Re: ears & more

["T.W. Hartnett" <hartnett.t@apple.com>]

>do you hear a sound in your head?
>
>I've gotten some very interesting answers to this question, usually from
>musicians and artists.  To be clear, I don't mean tinnitus or any similar
>malady.  I believe that John Cage called it the sound of the nervous 
>system
>working.  Different people's perception/non-perception of the phenomenon 
>is
>quite varied and curious.

I think tinnitus is defined as any persistant sound heard by a person 
which is not generated by an external source.  I used to try and comfort 
myself at night that I was just hearing the sound of my nervous system or 
the collective hum of the universe, but eventually it became clear that I 
had a touch of tinnitus.  Tinnitus is so commonplace in the post-Walkman, 
industrial world, that it's possible that everyone you'll ask has it to 
some degree.  

Travis Hartnett