June 12, 2019

"We’re becoming more persona-dominated. We all put on an act about how people want to see and hear us. We do it all the time on social media."

"Human beings evolved in small hunter-gatherer groups where everyone knew one another. We aren’t necessarily adapted to be interacting with strangers all the time. People find it incredibly tiring. At least in a taxi, you have an opportunity to sit and be quiet."

Said the clinical psychologist Paul Gilbert, quoted in "Hit the mute button: why everyone is trying to silence the outside world/Uber is trialling a feature that allows customers to stop their drivers from talking. But there’s growing evidence that cutting ourselves off like this isn’t healthy" (The Guardian).

One Uber driver quoted in the article says that even without that Uber shush feature, he can tell who wants chitchat. There are outward signs: "Most people have their earphones on anyway. I usually have my Bluetooth earphone in too." And he wants to listen to "audiobooks, lectures, radio, podcasts, educational stuff."

The author of the article, Richard Godwin, observes that headphones — "retreat into our own discrete sound worlds" — are essentially a mute button. He looks around in his office and sees half of his colleagues isolating their heads under headphones. There's a term for this, "the privatization of auditory space." A lecturer in sonic anthropology observes that we have eyelids but not earlids, and "We don’t have any control over what drips into our ears and collects in them. Earphones are the closest we have to that."

A neuroscientist explains another sight-versus-hearing distinction: "When you look at an object, it appears to be out there in the world. But sounds, for most of us, feel like they’re emanating from within our heads. It makes them more intimate and more intrusive." But sound from headphones is even more intimate and feels even more like it's coming from within your head.

There's so much isolation from your surroundings, so many chance encounters averted, so much commitment to the belief that what's in your personal presence is negative or at least dull and unworthy of attention. You've got to replace it with substance from elsewhere.

This subject made me think of Bob Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man":
Well, you walk into the room
Like a camel and then you frown
You put your eyes in your pocket
And your nose on the ground
There ought to be a law
Against you comin’ around
You should be made
To wear earphones
Dylan had the idea of forcing  the thin man ("Mr. Jones") to go under the earphones, but today all the Mr. Joneses put their earphones in voluntarily. The Guardian article characterizes them as muting the world around them, but from the Dylan perspective, they are muting themselves and ridding him of their unwanted existence. Who's muting whom?

Here's a related article from last month in The Atlantic, "What Happens When You Always Wear Headphones/I decided to noise-cancel life" by Olga Khazan.
Like many other Americans, I now wear AirPods all day at my desk to combat the awful tyranny of the open office.... Right now I’m sitting in an airport. Three bearded men are chuckling next to me, and they look like a buddy comedy with the sound muted. It’s delicious.... My boyfriend, the cello owner, makes little noises while he putters around... So I noise-cancel him too....

I realize the dangers inherent in this overall trend—I might even go so far as to call it “socially alienating” and “destructive of relationships”—but I nevertheless feel it’s inexorable. At this point, everything is curated—except, of course, what we hear.... [I]t feels good to draw a private, firm border... Just like we choose everything else, I choose exactly what to put in my ears. All other noise is canceled.
So much choice, but you can't choose to be around people who are not canceling you.

And, more recently in The Atlantic: "The Case for Wearing AirPods All the Time
The inconspicuous buds might make friendly interactions awkward, but they can also provide protection in dangerous situations"
(by Marina Koren):
But something’s missing in the lamentation over the Apple buds and their erosion of social norms. There’s actually a very good reason for wearing AirPods all the time, even at the risk of offending someone: to safely ignore street harassers.

The currency of street harassers is attention—they want it, and they act as if they’re entitled to it. Leaving your AirPods in while ordering at Starbucks is rude, because the barista at the counter is owed some common courtesy. Wearing them on your commute to pretend you didn’t hear that nasty comment is not, because the harasser isn’t owed anything at all....

