With people increasingly expecting constant stimulation, are we culturally heading toward a point where silence and pauses in all media become intolerable?

I personally try to accept having time with nothing to do. I will often attempt breathing meditation but I will also sometimes just accept doing nothing and be doing nothing. I also stretch.

My 13 year old has this infuriating habit; whenever an actor pauses or hesitates during the delivery of a line, she finishes it for them, reading from the subtitles.

I love weird avant-garde shit and I have since I was a teenager. I was listening to weird shit like Sonic Youth, The Voidz, and Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music. I was practically mesmerized by David Lynch's Lost Highway. I love weird art films. I love weird music that can barely be considered music. I don't like to be spoonfed by any type of media and I think Netflix adding audible cues for people on their phones is shameful.

If capitalism has its way? It's exactly where we're headed.

Omg, what happened to just sitting by the water watching the boats pass. Mt family took me on an outing to some pop up museum experience where the rooms were dark and filled with videos and sound and stuff. Cool enough i guess. But after 10 min i found my way outside to a patio area facing the water and was able to just sit on a park bench. No input other than watching the waves. Spent an hour just sitting there before they found me.

People who need constant background noise to get through the day are afraid to be alone with their own thoughts.

It's the opposite. So much sensory overload means we'll be much more appreciative of the quiet moments in media.

Turn the router off and see how long before your family notices.

As much as I have ideals for my technology use, I will admit that

• I have some audio in the background playing half of my waking hours
• If I'm tired of words, I'll put on music, vice versa
• If there's an unanticipated pause, I first check if it's still playing correctly
• Yes I am afraid of being stuck with my own thoughts when I go to bed
• I think of the time spent waiting in line as nothing but wasted unless I use it as an opportunity, perhaps to read a saved tab on my phone
• All of this might not be the cause of it, but it definitely doesn't help my mental fog and fatigue