Quietest place on Earth messes with your head

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the effects of extreme silence, particularly in the context of the anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories, which is noted for being the quietest place on Earth. Participants explore the psychological implications of sensory deprivation, including hallucinations and personal experiences with silence or hearing loss.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express curiosity about their ability to handle extreme silence, with one noting that silence can lead to hallucinations due to sensory deprivation.
  • One participant shares personal experience with hearing loss and discusses the phenomenon of Charles Bonnet syndrome, where individuals may hallucinate due to visual or auditory deprivation.
  • The Ganzfeld effect is mentioned as a related phenomenon where sensory deprivation can lead to hallucinations, drawing historical parallels to experiences of individuals in pitch darkness.
  • Another participant with tinnitus reflects on their inability to experience true silence and suggests that a completely quiet environment might be overwhelming.
  • There is a question raised about whether deaf individuals experience hallucinations in silence, with some speculation about the nature of auditory perception in such contexts.
  • One participant expresses a desire to experience the anechoic chamber despite the potential for psychological effects, indicating a fascination with silence.
  • A reference is made to Richard Feynman's experiences with sensory deprivation and hallucination, suggesting a historical interest in the topic.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the effects of extreme silence, with various personal experiences and interpretations of hallucinations presented. The discussion remains open-ended regarding the implications of silence on mental states.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention various psychological phenomena related to silence and sensory deprivation, but the discussion lacks definitive conclusions about the experiences of different individuals, particularly those with hearing impairments.

Evo
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I think I could handle it. How about you?

Just don't let things get too quiet, or you might drive yourself a wee bit insane: the anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minnesota can mute 99.99% of all sound, but visiting the silent oasis isn't as calming as you might expect.

The room holds the current Guinness World Record as the quietest place on the planet, and companies from all over the world seek out its unique acoustic properties. The walls of the chamber are lined with sound-absorbing baffles that can capture noise and mute it in an instant.

But while the super-silent oasis is a great testbed for various products, it holds a darker side: silence, it turns out, can put a great strain on the human brain

As the minutes tick by in absolute quiet, the human mind begins to lose its grip, causing test subjects to hallucinate.

http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/unplugged/quietest-place-earth-mutes-sounds-messes-head-212556719.html
 
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I've had four operations on my ears. Being deaf sucks, but I can certainly handle it because I've been there before.
 
I’m so used to noisy teenagers that I don’t know if I could handle complete silence but it would be fun to try.

Sensory deprivation or lack of any external stimuli does contribute to hallucinations. I think that if the brain is deprived of certain stimuli, the level of random activity increase in the nervous system.

I thought the Charles Bonnet syndrome was also intriguing. People who suffer from visual loss can develop it. People who suffer from hearing loss can also hallucinate. They can hear music, voices, etc. There's even a hearing voices movement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bonnet_syndrome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucination

I've never tried it but the Ganzfeld effect is supposed to work.

“The Ganzfeld effect is the result of the brain amplifying neural noise in order to look for the missing visual signals. The noise is interpreted in the higher visual cortex, and gives rise to hallucinations. This is similar to dream production because of the brain's state of sensory deprivation during sleep.

The Ganzfeld effect has been reported since ancient times. The adepts of Pythagoras retreated to pitch black caves to receive wisdom through their visions[2], known as the prisoner's cinema. Miners trapped by accidents in mines frequently reported hallucinations, visions and seeing ghosts when they were in the pitch dark for days. Arctic explorers seeing nothing but featureless landscape of white snow for a long time also reported hallucinations and an altered state of mind.”

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/graphics/011109_hacking_your_brain/
 
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I have tinnitus, so there is no such thing as silence. I usually listen to soft music when I go to sleep to stop the internal crickets. I think a quiet place like that would ruin me!
 
I remember when I was a kid hiding in a closet and it was extremely quiet. I couldn't hear any sounds. But when it was completely silent, my ears would make a faint high pitched sound after a few seconds. Like my brain refused to hear complete silence, so it started making its own sound.

But if that room can cause you to hallucinate just from it being so quiet, does that mean deaf people hallucinate?
 
leroyjenkens said:
But if that room can cause you to hallucinate just from it being so quiet, does that mean deaf people hallucinate?

Only if you could hear your heartbeat...
 
I would totally LOVE to go there. Sweet silence. Who cares about insanity? :biggrin:
 
In Richard Feynman's book "Surely you're joking..." he goes into detail how he used to visit a sensory deprivation lab specifically to hallucinate!