Pursue the Void for Good Health

Not quitting for quiet creates quite a conundrum (say it ten times fast)

Word Count: 1147

Today I am combining my love of science with my mission to understand how the brain works to explore if and how absence of quiet impacts us.

Here’s a kid’s version of Starry Night which I illustrated it for my son’s bedroom wall. If you want you can download it here:

Grateful for the net

Since humans’ recent gift to ourselves of the net, we have enjoyed persistent and instant access to information & entertainment. The resulting by products:

- Vast and speedy spread of ideas

- Birth of our digital personas (may they live long after we die)

- Multitudes of new ways to make a living

- An absence of quiet

I’m going to talk briefly about the last one: an absence of quiet. It’s important to consider whether it plays a role in our lives, what that role is, and how we might be impacted by its absence.

Is quiet gone?

Firstly - if you are someone who actively pursues and enjoys quiet time, skip to the next article because this one won’t be useful to you.

Now that those hippies are gone, let’s try to get an idea of how much quiet time you experience daily by thinking about it. In the interest of efficiency, I’ve made a quick quiz to assist. Answer the following (not out loud or you might make someone uncomfortable):

• When you drive how often do you listen to something?

  a) sometimes b) often c) always

• How often would you put music in your ears if you were to hypothetically go for a walk/run/cycle?

  a) sometimes b) often c) always

• Which of the following does your form of preferred entertainment use?

  a) just words on a page b) visuals and sounds c) interactive / responsive visuals/sounds

Results time!

If you answered mostly a) you probably still experience a smear of quiet a couple of times a day.

If you answered mostly b) you probably rarely experience quiet times - maybe a tiny dab

If you answered mostly c) you probably almost never experience quiet - not even a scrumbit

What does it mean for quiet to be gone?

Let’s not jump into judging ourselves or making drastic changes yet. We’re just thinking about what has changed in the absence of quiet so we can be aware of it.

The most obvious thing to notice is that we have almost constant input: sensory information (sounds and images) and information (knowledge and ideas) going in.

Podcasts, most music and video are all considered “input”. We might be focused on it, or even just semi-focused on it but the input isn’t being passively absorbed. Even when we’re just listening we are making connections, understanding meaning, identifying beat/ tempo/tone, thinking about which song to play next, maybe considering new ideas, deciphering anything untrue or confusing, and saving new information to our memory bank.

So this processing — this type of active thinking time — is often referred to as “task mode.”

Different Networks for Different Tasks

When we are in task mode, our brain activity runs on a the Task Positive Network (TPN) or the “Executive Control Network.”

Most digital media keeps us in TPN mode, because it constantly gives our brains something to do. Some music is designed specifically to put us into a resting state and can be very effective.

If we are concentrating hard, like when we are writing a new post for instance, we also engage the Central Executive Network.

So there are different networks for different needs.

When we are not in task mode — our brain enters a different '“state” known as a “Resting State Network” - the most widely known of these is the Default Mode Network (DMN). The DMN becomes most active when we are empty headed, daydreaming or meditating.

Although we don’t need to remember the technical names of the Networks, we benefit from having the awareness that

1. Almost all digital input requires processing

2. Our brain uses different networks when we are processing input vs when we are not.

NOTE: Even when we switch off external “input” we can still force ourselves to stay in the Task Positive Network by thinking about all the tasks we need to do, or the problems we need to solve. In this sense, even if we try to do the right thing by turning off external noise, we are still creating internal noise and depriving our brain of rest.

Is too much Task Networking bad?

Short answer is science doesn’t know yet if too much input leads to a reduced cognitive function or burnout.

We are allowed to speculate if we want. In times when facts are absent I find it helpful to experiment on what works for me individually and that starts with listening to your body.

However, there is good evidence of a link between depression and cognitive fatigue and an inability to switch between the TPN and the DMN.

I’m going to speculate here and ask: what happens to a muscle when we don’t use it enough? It becomes weak. And maybe, just maybe, is we don’t have “enough” quiet in our life we don’t get a chance to enter the DMN and practice being at rest.

I look forward to science figuring out for sure.

How much quiet do we need?

Who the hell knows. Even if/when science confirms too much input causes burnout, it’s my firm belief that no one can tell you exactly how much quiet time per day you need because it’s been my observation that we are all very different and come with vastly different needs.

The best thing for us to do from here is perhaps decide not to completely hand over our wellbeing to science yet. Consider taking a more active role in our own health by exploring types of rest and finding the ones that suit you. By the way, explore if you even can rest, when things are quiet.

For me (someone who is still working through trauma from childhood and being autistic and a bunch of other shit I won’t go into) that is the problem. So if you are like me, you might find it natural to put away devices and get the outside world quiet BUT…but getting my internal one to SHUT UP long enough give itself some rest is a major challenge (tip - not a plea for advice). When I am in a quiet space, my internal world starts throwing loose items around, spitting, crying and yelling about existential problems, dinner, about the mum I never had and that I’m not smart or pretty etc etc

You didn’t need to know all of that so now that I am experiencing severe verbal diarrhea it’s time to finish.

Conclusion

• Humans today don’t experience quiet time

• We don’t know if too much input causes burnout

• An inability to switch between TPN and the DMN is linked to depression

• Listen to your body, figure out if quiet time can offer you rest and if it can - great! You’re in a good place.

Here’s a cat I illustrated, enjoy.