What is silence?

I read in the Swedish book "Att slippa tänka själv - filosofiska samtal som undersökande gemenskaper i skolan" (= To not being in need for thinking yourself - philosophical dialogues as investigative communities in school) about silence.

There is many definitions of that word. You could, for example, differ between silence as an event and silence as an action. Silence as an event is something that emerges when all participants are quiet. Silence as an action could be about taboo, when you avoid speaking about a certain subject.

By silence, you could also mean pauses or hesitations in speech, or silence as meaningful answer to a question, for example when silence is implied.

It says in the book, that to be able to keep quiet is an intellectual and emotional maturity. It is also an expression for respect for other human beings.

You can also talk about a negative, a neutral, or a positive silence.

Negative silence is when the silence is a hindrance or a resistance in the dialogue. This silence could be a conscious or an unconscious fear, for example for what other people may think of what the individual is going to say. But the fear may be about the individual itself. Opinions may be close to your heart, and if you're going into discussion, you may be forced to change your opinion. If you feel other people may know more about a certain subject, you're not likely to choose such a subject to discuss not to show yourself as unskilled. Hence silence can be about hierarchies within a group.

New participants are often quiet for awhile before they feel secure enough to begin to speak. That is a neutral silence. Neutral silence can also refer to situations beyond the dialogue, like sadness or a problematic situation at home. But also things during the dialogue itself as it may occur several uninteresting subjects to talk about during the dialogue.

Positive silence, or what also could be called as a creative silence, is the consequence of the work you do. It has to be there in order for the dialogue to work at all. Silence can well be a consequence for you to be able to think carefully about a certain thing.