I prefer background noise of some kind, music or tv. If I don't have that, my mind starts working overtime and not in good places sometimes, so I try to keep my mind off of those kinds of things by have something on. However, since my husband retired, he prefers silence and it drives me nuts, but I don't say anything. But I do feel like he took over our house with silence and I can't wait til he leaves for a few hours every now and then so I can choose noise or silence, whatever I feel like!