WHY AM I AFRAID OF SILENCE? II: Silence as Behaviour

After some years of break, I am making a renewed effort to continue the reflection I published in 2009 titled, WHY AM I AFRAID OF SILENCE? Click here for the first part, titled ‘Silence Confronts’ http://nwachinwe.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-am-i-afraid-of-silence.html A guest writer has spurred me on to continue the reflection by initiating part 2, which attempts to answer the question: ‘What kind of silence am I afraid of?’ To answer this question, we must look at the nature of silence. Our guest writer, as a Psychologist, views silence from the dimension of human actions or behaviour. Subsequently, we shall draw other impacts of silence, including spirituality and relationship.

 Excerpts:

                                                  SILENCE AS BEHAVIOUR

What do we understand by silence?

Silence is said to mean the absence of intentional sounds. By intentional sounds we mean things we turn on, like TVs. I-pods, words we speak, and the ones we hear, music, game sounds, etc. By this definition of silence, we can say that silence is a purposeful quietness, and also an action.

Fear of silence is also said to be a learnt behaviour. This theory can be supported with a research conducted by Drs Michael Bittman and Mark Sipthorp with 580 undergraduate students.[1] This research was undertaken over six years, and the result shows that constant accessibility and exposure to background media leads to fear of silence. Since fear of silence of silence is a learnt behaviour, it can also be unlearned by confronting the experience of silence.
                 
SILENCE AS AN ACTION
Silence implies consent. This is a concept in "Social Interaction" which means that people tend to assume silence to an action as tacit approval of that action. For instance, when there is an issue and you are being silent, others may interpret that as consent. Silence on the other hand can mean objecting. Example, if somebody calls you an idiot and you remain silent, it can mean that the person is too much of an idiot to deserve a response.

Summarily, silence is an action which implies consent and also an objection, depending on the purpose it is being used.
 
Written by:
Adachukwu Umeh, B.Sc. Psy
amikangel4real@yahoo.com

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[1]Hofmann, G. (2013). Our Fear of Silence.Psych Central.Retrieved on April  23, 2015 from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/16/our-fear-of-ilence.