Ethics Experiment 2—Quietness

After doing this for seven days, write me a short summary of what you did and what you learned from it for two points. Due 9/9.

One of the great laments of our time is the busy-ness of our modern lives. Although many complain about how labor-saving devices seem to have only led us to having even less quiet than we had before, they rarely do anything about it. Every major religious tradition is adamant about endorsing solitude, quietness, meditation, prayer, and reflection. Even many non-religious thinkers have had high praise for the practice of making and enjoying quiet time every day. This week, I want you to find fifteen minutes a day to simply be quiet and alone. My favorite way to do this is by sitting on my back porch watching the trees and listening to the sounds of the wind blowing and the animals. (We live on the edge between town and country.) There are several components to effective quiet time.

Location: I highly recommend some location which has natural beauty and a low level of societal noise (traffic, machines, television, people, music). A park, a fountain, a forest, a large yard. These are best. If you are unable to have access to anything like this, do your best to find or create a place where you can at least be alone without any interruptions and without any distracting noises. A church, library, your car (no radio), basement, etc.

Time: Part of the value of this exercise is to learn that your life is really something you control, rather than something which others are in control of. We do so much to avoid being quiet and to give up real control of our lives to others. Also, consistency is easiest when you use a regular schedule. Therefore, I strongly recommend you try doing this at the same time each day. Morning is far superior to evening because it sets the tone for the entire day. I like to get up, get dressed, and then spend some quiet time before I even eat breakfast.

Activity: It is crucial for this experiment that you do absolutely nothing in the way of activity during this time. The whole purpose is to not be accomplishing anything else. Some people (my father) like to take their quiet time while walking, but I find it all too easy to be distracted by the walking itself and not be contemplative. I strongly encourage you to simply sit somewhere during this time and not be doing anything except considering the world, your life, nature, God, or whatever object you prefer. Although this may seem strange to some of you, I also encourage you to not pray during this time. At least, don’t pray the entire time. Emphasize listening more than you talk if you do choose to pray. Praying can be a pretty intense activity which distracts you from being quiet as much as any other. I have nothing against a cup of coffee or a cigarette during this time if these are things you enjoy.

Concentration: You will probably find it very difficult to do nothing for 15 minutes continuously. The pace of modern life is quite addictive. Once again, I suggest you consider the difficulty of the task part of its value. This is time for you to deliberately consider things you ordinarily don’t need to think about. Essentially, you are trying to get your mind off the daily routine and hustle and bustle. Instead, you are wanting to become aware of more important, more grand, more eternal things which we habitually ignore because they do not call us on the phone.

Notes: When you are alone, I recommend you have a note pad so you can write down anything you think of or feel you are hearing. Try not to let this become the focal point of the activity, where you are writing lists and deliberately thinking about problems in your life. Once again, this would be a form of activity which is contrary to the main purpose. If you think of things, write them down so you don’t have to occupy your mind with them and you can focus again on simply being quiet.

Note for those who already do this: The idea of these experiments is to target things in the average person’s life which are missing. Hence, I expect most people to find the experiment itself valuable. Clearly, some of you already are going to be doing the things I suggest, and for you the challenge is a little different. Instead of simply doing what you already do during your quiet time, you might try making the time longer or adding a new practice such as prayer if you are quiet, quiet if you pray, reading, listening, or something else in the spirit of the experiment for one week.

For the write-up: Pay attention to yourself this week and other people. There are at least two direct benefits of deliberately setting aside time for being quiet. One is that you actually get more done because you tend to have a better perspective on what is important and what is not. The second is that you tend to be less easily disturbed throughout the day by things that ordinarily would upset you. This is not a miracle cure, by any means, but you will probably notice a change in your attitude and how people treat you. Also, I know for some of you this is going to be a very difficult exercise because you are already quite stressed out or because being quiet is so completely alien to you. Once again, I encourage you to consider that the harder this is for you to do, the more you really need to do it. Have fun, and remember this is just an experiment for one week of your life. Of course, you may discover the benefit of doing this and decide to continue the practice.