Silence vs. Noise- Michelle Wolff

The relationship between silence and noise can be thought of as more than just the obvious connection: they are opposites. Although the two words are an opposite pair that most think of as a package, they actually aren’t always opposites. I always associated the two words, silent and noise, as strictly being opposites. Once I thought about them in a more in-depth manner, I was able to discover that the two usually thought of as opposite words in fact do share some similarities.

            Silence in some ways can be thought of as noise. Although, it cannot literally be thought of as noise, since no one can hear silence. If someone is upset, and chooses not to speak, other people can sometimes sense their emotions even though he or she is not speaking. Not literally, can someone “hear” emotions if they are silent, but it does not take words said aloud to know how someone is feeling. Facial expressions are often used to substitute noise in order to convey a feeling.

            Similarly to this idea about silence, we can also think of noise in this way. Noise is obviously something a person can hear, but just because one can hear something, does not mean that the words have value. Some would consider speech without value to be silence, since there is no point in absorbing it. Noise is also not necessary all the time. Like I mentioned above, noise can be unnecessary sometimes and silence can be just as good if not a better way to get a point across. Some would agree that a person shouldn’t just “speak to speak,” and rather speak when necessary. Their thoughts are more likely to be heard and less likely to be overlooked or appear “silent.”

            Although silence and noise do share some similarities, they also greatly reflect there opposite stereotypes. While there are many different types of noise, there is only one type of silent. That being said, a silent person can act in a variety of different ways, but they will always be silent. Something that is making a noise has an endless amount of possibilities of noises to make.

            Noises aren’t the only way to show emotion or convey a message. “Signs” are not only silent but also are able to easily convey certain messages. Not just signs but also people, for instance, who aren’t speaking, can still be able to show emotion or illustrate what they need to say without actually saying it verbally.

            I think that in society, it is sometimes thought that silence is automatically associated with awkwardness. I know that certain people are more comfortable with silence and certain people really dislike silence, and feel the need to speak instead of having silence. Silence is something people should be able to deal with because silence is not a bad thing at all and should not be thought of as something uncomfortable. I know I was and still am sometimes the person who thinks silence is awkward but I am learning to realize that sometimes silence is just what is needed.