Why We Shouldn't ALWAYS Wear Headphones in Public
After months of living in Ireland, I’ve realized that I’ve shut myself off from the world. I walk or bike, headphones in, listening to music or podcasts and drowning out the reality surrounding me. Life passes by, and I give it little acknowledgement. Now, I’ll be the first to say I love putting earbuds in and moving to the cadence of a song. I love laughing at or learning from one of my favorite podcasts. What’s really happening, though, is not consumption of content, but it’s a muting of one of the key senses.
“It has become the new normal, as if we are floating past each other in our individual cocoons, walled off from everyone else.”
“... I was susceptible to the sounds around me, inviting conversation with open ears, tuning in to the faintest details of life.”
I recently noticed this disconnect between my new environment and me. I moved to Ireland to experience its culture, the accents, and I craved the ability to easily engage in conversation with a stranger. But that experience has been immensely lacking, and it’s my own fault.
When I came to visit the Emerald Isle with my father last year, not once did I put earbuds in. We met numerous locals and had conversations that are still ingrained in my memory. Those memories have transformed into writing and the beginnings of a book. That’s all because I was susceptible to the sounds around me, inviting conversation with open ears, tuning in to the faintest details of life.
Now, let’s leave the anecdotes behind and take a look at what others have to say on the topic.
We’ll begin with this quote. A New Yorker article by Amanda Petrusich asserts, “The outside world, once a shared auditory environment, has been effectively fractured. We now lilt about in our own bubbles of self-programmed sound.”
Contributing writer for the Huffington Post, Dr. Douglas Kamerow, writes, “It is profoundly isolating… I walk past people in their own worlds, ears (and presumably minds) engaged elsewhere, completely shut off from the environment around them. It has become the new normal, as if we are floating past each other in our individual cocoons, walled off from everyone else.”
Stephen Thompson of NPR argues, “If you're in line at the post office… you should wear headphones without a nano-modicum of guilt. Same goes for walking from place to place, working out at the gym, riding public transportation, or buying groceries.”
“... when we’re feeling bold, we should embrace the unpredictability of our surroundings and welcome any challenges or opportunities that come with opening our ears...”
We have two modes of thought here. One is that we should almost never wear headphones or earbuds in public, in the purest interest of being more present. The other stating that it’s situational; sometimes it’s okay—sometimes it’s not. You simply have to decide for yourself, though there should be some active thought involved in the process. If we’re always shutting ourselves off by plugging in, without even a hint of consideration for what we could be missing, then life will inevitably escape us. It will at the least be less enjoyable.
Maybe that’s not true for everyone, but it certainly is for me. After one day of actively choosing not to put in earbuds, I’ve given and received more friendly greetings to and from strangers. I’ve intimately felt my surroundings—cars navigating the Galway streets, birds squawking near the Christmas Market (thoroughly loving the bounty of food dropped on scene,) the clinking of cups and chatter of friends in my favorite coffee shops. If nothing else, it’s made me more aware. And to me, that is enjoyable.
I’m not saying we should toss our headphones or earbuds entirely, simply that we should consider the consequences and actively decide when it’s appropriate to plug in or wirelessly connect. Some days, we all need to close ourselves off from the outside world, either to focus or to forget. But other days, when we’re feeling bold, we should embrace the unpredictability of our surroundings and welcome any challenges or opportunities that come with opening our ears to the planet and its inhabitants.
SOURCES
Kamerow, D. 2012. Huffington Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/headphones-health_b_1231240
Thompson, S. 2013. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2013/08/22/214502387/the-good-listener-when-is-it-ok-to-wear-headphones-in-public?t=1543588866661
Petrusich, A. 2016. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/headphones-everywhere
