Can Silence Actually Drive You Crazy?

*Watch with headphones on! Is 45 minutes really the longest anyone can stay in a perfectly silent, pitch-black room? Support Veritasium on Patreon http://bit.ly/VePatreon Check out Audible: http://bit.ly/AudibleVe Want to watch the whole hour of silence? http://youtu.be/jr1UMFC9DV0 Many stories have circulated claiming the longest anyone has stayed in an ultra-quiet anechoic chamber is 45 minutes, the reason being any longer would drive you insane. To me this sounded like unsubstantiated rubbish, like the claim the Great Wall is the only manmade structure visible from space. So I put my own psyche on the line, subjecting myself to over an hour of the most intense quiet on Earth. No, this was not THE quietest room on Earth (-9dB) but it is one of the quietest, and the truth is once you put a person inside, they are by far the loudest thing in there so the sound rating of the room is irrelevant. I was not surprised to find that I could stay in there for as long as I liked and feel perfectly fine. What was surprising is that my heartbeat was audible. You can hear it on the sound recording. Now I wasn't consciously aware of the sound of my heart while in the room, but I was more aware of the feeling of it beating. Huge thank you to everyone at BYU: Duane Merrell, Spencer Perry, Cameron Vongsawad, Jazz Myers, Ann Clawson, and Robert Willes. ChannelX24 Há 10 meses This would be a godsent for music and general audio recording. 1,4 mil SunSunASMR SunSunASMR Há 4 semanas Im used to being alone, so not me I've gone hours in silence 351 DRS Presents DRS Presents Há 1 mês I challenge. I can be here for 8 hours. I use meditation to do that. 517 Niconicosknees Niconicosknees Há 2 semanas Bruh give me a bed in there and ill be fine for three days 176 Vinul Vinul Há 1 mês can u hear a fly fart in there 687 Precious Vicerra Precious Vicerra Há 2 meses ASMR be like 3 mil Jonathan Perez Jonathan Perez Há 1 mês I didn’t hear the difference in the clapping lol 235 El Davo El Davo Há 2 meses Just imagine he get's out and there has been a zombie apocalypse and he did'nt hear it of course🤔 460 Black Black Há 1 mês (editado) Introverts would love this room. Just give them food and a good book. Edit: It's just my opinion... 629 Vincent Mollo Vincent Mollo Há 2 meses The quietest place on earth is my love life. 222 The 8-Bit Guy The 8-Bit Guy Há 2 anos I have tinnitus. So if I were in the room, the high frequency squealing noise in my right ear would have driven me crazy. I actually prefer to have a little noise. 2,9 mil Ion Prime Ion Prime Há 2 meses 45 minuts? Pfffft... ill just bring a matres and a pillow and ill beat that record. 234 Drippin Kid Drippin Kid Há 1 mês Dream for every music producer right there. 98 Madison Brooke Madison Brooke Há 2 meses I can hear your heartbeat oml 41 Prem Suthar Prem Suthar Há 2 meses I go to anechoic chambers once a week for performing regulatory testing on electronic circuits. I spend eight working hours. I feel totally ok with it. If they provide my expenses I will totally take the challenge for spending 8 hours there. 37 John Motherfuckin' Coltrane John Motherfuckin' Coltrane Há 4 meses Librarian's wet dream 2,9 mil N.n.i.a O N.n.i.a O Há 2 meses 6:28 sounds like an audio book😂 60 †ANGÉ|† †ANGÉ|† Há 1 mês 0:09 when you sit on a really cold toilet 53 My Chemical Phandom My Chemical Phandom Há 1 mês This makes me feel like I can't breathe 40 Juan Perez Juan Perez Há 1 mês I bet i could stay there for a whole month. Stays there for 1 second HELP MEEEEE!!!!!! 34 ToNYD2WiLD ToNYD2WiLD Há 10 meses ASMR Fantasy Land lol 3 mil RainEdayWoman Steph H RainEdayWoman Steph H Há 1 mês I would think talking the entire time defeated the purpose. 30 Hippihippo Studios Hippihippo Studios Há 1 mês I see going in and being like this isn’t so hard, but then the lights go off and I have a full on panic attack and then get my phone that I snuck in and listen to kittens singing in auto tune. 27 Rexer Rexer Há 2 meses Can i study here 25 Mystic Mind Analysis Mystic Mind Analysis Há 3 semanas I wonder if the fact that you were talking to yourself helped alleviate some potential symptoms? If you had sat in complete silence, it may have been different. 18 00lil-draco00 00lil-draco00 Há 3 anos dunno if its just me but i hear ringing when in complete silence, thats what drives me crazy, i think its tinnitus 1,2 mil Roan Kane Roan Kane Há 1 mês Plays earrape music 24 David Martinez David Martinez Há 1 mês I feel like my head would explode if I was in there 11 Tippy35075 Tippy35075 Há 2 meses (editado) The Silence thing happened at my country property when I was mountain biking in the state forest at night, I had paused for a few minutes and there was no wind, no active animals, just deafing silence. The Same effect was happening too me, the feeling of been in a small space, like the environment around me was shrinking. 12 living shadows living shadows Há 1 mês I would love to be able to hear silence again........ Never play drums with out ear protection.