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Past Shows
Silence!
Saturday Nov. 10 and Monday Nov. 12
It's the opposite of speech. But that doesn't mean it communicates nothing. Jane finds out the myriad meanings that can be buried inside no words at all.
 Listen to an mp3 of this episode.
n.b. sounds and music from the original show have been removed for copyright reasons.
I listened to and greatly appreciated your show this Saturday about silence. I am a researcher in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta, and I have done extensive research on silence myself. Specifically, I study the way that silence becomes important in the formation of charismatic bonds in religious relationships.
[...] Listening to your show was an uncanny experience for me, as in my [recent] article I go into many of the themes you mention, including projection of meaning into silence, the rhetorical effectiveness of silence, the punitive aspects of silence (i.e. ‘the silent treatment’), and the intimate aspects of silence. I also cite Adam Jaworski, whom you spoke to. Thank you for addressing the topic of interpersonal silence so well on your show!
Paul Joosse
Department of Sociology
University of Alberta
It occurred to me that friendships and relationships are based on the sharing of many many words, but the special (few) people in my life are the ones who also connect with me through the comfortable silence. We don't always have to fill the void with words. We can say nothing, and be completely at ease. Words got us there. The silence keeps us there. The comfortable silence.
Cathy Morrison
Jane and Word Nerd--
John Cage's piece on silence was everything you said on your show--and more. It was not only a piece of music written in rests: it was also a visual experience--specifically, a theatrical event. Here's how I described it in a poem, written after seeing a performance on TV of one movement of the piece:
[...this is just an excerpt:]
Only when the last second of the piece
Had been conducted to that realm where former seconds tend,
And the last echo of the silent music's last echo
Had departed, did the artist's reverent body relax.
Rising from the piano bench and bowing gently
A few times to acknowledge the onlisteners' applause,
The master abandoned his bearded face to a smile
That twinkled like both his instruments.
Norm Sabowitz
I think I learned early on and
quickly that I would be judged based on anything I said. And it wasn't even
so much what I said, but how others interpreted what I said - what it meant
to them. My intent was often lost, or blurred. So, to avoid the
misinterpretation of my words, I learned to become very careful about what I
would say. Hence, I ended up saying very little. I think it was more from
instinct than any thought process or deliberate effort on my part. I
essentially became monosyllabic and would use as few words as possible (why
answer a question with details that could be misinterpreted when a 'yep'
would suffice). And I would generally only talk as a response - to answer
questions, for example, or to grunt to let someone know that I had heard
them. I am now on the wrong side of fifty, with a wife and kids, so by
necessity I speak much more than I used to. But I am still an economic
speaker and by no stretch of the imagination would anyone ever mistake me
for a good conversationalist.
We rely on words to a great extent in our interactions with other people,
but I'm not sure how aware we are of how imperfect words can be. I think if
we rely on words, at their face value, for our understanding of others and
the world around us, then we consistently get mired in misunderstandings.
All words, even common everyday words, conjure up different visions, perhaps
even different moods in each of us. So I believe there has to be a
connection, an effort made aside from the words, beyond the words. When the
words are coming at us and we are focused on them, it is difficult to make
room for that connection. But when the words stop, in that silence, there is
the opportunity for it.
Michael Lehto
Yours is an amazing program, but one which I can rarely catch because of my schedule. Many CBC programs are podcast and offered through Itunes. I would love to see you program offered in this way.
Dave deBourcier
I watch Jeopardy regularly, and there is a certain rhythm to the questions and answers, undoubtedly because of the time constraints of the show. In the first round, if contestants fail to phrase their answers in the form of a question, Alex Trebek will warn them of the fact. In the second round, he does not do so, but merely pauses to give them a chance to correct their phrasing.
I've noticed that the pause constitutes a glaring break in the rhythm of the broadcast, which many of the contestants pick up on immediately, and take the opportunity to correct their answers. In this instance the pause conveys a great deal of meaning to the participants in the "dialogue".
Larry Haz
Calgary AB
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