Mental states and silence

I imagine nowadays everybody knows already what it is to be and introvert or extrovert. And also that 2/3 of the population is extrovert (or at least falls more on that side of the spectrum).

I will overly simplify to approach the topic I want to talk about: extroverts need things happening, interaction, high stimuli, and freak out when they are alone or in the silence; meanwhile introverts are more sensitive to stimuli and have a lot to do inside their heads, which gets disturbed by real life interactions, therefore freaking out without moments of silence.

Silence: generally speaking unless you isolate yourself it is more rare than gold.

We live in a permanent state of noise, but that's okay, since most of the world's population likes that, or don't even notice it. But that's an immense torture for introverts.

I propose a test, which would be very nice if a lot of people did taking it very seriously and later share their results. Analyze, during a whole day, the frequency of noise on their daily basis. But this way: living normally, go to work, study, see friends, read a book, go to a park, have breakfast at home, watch tv, whatever. Live your day normally (preferably a week day, otherwise you might hole yourself at home on a sunny Sunday when everybody go to a park, and you will end up having the most silent day mankind ever experienced). It would be good to write down when a noise starts and when it ends, as well as to identify how many are active at the same time (for instance, one is a tv on, the second one is a dog barking on the street, the third one is the waste collectors talking loudly to each other while picking the garbage, a forth one is a car honking at another one on a not so distant street), and if I would be so lucky, create a scale to measure the experienced intensity (I.e. how loud the sound was where you stand).

It's not necessary to do the test to know that a normal day is almost fully polluted by noise. There are very rare moments of silence unless it's the middle of the night while everybody is asleep (and maybe that's why I like so much to be awake during the night: to have a few hours of silence while awake).

Now it comes the interesting part. Shall we invert that? Make the whole world to experience the opposite, having silence almost every hour of the day, only noise and something going on during the night, or unless you isolate yourself in a noisy Buddhist temple, or in a farm that is more resembling to a rave. Tell me: how long would it take until all the extroverts freak out completely, kill themselves, develop psychological illnesses, or simple break once and for all with reality, becoming psychotic?

I wouldn't give them a week or two. Wonder why so many introverts are depressed or suffer from mental disorders? Why would that be, right?

Have you felt chronic pain? I broke a ligament about ten years ago and every time the weather gets too humid or the temperature drops quickly I feel a somehow small amount of pain. But that usually lasts for a few days. A few days feeling a bit more than a bit of pain. It ruins my mood. I get a bit sad, get irritable, can't concentrate, etc. Just a few days, and not any serious pain or anything. Now imagine this constant nuisance that the noise is, often not so low, during YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. Who wouldn't go crazy?

It's impossible to live a silent life without isolating yourself, but it's possible to drastically reduce the noise. You might think it isn't, but compare the silent environment (or what approaches that) that is the capital of Germany, to the chaos that is the surroundings of Gare du Nord in Paris, to the city center or the neighborhood of Azenha in my city, Porto Alegre.

While a device that allows you to go deaf better than our eyelids allows us to go blind isn't invented, exercise your empathy, think about the minority (not that much minority) that lives in constant suffering, and try to reduce the noises you produce.

Posted by Ricardo Ceratti.