Silence: In the Age of Noise

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Not long after, I was invited to give a lecture at St Andrews University in Scotland. I was to choose the subject myself. I tended to talk about extreme journeys to the ends of the Earth, but this time my thoughts turned homewards, to that Sunday supper with my family. So I settled on the topic of silence. A simply extraordinary book anyone with a smart-phone or a social media account would do well to read—and heed.” — Trail Magazine My children have no real experience of that. Between a great abundance of stuff, of toys and books and magazines, and the constant digital delights from their iPads and streaming TV, boredom doesn’t exist in quite the same way. The gorgeous pictures at the beginning of each segment, are breathtaking. If you are an introspective person, as I am, you will find much of value in this wonderful book.

What is silence? Where is it? Why is it more important now than ever?” were three questions they wanted answered. Silence braces a space within which we can hear ourselves think. Quietly, wisely, it makes a case for dumbing the din of modern life, and learning to listen again. Drawing on the experiences of Kagge's extraordinary life in wild places, this is a book of great concentration' - Robert Macfarlane Erling Kagge, the Norwegian adventurer and polymath, once spent fifty days walking solo in Antarctica with a broken radio. In this meditative, charming and surprisingly powerful book, he explores the power of silence and the importance of shutting out the world. Whether you're in deep wilderness, taking a shower or on the dance floor, you can experience perfect stillness if you know where to look. And from it grows self-knowledge, gratitude, wonder and much more.

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I estimated that the creature was as long as our boat, about 65ft (19m). Judging from its length, I supposed that it was a fin whale, a cosmopolitan mammal on a lifelong hunt for crabs, krill and fish. Blue whales are about the same size, but as we have managed to nearly exterminate them, I figured the odds of the world’s largest animal swimming alongside us to be rather slim. Humans are social creatures. Being accessible can be a good thing. We are unable to function alone. Yet it’s important to be able to turn off your phone, sit down, not say anything, shut your eyes, breathe deeply a couple of times and attempt to think about something other than what you are normally thinking about. Of course, Heidegger could not have predicted the possibilities offered by current technology. He was thinking about cars of 50 horsepower, film projectors and punch-card machines, which were all the rage. But he had an inkling of what might come.) One reason we fear silence, according to Kagge, is because it can speak. When we don’t want to listen, we tend to engage in activities that keep silence at bay, from texting to turning on the radio. Kagge quotes the Norwegian poet John Fosse, who describes silence “like an ocean, or like an endless snowy expanse.” Those who don’t stand in awe of the sheer majesty of silence fear it. That is why, according to Fosse, “there is music everywhere, everywhere.”

Kagge is an explorer and entrepreneur whose worldview is close to 180 degrees away from my own. He seems earnest, but entirely humorless and enraptured by rich people problems. He also, in my mind, has never met an anecdote from which he can't draw the wrong conclusion. Take a deep breath, and prepare to submerge yourself in Silence. Your own South Pole is out there, somewhere. Pastaruoju metu tylos motyvas mane vis dažniau pats susiranda knygose ir gyvenime, o tylos žygis, kuriame neseniai dalyvavau, sukėlė dar didesnį poreikį įsileisti kuo daugiau prasmingos tylos į savo gyvenimą. Todėl visai nekeista, kad netyčia užtikus tokią knygą bibliotekoje ją iškart pasigriebiau ir perskaičiau papildomai nesidomėjus (o kaip retai goodreads laikais taip būna). A joyful celebration of what feels like a precious resource that is . . . in too short supply.” —On Air, NPR Sitting there at the dinner table, I suddenly remembered their curiosity as children. How they would wonder about what might be hiding behind a door. Their amazement as they stared at a light switch and asked me to “open the light”.Brighton เมืองชายทะเลแสนสดใสทางใต้สุดของเกาะ เราปักหมุดว่าจะไปหน้าผาริมหาดชื่อดัง Seven Sisters ให้จงได้ แผ่นดินตั้งตระหง่านกับท้องทะเลเมื่ออยู่เคียงกันนั้นงดงาม และคุ้มค่าที่จะไปแม้ต้องเสียเวลาเดินทางจากในเมืองเป็นชั่วโมง As an explorer Erling Kagge is world class; as a writer he is equally gifted. This breathtaking, inspiring little book teaches us how to find precious moments of silence - whether we are crossing the Antarctic, climbing Everest, or on the train at rush hour' - Sir Ranulph Fiennes Yaklaşık bir yıldır penceremden birkaç binanın yükselişini izliyorum. Toprağın kazılmasını, katların biçimlenmesini. İzlemekle kalmıyor onu dinliyorum da. Müthiş bir gürültü. Pazar sabahları da dahil olmak üzere.. Kulaklarımı tırmalıyor ama uyumaya devam ediyorum.

Kagge writes simply of his solo ski to the South Pole without a radio, noting “the nuanced hues of the snow. The wind abating. Formations of clouds. Silence.” Later, he envisions a man in the moon peering down on his progress across the ice. Then he imagines the man in the moon observing the bustle of the everyday lives of those further north. To the man in the moon, Kagge’s illustration points out, both experiences are silent, both held in the same gaze. “As I released my ski-bindings that evening to pitch camp,” he writes, “I felt calmer and more content.” That same evening, I went to a pub with a few of them. Inside the draughty entrance, each of us with a pint of beer, it was all more or less exactly the same as my student days. Kind, curious people, a humming atmosphere, interesting conversations. Erling Kagge เขียนวิเคราะห์ถึงความเงียบในบริบทต่างๆ ผ่านสายตาของมุมมองส่วนตัวในฐานะคนเป็นพ่อที่ลูกๆ พลัดหลงอยู่ในโลกโซเชียลตลอดเวลา ผ่านข้อมูลและการทดลองทางวิทยาศาสตร์ ผ่านโลกศิลปะ ดนตรี ศิลปิน และผ่านประสบการณ์การเดินทางครั้งสำคัญของเขา A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.I found this book deeply unsatisfying. Whatever it's about, it's not really about silence. Erling Kagge is a well known explorer and traveller. My expectations, based on the book's summary, was that he would be writing about his experiences of silence journeying to the North or South Poles, for example, and that he might reach some profound conclusions. But no!