Do You Hear That? Oh Wait, It's SILENT
SILENCE. Sometimes sought after, but never fully endured, silence is not only a mechanism for finding peace in our ever talkative world, but it is also a powerful rhetorical tactic in an argument.
Yes, we have all been asked to be silent before. Whether it be by our peers, our respective elders, our teachers, our parents, our friends, possibly even our animals, sometimes people demand for silence. But how do we come to find silence? Is it by simply asking others to be quiet? Or perhaps we demand it? Perhaps we are tired of the other person's approach to a political situation, so we find the best thing that we can do for them is shove them into submissive silence. (All of this is rhetoricall speaking, of course).
After reading Chapter 12 of I'm Right and You're An Idiot, I began to realize the impact of silence in our busy society. For the longest time, I thought silence was a peaceful sound. I could work to it, fall asleep to it, perhaps even reflect on it. Now, however, I find I need noise. Music, chatter, the clanging of dishes, anything is better than silence. I still find some peace within silence, but not for long. This made me reflect on how silence impacts our society.
Have you ever been minding your own business, perhaps sitting in class on a gloomy day, and someone comes up to you and asks what's wrong? You look at them confused, wondering why they think something is wrong, and they answer with "Well, you're just quiet." When did quietness become such a terrible thing?
In many of my debate and speech courses, the emphasis on silence was great because not many people use it enough. Leaving a pause or allowing your audience the silence to reflect on your impactful words can truly emphasis your point in a debate. But with time standards and people's lack of attention, the idea of silence becomes a wasted value. We feel rushed on time, as if we need every ounce of that time to state our words, but silence can be just as impactful as a passionate plea.
Although there is that impactful side of silence, Hoggan shows the defeated side of silence. In chapter 12, Jason Stanley expresses how making improbable statements and twisting the meaning of the context can force people into silence. When a person makes a verbose phrase to try and explain their improbable "fact," they could be bombarded with questions into how that person came by that fact. Instead of simply admitting that they were wrong, they then feel attacked and feel the need to move to ad hominem arguments, forcing the other people in the discussion into silence since they do not want to be attacked in such a way. Stealing a person's voice pushes them into silence. They may be afraid to share their thoughts, argue their beliefs, or even to hold a civilized debate with someone who has an opposing viewpoint. Silence is what allows misinformation to spread. (Do not get me wrong, it can also be spread by very loud-mouthed people). Silence is what prevents more ideas from coming out and debates from ensuing.
With all that being said, have you been reading this in silence? Or did your mind somehow tune out all of the noise? Have you ever been silenced by someone during a debate, or perhaps have you ever silenced someone else? Remember that silence is not always a bad thing, and it can be used for good, as in using it for emphasis on a point. But perhaps this will help us reflect on how we use silence today.
Jennifer, this is a great reflection on silence. It think it's very intuitive of you that you focused on how silence can be be used for good or ill. I think in the public sphere today you see silence often uses as a way to avoid what makes one uncomfortable or something someone disagrees with. Thus, as you said debates that need to happen don't happen. Then society can't change in ways it may need to or at least consider how it can improve for the better.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, I've been reading this post in silence. I find that I prefer silence--all my friends need music to do their homework, and they still pick up their phones every few minutes for a bender. But I'll be honest, I just worked on my part of the group project for two straight hours and I swear is there were any weird noises or sights, I sure didn't notice them. I'm a bit unusual in the sense that when I focus, I get in a groove, it can last four hours and anything to break my concentration is what breaks the silence and the distractions come pouring in.
ReplyDeleteI used to feel defeated by silence at times, like in Hoggan's claims, but growing up with a suuuuuuuuuper stubborn twin sister, I've learned to be silent and "let her win," but that doesn't mean I've been bested or defeated. I just keep my opinion to myself. If I feel someone is a lost cause for healthy debate, I simply remain silent. It's definitely a brain game though, to feel like silence isn't "wrong" or a "loss."
I love complete silence personally, because it's when my thoughts come most clearly. Like as opposed to how I'm typing this now and keep thinking about the low drone of my fridge...
As someone who is also was a really passionate vocalist/choralist/actor, I understand the impact a moment of silence can make on a scene as well. My advice to everyone, then, is to take really deep breaths for a moment when you're engaged in intense discourse--it forces you to still yourself and reflect on your past and future actions, and this can avoid some bad discourse!
_Unspoken: A Rhetoric of Silence_, by Cheryl Glenn
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Unspoken-Rhetoric-Silence-Cheryl-Glenn/dp/0809325845
You know, I never consider how loud it is until silence is forced upon me. A week or two ago, my power went out for about 2 hours. It was dead quiet. One might not even be able to tell I live with 6 other people. No microwave or toaster going off. No quiet whir of computer fans. No soft hiss of the air conditioning cooling the house.
ReplyDeleteWhat does this have to do with the rhetorical nature of silence? Well, nothing. That time merely stands in sharp contrast to now. As I read your post and type this response, my family shouts across the house talking business. My mechanical keyboard can be heard from most locations on the same floor. My brother’s computer’s fans fill any gaps in sound my compatriots leave. My damn cats won’t stop fighting each other. All that, and I don’t feel the need to block out the sound with noise cancelling headphones as I sometimes find necessary.
To me, silence is unnatural. A disruption in communications (or electricity). Silence is a sign of something that should not be. It is a sign of isolation; a harbinger of stagnation. To me, silence is something best taken to small doses.
Jennifer I always love your blog posts. One of my smartest friends ever TBH. I think back to the show Outlander and how when Claire Randall went from 1945 to 1743 then to the 60s, she commented on how loud the world had become. She was used to the quiet of being in the 1700s, without electricity and cars and all the cities. Quiet is more something that I notice when it is gone. I can be chilling by myself but one of my 6 other members of my house will come back and make the dogs bark and suddenly my happy little bubble is popped and I am missing the silence. Having three brothers, four dogs, a crap ton of chickens, an friend in my room, and my loud grandpa next door means that I never have any silence, unless everyone is asleep (which at least one person is awake at all times in my house).
ReplyDelete