Going a full day without talking is harder than it sounds. However, if you are not around many people all day, then it should be rather easy. The hardest part about going a full day without talking is the fact that no matter what, almost all of us interact with others on a daily basis.
There are numerous situations that you'll encounter that you might just accidentally let a few words slip out. For example, someone around you might be asking someone else a question, and, out of habit, you might slip out the answer. Even in the simplest situations, like someone greeting you, you might respond out of pure instinct.
If you are to last a day without talking to anyone, you must put your full attention into the task, as the simplest thing can cause you to talk. It is not that you are unable to stay silent - it's just the mere fact that we can get sidetracked so easily if we don't pay close attention to ourselves.
Lasting a Day Without Any Communication Whatsoever
If you think lasting a day without talking is hard, lasting a day without any means of communications is unbearable. Just to clarify, all of the following count as communicating: talking, calling, text messaging, instant messaging (MSN), email, forums, writing notes, sign language, gestures, nods, etc. If you can get someone to figure out what you are trying to say, it counts as communicating.
With all that in mind, you should now get the idea that lasting a day with no communications means that you know have much less to do. Personally, I can't see how anyone could last a full day without any communications whatsoever, let alone simply not talking.
Complete and utter independence - some people could, very well, get very apprehensive after experiencing it for just a small timeframe. When you think of a day, you don't think that it'd feel that long at first, but when you think of it, talking with people generally passes time, as socializing is a good form of entertaining yourself at times. If you endure a day without communicating, however, you will find that the time goes by much slower.
My Vow of Silence
Recently, I took part in a Vow of Silence at my school, to raise money for children in third world countries, who are forced into child labour, and have no voice in their lives. I thought it would be a fun thing to participate in, so I did, and I collected several pledges for the cause. In total, we have maybe twenty or less participants who thought they could last, and we collected over $900CDN. Apparently, lots of people support the idea of the participants not communicating for a day. The rules were, no communicating at all (unless it was an absolute emergency) for 24 full hours.
I will be honest; I accidentally let one word slip during the first two hours of this event. In music class, the Baritone player beside me was asking how fast the song went, and I replied, "Fast." All it took was that one word for me to not last a day without talking. However, I did continue the rest of the day without talking, until I had to give my grandmother a computer lesson.
So not only must we worry about our habit of communicating, but we can't go through a normal day without some means of communication. In conclusion, I must say that lasting a day without communicating, let alone a day without talking, is extremely hard. We all think we can last, but the fact is that it takes more willpower and planning than you would expect. Sure, it is possible, all you have to do is not talk for a full day; we're all physically capable of staying silent for a day, it's merely that some of us are not mentally capable of lasting the day.
So next time that your friend bets you money that you cannot last a full day without talking, think twice before taking that bet, it's easy money if you can manage, but easy money for them if you don't last!
Accept your bets carefully.
