We live in a world of noise. We are inundated with honks of traffic, buzzes of phones, and din of conversations that we now spend much of our lives attempting to drown out the sounds of the artificial world, which in turn only pushes us further from nature. We strive for silence, believing that may be the answer, seemingly unaware that nestled... See more

There seem to be two distinct concerns for Illich. The first is that we lose the commons of which silence is an integral part and thus a measure of freedom and agency. The second, concurrent with the first, is that you and I may find it increasingly hard to be heard even as we are given more and more tools with which to speak. Alternatively, we... See more