Ursula Franklin’s recognition of the importance of humanistic values in the development and use of technology was rooted in her connection to the faith community of the Society of Friends (“Quakers”), stressing pacifism, social justice, and the importance of silence as a portal to inspiration. Her respect for silence informed her keynote address at the founding conference of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE) in 1993 at the Banff Centre for the Arts, which provided participants with a framework for combining aversion to anthropogenic noise — the initial focus of the conference’s convenor, Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer—with Dr. Franklin’s deep concern for social justice. Subsequent study of obtrusive ambient noise in cities has revealed its prominence in low-income urban neighbourhoods, low-wage jobs, and commercial entertainment, along with its potential to raise the hormonal responses to stress that damage physical and emotional health.