Try this. Settle into a quiet room, turn off every sound-making device, and hold your breath. You shouldnt hear anything, correct?
And yet… there it is. A faint hiss. A soft buzz. A low static-like hum in the background.
If this is silence, why does it sound like something?
Let’s unmask why we hear sounds even when everything around us seems perfectly quiet.
Your Brain is Always Listening
Our brains are wired for noise—even when there’s none to hear. The auditory cortex, the part of the brain that processes sound, is never truly “off.” Even in silence, neurons there keep firing. This neural background noise is part of how our brains operate: constantly active, always anticipating.
So when there’s no real sound, the brain may still interpret these random firings as a soft hiss or static. It’s like your brain’s auditory center refusing to believe the world could be completely quiet.
Your Ears Make Noise Too
Inside your ears, tiny hair cells in the cochlea respond to sound waves. But even without sound, they can spontaneously move or send out tiny electrical signals. These are usually masked by external noises, but in a silent space, your brain can pick them up.
It’s a bit like a microphone picking up the faint hum of its own circuits—your ears generate a kind of biological self-noise.
Silence is Never Truly Silent
What we call “silence” is almost never absolute. Even in the quietest rooms:
- Air molecules are moving.
- Blood is rushing through vessels in your head.
- Electronics might emit faint hums.
- You might hear the distant murmur of urban life or the rustle of the building settling.
These background signals are usually ignored, but in the absence of louder stimuli, your brain turns up the volume, making these whispers more noticeable.
Your Brain Hates a Void
Silence is weirdly unsettling. Your brain thrives on input—it wants something to work with. So when deprived of external sound, it sometimes creates its own. This is the same reason you might “see” shapes in the dark (visual noise) or feel like your phone is buzzing when it isn’t (phantom vibrations).
This tendency to fill in the gaps is one of the brain’s most fascinating features. In quiet, your mind might offer up a faint hiss just to avoid nothingness. If you think this is weird, check out my post “So what color is reality, anyway?“.
Could It Be Tinnitus?
If the sound you hear in silence is a consistent ringing, buzzing, or humming—and it doesn’t go away—it might be tinnitus. This condition affects millions of people and can range from a minor nuisance to a chronic issue. While silence often amplifies it, tinnitus is a result of deeper auditory system changes and should be evaluated by a professional if persistent.
The Takeaway: Silence Isn’t Silent
That static you hear in stillness? It’s not a failure of your environment—it’s a feature of your biology. From neuron firing to cochlear quirks to brain creativity, you’re never truly alone with your thoughts… even in silence.
Because the truth is:
Silence is just another kind of sound. And with that, I now leave you with the “classic”, Sounds of Silence.