The Value Of Silence

40 EE March 1988 THE VALUE OF SILENCE by Dr Dylan Jones and Dr Chris Miles, Department of Applied Psychology, University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, Cardiff. Most people would agree that their concentration on reading and attempts to memorise information are made more difficult when someone nearby is speaking. One reason stems from the part that hearing has played as a warning system in the course of human evolution. Recent laboratory studies have produced data showing the disruptive effect that speech can have in open plan offices, control towers and even on the flight decks of aircraft, causing serious losses of efficiency. Research is also helping psychologists to chart the flow of information in the brain. "Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as Eternity,. speech is as shallow as Time." Critical and Miscellaneous Essays, vol. IV, Sir Walter Scott, by Thomas Carlyle. Silence is a precious commodity, t...