Headphones act as both cue and barrier; they convey an air of unavailability that warns strangers not to bother and provide a membrane of protection when someone decides to anyway. Suspended in a state of plausible aloofness, people with headphones plugged in their ears can pretend they didn’t hear those comments and keep on walking....
In this view, the world around you is negative, but the feared negativity is merely aural — verbal harassment. Ironically, it's simultaneously sunny: She's only afraid people will say things, not that she's vulnerable to physical assault. Headphones also say I can't hear you coming up behind me and my mind is in a dream world.
For some, AirPods aren’t the same blazing do-not-disturb sign as other kinds of headphones. Their inconspicuous design, while convenient, can be easy to miss, and their users try to remedy that. “I make a pretty distinct effort to keep my hair pulled back so that people see that I have them in,” says Maggie Powers, an advertising consultant in Boston....
Imagine changing your hairstyle because you want to say "Hey, look, I'm wearing earphones!" Why not go bold and walk down the street with your fingers in your ears and chant "La la la, I'm not listening"?
Sometimes, the stranger trying to get your attention, mouthing muffled words and miming removing the buds from your ears, just wants directions, or to ask some other benign question. But for many people, the desire to avoid a bad experience... wins out....
No, you really are always choosing which bad experience to prioritize avoiding. And your choices are limited by what other people are choosing to avoid. In Koren's personal world, the #1 problem seems to be catcalling. It's actually a pretty nice world if that's your biggest problem, men uttering compliments and sexual offers. And here you are rearranging your head and your hair for them. Is that liberation? Another way to rearrange your head is to build the capacity to ignore. Just act like you didn't hear that. That's a stronger message to guys who think they can get your attention than sticking man-made objects into your bodily orifices.

42 comments:

MadisonMan said...

I see these young kids with earbuds in all the time and I just ponder what kind of hearing problems they are setting themselves up for.

traditionalguy said...

Monasticism is back. Rule of silence to be enforced. The inner hearing needed is your own recital of scripture.

Wishful thinking.

jv said...

> He looks around in his office and sees half of his colleagues isolating their heads under headphones. There's a term for this, "the privatization of auditory space."

There's another term for this: walls and doors!

rhhardin said...

Somebody should do a mute trapped in a box skit.

Wince said...

Headphones act as both cue and barrier; they convey an air of unavailability that warns strangers not to bother and provide a membrane of protection when someone decides to anyway.

I wonder if frontiersmen had a similar existential debate first before carrying a holstered six-gun on their hips became popular?

traditionalguy said...

Contrast silence with the amount of communications that President Trump absorbs during his 20 hour days. No wonder he prefers the intelligent people with good EQ and IQ communication skills . Which is probably why he keeps Kelly Ann Conway around.

Wince said...

rhhardin said...
Somebody should do a mute trapped in a box skit.

Speaking of an annoying silence, is that a euphemism for "mime"?

Ann Althouse said...

What a cushy world it is where we can be protected by a membrane!

Dave Begley said...

At the Jesuit high school of Omaha the Prefect of Discipline prohibited the boys from walking around campus with headphones or earbuds on. His reason? We want you to be present in the Kingdom of God.

Sebastian said...

"There's so much isolation from your surroundings, so many chance encounters averted"

Well, the question is whether the "surroundings" that happen to surround you and the "chance encounters" you happen to run into are inherently and consistently more valuable than the sounds and encounters you choose. I say as someone who rarely "isolates" himself by using earphones.

rehajm said...

No, you really are always choosing which bad experience to prioritize avoiding.

Good at avoiding the bad experience of the little fuckers with the clipboards Planned Parenthood hires to harass you. Not good at avoiding the bad experience of the truck you didn't hear coming as you mindlessly walked into the intersection.

Francisco D said...

We aren’t necessarily adapted to be interacting with strangers all the time.

This strikes me as a meaningless phrase that helps Dr. Gilbert achieve his 15 minutes of social science fame.

He is desperately seeking a phenomenon that will later be debunked.

MadisonMan said...

Good at avoiding the bad experience of the little fuckers with the clipboards Planned Parenthood hires to harass you.

I find that the phrase "I'm not interested in what you're saying, please go away" works well. Having earbuds in agree is a way to avoid this unpleasant conversation, but some things need saying.

Henry said...

Funny how Dr. Gilbert describes us hunter-gatherers as animals that avoid conversations with strangers by replacing them with lectures from strangers. And songs from strangers.

My commuter rail has a quiet car.

