Right to Silence

[From article]

"Scientists in the UK even have developed a “Silence Machine” that can be fired at any noise source driving you crazy — perhaps a nightclub or a construction site — to neutralize the disturbance via a process similar to that used by noise-canceling headphones.

[. . .]
both education and healing are facilitated by quiet.

[. . .]

The many people who feel that silence has become out-of-reach financially should see themselves as having a democratic “right to quiet,” the same way that they have a right to be shielded from other environmental toxins."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/shhh_why_silence_is_today_most_precious_spl0uAt8T9cACAuKuP6lyN

Shhh! Why silence is today's most precious commodity

By GEORGE PROCHNIK

New York Post

Last Updated: 10:39 AM, May 2, 2010

Posted: 12:25 AM, May 2, 2010