“In the Orfield Laboratories in Minnesota, there is an anechoic chamber, the background noise of which has a negative value: -9.4 dBA. It is considered the quietest place on our planet.
Being in it can drive you crazy – quite literally. According to the chamber’s designer, Steven Orfield, no one can withstand absolute silence for more than 45 minutes. Sooner or later, in the chamber where you can clearly hear the beating of your own heart and the noise produced by your lungs, you start to feel, to put it mildly, uncomfortable.
Hallucinations appear, first auditory, then visual. A dreadful anxiety sets in. A feeling of suffocation arises. Moreover, you cannot move normally, as the brain usually ‘reads’ information about the body’s position in space, relying on sounds and echoes. Anyone who finds themselves in the room is forced to sit on the floor, which intensifies the sensations of ‘wrongness’ and the helplessness of a person suddenly deprived of hearing.”
Will you be able to stay here?
