technologies we’ve created are up and

running.

But by tolerating this noise, we “make a

serious mistake,” according to Foy.

Noise kills, and that excessive input does

real damage and is detrimental to our ability

to function: an argument backed up by a copious

amount of studies.

Hence, to escape the unhealthy flow of information

and noise, we need to build silence into our

lives.

Moments of silence improve overall well-being

and performance.

I quote:

Release is what I’m truly craving here,

and release comes from emptiness.

The emptiness of silence, of lonely landscapes,

of closed eyes, of lying down in a dark, quiet

room.

The drop in tension that happens when we take

a vacation somewhere calm, the instant of

zero gravity during orgasm, the psychic leap

of a good joke when it flips the world on

its head for a splinter of a second.

Such void cuts off the fascist flow of constant

information, and allows us to recalibrate.

To think better.

To question, for a second, our baseline.

It is really, really important to do that.

End quote.

Silence is minimalistic and empty, yet imposing

and powerful.

We can’t verbalize silence, but everyone

understands it.

It’s all-encompassing: mysterious but clear,

soothing but painful, idle but useful, consenting

but rebellious, and elusive but accessible

to anyone.

Thank you for watching.