The Beauty of The Silence

Recently, I have received several really awesome comments recently across the different media platforms I use, the subject of one of which is the topic for this article. However, I also wish to thank my readers for the encouragement you give for me to continue writing. That in and of itself is what actually keeps me going. Knowing that I am not wasting my time writing these articles and that others enjoy my musings keeps me active and researching. 

I also appreciate the opportunity to (try) to explain the science as I understand it. My understanding is constantly being reshaped and clarified by the science as new science becomes available. Part of the reason I tend to focus on psychology is because of how my own beliefs have changed over the past decade or two. Much of how society operates is based upon our psychology and how our behaviors affect the interactions between ourselves and the rest of the planet. Here is a rather poignant quote in this instance, from Albert Einstein:

"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

I continue to back up my claims with proof of those claims, making certain that my claims aren't just an opinion of mine. While I don't always provide links to peer-reviewed scientific studies, there are many interesting videos and other media (sometimes even memes) which can provide a better experience of presenting the science. I also attempt to explain further if someone appears not to understand something (in the comments section). 

Originally, I expected for this blog to be just a way for me to share the files and maybe provide a few articles based upon the theme of how we arrived at this place in time. It was a way for me to explain myself in a more complete manner so I didn't have to spend so much time writing comments and I could attach multiple links in one article rather than spend time attaching links in separate comments AND it wasn't subject to Facebook bots finding fault with too many comments (labelling them "spam") or violating "community guidelines" which frequently include posting anything with too much truth. One of my posts which contained a story from The Atlantic about climate change and extinction was incorrectly labeled "fake news" by the Facebook bots and combined with that so-called "offense" along with posting "spam" regarding my editing of the files in two groups I run, I was put in Facebook jail for a week. That was when I decided I had had more than enough of that nonsense. I never really considered the possibility that I might write almost 100 articles in two years' time (in fact, had you told me I would do this back then, I would have laughed myself silly).

Now that I'm past the intro and backstory, it's on to the beauty of the silence. If you have ever been inside a "dead room" or anechoic chamber, you know a little bit about silence due to the non-reflective qualities of such a room. In this particular case, we're not talking about total or complete silence, but the absence of the sound of industrial civilization. There are many remote spots far away from cities that have this quality, but most people like me have to drive quite a ways to get to one.  

The trouble is that many of these places are threatened with the loss of this silence, and one place in particular was brought to my attention from my friend, Lorraine Suzuki. This one place is part of Olympic National Park and located in the Hoh Rainforest. It is known as One Square Inch and is quite possibly the quietest place in the lower United States. One quote is prescient "Silence is not the absence of something, but the presence of everything."

Perhaps one reason that this place is important to me personally is the fact that I have been to the Hoh Rainforest myself. These pictures certainly leave quite a bit to be desired, as they were not taken with a DSLR camera and I have learned quite a bit since then about taking pictures. Still, one cannot deny the absolute beauty of this place - the sounds, the sights, the smells, the feelings, and the experience of being in such a remote location all contribute to a most relaxing aura. I remember looking around in complete amazement here - places like this bring such a feeling of interconnectedness that is rather difficult to describe. If one stands still, one can feel almost hypnotized simply by being there. If you go, take the time to do some good hiking. The trip I was on here was before my camping days (which didn't begin until 2016 on my iconic trip to Alaska); if I went now, I would spend more than a day there.

Certain parts of this location involve the typical national park experience with kids running and screaming and climbing on everything in sight, but many places can be found that don't feature that kind of fun (watching them enjoying themselves can be quite pleasurable). In this article, I'm not going to go into details about civilization, or ecological overshoot, or technology use, or degrowth. I'm simply going to go straight to the best that can be done now:

Live Now!