Just last week the entire train lost power. The lights failed, the motors and AC turned off. The engineers allowed the train to coast to the next station. The quiet was blissful.

gilbar said...

one of the reasons why i joined the gym, was that i'd thought that it would be good for me to interact with people (i had been taking my walks in the park, by myself)...

But, it turns out; that i'm {literally!} the only one there not using earbuds. So that was out.
At least the deers and the raccoons would listen to me (not like the trees, breeze or stars)

Henry said...

MadisonMan said...
I find that the phrase "I'm not interested in what you're saying, please go away" works well.

I always say I'm trying to make a train.

Fernandinande said...

And there's a score of harebrained children
They're all locked in the nursery
They got earphone heads they got dirty necks
They're so 20th century

He looks around in his office and sees half of his colleagues isolating their heads under headphones. There's a term for this, "he talks too much."

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"The author of the article, Richard Godwin, observes that headphones — "retreat into our own discrete sound worlds" — are essentially a mute button. He looks around in his office and sees half of his colleagues isolating their heads under headphones."

If only. I've never had a job where at least one of my peers didn't have some profound mental health issues and a burning desire to air them. The lowly earbud is no deterrent.

Howard said...

The key to great Uber service is to treat the driver like you work for him. If he wants to talk, you talk. If not, keep quiet. Always give 5-stars and tip 20%. This way, your rating is excellent and when you pop up on the hail, every available driver wants you as a fare.

Krumhorn said...

My law partner runs QVC in the background while working. That’s when my earbuds come out. I’ll take Oscar Peterson over Dooney & Bourke or orthotic shoes any day. When the plus size ladies start modeling the mumu wear, there are no blinders blinding enough.

- Krumhorn

khematite said...

But take Dylan literally--"You should be **made** to wear earphones"--and you've got Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron" (October 1961). The government requires all people to be equal and, for example, implants radios in the heads of people who are excessively intelligent. Every few minutes that radio rings loud bells to disrupt their ability to think coherently. The Handicapper General of the U.S. enforces this general equality through a system of mandatory weights for those who are too strong or too swift and ugly masks for those who are too beautiful.

Infinite Monkeys said...

I always say I'm trying to make a train

I'm going to start using that. (There is no train station where I live.)

Pianoman said...

I definitely mute everyone at work. I'm in an open area, and the constant buzz causes me to be more unproductive. I usually listen to music or podcasts, and take off the headphones whenever I need to discuss something with someone else.

People tend to think that I'm in meetings, and leave me alone. Win-Win.

Unknown said...

From PA's Vehicle Code (Title 75)

§ 3314. Prohibiting use of hearing impairment devices.

(a) General rule.--No driver shall operate a vehicle while wearing or using one or more headphones or earphones

Roger Sweeny said...

Her pulling her hair back is the same as David Crosby's letting his freak flag fly.

PM said...

The loudest ride-sharing silence is why the left hasn't demanded those companies unionize their employees to, you know, provide healthcare and pay SS taxes.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

What a cushy world it is where we can be protected by a membrane!

unless mom thinks you're a parasite

stevew said...

I use earbuds to listen to music pretty much all the time that I'm doing solo activities. Puttering around the house, walking the dog, etc. I use the ones that came with my iPhone and, maybe it's just me but I can hear what other people are saying even when the music is on. I also use them to isolate myself in public, particularly when traveling by train or plane, which I do often. That annoying guy in the middle seat doesn't bug me in part because he thinks I can't hear him. Winning!

Caligula said...

One might make a distinction between earbuds worn because you want to hear something, and earbuds worn because you don't want to hear something.

Defensive earbuds seem a response to an increasingly aggressive commercial auditory environment in which everything from restaurants to retail stores to gas station pumps have become ever louder in their attempts to use sound as branding, or just to sell something (that you probably don't want) at you. Can anyone still remember when stores played "background" music?

I can still remember the first time I took a city bus, only to be confronted by a built-in blaring-loud TV. With no volume or off control, and a driver who said he "couldn't" turn it down (let alone off). Somehow it seems that as advertising becomes ever less effective (who believes advertising?) it compensates by becoming louder and more insistently intrusive.

