In Pursuit of Quiet: The Quest Before the Pandemic

In Pursuit of Quiet:

The Quest Before the Pandemic

Review by David M. Sykes

Book: In Pursuit of Silence, by George Prochnik, 352 pp., Anchor Books, NY Film: In Pursuit of Silence, directed by Patrick Shen (2017) https://www.pursuitofsilence.com/

Silence is a pipedream for anyone

with chronic tinnitus, unattainable yet yearned for. And here we are more than halfway through 2020, emerging from a ghostly, pandemic-induced time of silence and solitude that abruptly reduced environmental noise across the planet by 35 percent — no planes, no construction noise, no traffic, no shouting, and no more cacophonous restaurants. What a strange and wonderful difference.

Like it or not, this “quiet period” was a gift, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel back in time and revisit the preindustrial world. Was this the dream of quiet we longed for? Did it make your tinnitus better or worse?

Many discovered that it’s not silence we have been seeking, but peace and relative quiet. Long before the pandemic, George Prochnik explored the relational experience of silence and noise in his book In Pursuit of Silence, which Patrick Shen turned into a documentary with the same title.

I was part of an organizing event* that featured Prochnik reading from his book before large audiences of noisecontrol engineering professionals. At one of these readings was Shen, a fellow seeker of quiet who also has tinnitus. It was a privilege to introduce the two men and then watch them stride off together toward the coffee bar, talking animatedly. Later we helped Shen secure the money needed to produce his film, which was released in 2016 and won awards and praise at international film festivals.

Though the book and the movie share the same title, they are completely different experiences. Both are personal explorations of why quiet matters and what it’s like to make silence a part of your life, as do monks of many faiths as well as some medical doctors, philosophers, and other seekers of solitude.

For Prochnik, the book was a profound journey in search of what “silence” is, who practices it, why it matters, and what life is with and without it. The film is a meditative acoustic journey that explores our relationship with quiet and the impact that it has on our lives.

For many of us, reading is a meditative act — and so is seeing this extraordinary film. So, as we inch our way back to a new normal, take time to explore your relationship with quiet, despite tinnitus.

*Between 2010 and 2016, I worked with the MSF Memorial Trust to produce nine public outreach workshops in major cities, including New York City, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, London, and Tokyo, which were intended to bring attention to the 2011 report from the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Technology for a Quieter America.

David Sykes is lead author of the book Sound & Vibration 2.0 and a contributor to the National Academy of Engineering report Technology for a Quieter America, the General Service Administration’s Sound Matters, and other books. He is vice chair of The Quiet Coalition and cofounder of LARA, the Laboratory for Advanced Research in Acoustics, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, with advanced degrees from Cornell University, he served as a member and officer of ATA’s Board of Directors from 2014 to 2017.