Philosopher and adventurer Erling Kagge, the first person to reach the ‘three poles’ of North, South and the summit of Everest, explores the power of silence. Struck by a vague angst about his constant need for distraction and reluctance to hold still for a single moment, the explorer asks how we lost silence and where we might go to find it again.
Some of the main points of discussion in this second episode were the following.
Silence can be boring, uncomfortable, scary, a sign of loneliness or sorrow
We experience silence when we keep quiet when there is something that one does not want to talk about
Silence can also be a friend and comfort, reassuring
It can be daunting, one may rather do anything else as opposed to filling the silence with oneself
The problems faced by humanity stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone
One searches for fresh purposes that draw our attention outwards, away from ourselves
Such opportunities for interruption have increased dramatically over the last century
We live in the age of noise
Noise comes in the form of distracting sounds and images and as ones own fleeting thoughts
The more we are inundated with noise, the more we seek to be distracted
A chemical in the brain called opioid is meant to create the feelings of happiness that one gets when one has completed ones goals.
Dopamine is a chemical that helps regulate movement, attention, learning, and emotional responses. It also enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action to move toward them.Dopamine is stronger than opioid, and is the reason why one is never content that they have fulfilled their desires.
It is more fulfilling to anticipate and seek rather than to value and appreciate the fact that you have fulfilled your desires
This form of noise engenders anxiety and negative feelings.
The basic business model of social networks such as twitter is to create a need for you to use an app, which the same app should then fill, but only temporarily
FOMO - Fear of Missing Out or fear of missing a special moment
Silence is the opposite of all of this. It is about experiencing rather than overthinking, allowing each moment to be big enough, shutting out the world and creating your own silence
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