Just as there remains a vast distance between buying something because you want to and someone selling something at you because they want to sell it, there remains a vast distance between listening to something because you want to and having to hear it because someone thinks its in their interest to play it at you.

So, it's Spy vs. Spy, unwanted sound vs earbuds, noise cancelling technology vs sound-everywhere. No doubt some people wear earbuds because they wish to live in their own soundtrack, but more wear them because they don't wish to live in yours.

Birches said...

I must be getting old because I don't get wearing earphones all the time.

Yancey Ward said...

Elaine pretends to be deaf.

Vet66 said...

Insulation from outside noises is dangerous and anti-social. What kind of place do you exist in? Exist is an interesting word. I find the human drama interesting and informative. "Hey, how are you today? Let me get that door for you...Have a nice day. The opposite is some poor sap who cringes and proclaims that I am putting too much pressure on him to function when I say "Have a nice day." It also lets the truly bad folks know I am paying attention to my surroundings and they had better reconsider what their intentions are. Look people in the eye and make contact instead of avoiding reality...or move to a nicer neighborhood. But then I carry concealed and give the bad folks pause to reconsider their intentions. Hiding from reality does not protect us from what we fear. On the contrary, it makes us bigger targets unprepared for good or evil. Acknowledge the existence of others and you also enrich your own lives from the experience...you may also save a life because you are paying attention. You can wear earphones later in life when you are looking at the ceiling and your only link to the outside world is your earphone set until it's time to change your DEPENDS.

Yancey Ward said...

I never wear headphones/ear buds in public, but then I also don't carry my phone everywhere either.

MikeD said...

Althouse walks around Madison listening to books on her kindle/tablet.

gbarto said...

Executives who work in private offices so they can concentrate and talk about sensitive issues put their employees in open offices so that the employees can...

Headphones are the worker's attempt to regain the relative dignity of the cubicle.

Ann Althouse said...

"Althouse walks around Madison listening to books on her kindle/tablet."

I also listen to audiobooks to fall and stay asleep.

And I play podcasts while doing any sort of chore or personal grooming.

I don't play music (or anything else) when I am reading or writing (unless I'm in a situation where there is noise and then I play something that's as close as possible to noise cancelation).

Anthony said...

I have three comments:

gilbar said...
one of the reasons why i joined the gym, was that i'd thought that it would be good for me to interact with people (i had been taking my walks in the park, by myself)...

But, it turns out; that i'm {literally!} the only one there not using earbuds. So that was out.


1) A lot of the women wear them so people -- read: men -- don't bother them. Unless I really need to say something, I just don't bother. Unless we know each other otherwise. Seems mostly to be an age things, too; I think the younger ones wear them more than us oldsters.

2) Someone upthread said the isolation outside can be dangerous. YES. Especially if you're in a risky area. Police in the downtown Seattle area tell people (read: women) all the time to not just plug in and tune out when walking downtown. It keeps you from hearing threats, both human and otherwise (i.e., a car screaming towards you from behind).

3) I have them in at work (when I'm in an office) all the time, but it's only because I need some form of music to concentrate. Baroque classical or contemporary solo piano or something like that. Even in a quiet office with little ambient noise, people wear them for 'entertainment'.

Jeff Brokaw said...

I know this has a giant “get off of my lawn” tone to it, but .... social media has just been a disaster, overall.

Bruce Hayden said...

“I never wear headphones/ear buds in public, but then I also don't carry my phone everywhere either”

That is why I have an Apple Watch. Couldn’t find my iPhone this morning on the way out, and didn’t want to wake her up with the tone from Where’s My iPhone app. No problem - she called me an hour later after hearing my obnoxious custom ring for one of my good friends a couple times.

I do need to have a phone when I am out of the house, because she needs to be able to get ahold of me around the clock in case something untoward happens to her (or the cat). Except when she is with me, and then it is to call 911. I am tethered these days worse than when I was still practicing patent law, and they issued us iPhones so our clients could get to us after hours.

JaimeRoberto said...

This reminds me of a different song, or different video anyway: https://youtu.be/p21YfobjaVA

I got too many friends
Too many people that I'll never meet
And I'll never be there for
I'll never be there for
'Cause I'll never be there

66 said...

earlid

66 said...

https://www.earlid.org/about/