Arthur C. Clarke calls it “the happy hum of humanity.”

I just want a respite from the constant, sub-aural, bone-deep vibrations of 6.5 billion of us thumping away in our daily lives 24/7 with electricity and gas motors, sound systems, drilling and pumps, talking, typing, conditioning the air, doors and windows, children crying, construction, war, et cetera to create the unceasing burr of sound verging on physical presence, like the cicadas in August as they rise to crescendo, drowning out every other sound, drowning out your ability to think, to act, to breathe it seems…