Headphones : The Isolation Phenomenon

In the essay, “Blasting Music to Drown Out Reality”, by Sydney J. Harris, the author is determined that people use music as a way to, “keep reality at arm's length”. “It is not in order to hear the music, but in order that the vacuum in their minds may be soothed by the sound, so that silence does not force them into thinking about themselves or experiencing the real world of perception and sensation.” This shows how music has be used as earplugs to block away people's connection to the world around them, to silence their troubles if only for a moment. This thesis is explicit to make sure the readers can easily identify what the author's argument is going to be when they are examining

     A cochlear implant is an electronic device that restores hearing for people anywhere from hard of hearing to the profoundly deaf. The cochlear implant is surgically implanted under the skin behind the ear. The surgeon puts the electrode array inside the inner ear and than inside the cochlea. The implant works by a device outside the ear, which rests on the skin behind the ear. It is held upright by a magnet and is also connected by a lead to a sound professor.

Murphy’s essay tries to convince the reader that cell phones are limiting and distracting. He compared

In order to gain a better understanding of the difficulties faced by people with hearing loss I wore ear plugs for an entire day in a variety of settings. The hearing loss simulation made relatively simple parts of my day much more difficult and really showed how much hearing loss can impact daily life. As discussed in class the shift from being “able-bodied to disabled”, was quite difficult to cope with.

We have all been, metaphorically, “pulled away from our own lives” by our cellphones, computers, gaming consoles and, everything else technology has brought our way. Our cell phones are our escapes, our escapes from facing how stressful everything around us can get. And, we have all been using them to hide our true imperfections to portray to our friends that we are living

Throughout his essay, Sullivan included many observations and provided some statistics. One of Sullivan’s observation, was in paragraph 12 “Walk through any airport in the United States these days and you will see person after person gliding through the social ether as is on autopilot. Get on a subway and you’re surrounded by a bunch of Stepford commuters staring into mid-space as if anaesthetised by technology. Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t overhear, don’t observe. Just tune in and tune out” (paragraph 12). His observation on how everyone has white wires hanging from their ears helps to prove his purpose of writing his essay because it’s not just his observation, it’s an observation that has probably been observed by most of his readers. In order to prove his point further Sullivan added a statistic about iPod owners. In paragraph 11, Sullivan stated “There are now 22m iPod owners in the United States and Apple is becoming a mass-market company for the first time” (paragraph 11). Sullivan used this statistic to help prove as what he calls “an addictive cult that is spreading” (paragraph 11). Later on in his essay, Sullivan described on how one was able to listen to music in the old days. In paragraph 20, Sullivan is basically contrasting the past and the present. According to Sullivan, “music was once the preserve of the living room or concert hall…it was primarily a shared experience, something that brought people together” (paragraph 20). Once Sullivan included this in his essay it helped bring more awareness towards technology because now music is something that makes people go into their own world and ignore whoever is surrounding

A century has passed since the creation of headphones, yet they have only recently come under fire. Headphones provide a way for people to listen to music, audiobooks, and podcasts privately without disrupting others around them. However, all of this private listening may soon fall on deaf ears. In Virginia Heffernan’s article “Against Headphones”, she presents an argument stating that although headphones are useful in some professions, they cause substantial hearing loss, especially in young people. The formulated argument is effective and valid, and incorporates ethos, logos, and opposing viewpoints with rebuttals.

Since a forced cochlear implant would introduce the child into the hearing culture, this decision would limit the child’s opportunity to explore and learn more about the Deaf culture. One such example demonstrates this by showcasing a video containing an interview with the hearing parents of a deaf girl who has a cochlear implant; in this video, the parents stated that the reason why they chose to have their daughter receive the cochlear implant, who was at the age of three and a half, was because the child was struggling with her deafness and that the cochlear implant was the only solution that would fix the issue (“Cochlear Implants – A Cultural Threat”, n.d.). The main issue here was that the parents believed that the only way their daughter would have a happy life was to use the cochlear implant; there was little consideration given to alternative methods, primarily because she was at a young age. If a forced cochlear implant were to be given to all Deaf children early on in their lives, they would be given no choice but to accept the hearing culture; although they could have functioned well in the Deaf culture, the culture that they were born in, the mandatory cochlear implant forces them into a culture that opposes their

The headphones have become common in the everyday life of everyone in a long time, and it also brings lots of arguments. In an article in The New York Times Magazine published on January 7, 2011, titled "Against Headset" by Virginia Heffernan, Heffernan is an author of New York Times, an American journalist and also, a founder of the Screens blog, which eventually became the Medium blog, said that people should resist headphones. In addition, I chose this article to analyze because I liked the way the author use her rhetorical techniques in order to convince parents of teenagers to restrict the use of their child’s headphones and how well does she use ethos to build some trusts and credibility to her audiences, how well does she provides statistic facts and reasons to convince her audience, and how well does she uses pathos to create emotion to sustain argument as well as building bridge between her audiences and she.

Sub-point 2: Have any of you ever stuck earphones in your ears or put on your headphones to block off an annoying friend that talks too much or a nagging family member? Headphones can represent solitude because they are basically isolating yourself from the outside noise. Once you hit “Play”, your ears and mind tend to focus on the song that’s playing. As time passes you begin to slowly get absorbed into the song and you grasp the feel of it. You then start to carefully listen to the rhythm, melody, or beat of the song and try to determine what kind of instruments were used to compose this song. By that point, your entire world is just you and the music. You’ve mentally taken yourself to a different place, a place where you find

Audism is a term used to describe a specific form of discrimination in which a group of people deem themselves as superior based on one’s ability to perceive sound; this prejudice extends by subsequently oppressing those who lack the ability to hear— denying opportunities, experiences, and equality— which ultimately attempts to undermine a unique culture that thrives on the expertise to communicate without the use of spoken language. The film Audism Unveiled reveals the frustrating and long lasting effects of oppression against those who lack the ability to hear. By watching the film and understanding the strained relationship between the hearing world and the deaf community, I have come to learn the significance of deaf culture and the importance

CI’s were manufactured in order to create ease of function in day to day lives of deaf people but has conjured up ethical and social issues amongst specific cultures. Across different cultures there are opposing and parallel beliefs regarding cochlear implants and the benefits and harms regarding the process of implanting one. Many deaf communities within western cultures such as America and Australia view CI’s as unnecessary and offensive towards deaf culture. According to a majority of cultures, receiving CI’s is seen as inappropriate and takes away a person’s identity. Heather Artinian, in the annual TED conference who is a deaf person who wears cochlear implants explained that receiving cochlear implants places the individual between two identities, neither deaf nor hearing. This is because once receiving her cochlear implants, the deaf community within her western culture no longer perceives her as a deaf person because, following receiving the implants, she was able to hear sounds and communicate in ways which deaf people who hadn’t received the implants could not. She too described that she was also not part of the hearing culture as she was not considered as a hearing individual due to being born deaf and despite receiving the CI’s, is still regarded as deaf opposed to as a

Headphones are a necessity for many people in today’s society. Headphones allow a person to listen to music without disturbing others; therefore people are listening to music all day while they eat, sleep, or work. In Derek Thompson’s essay, “How Headphones Changed the World”, Thompson addresses the problem of why workers use headphones even if studies have shown that it interferes with their productivity levels. Thompson effectively uses precise language and organizes his essay in a way that shows a breakdown of his thoughts on this topic. These two elements make the essay easy to understand, which enhances the audience’s reading experience.

Earplugs are placed into the ear canal in order to block the entrance of sound by forming a hermetic seal. Earplugs are better suited for longer use for those individuals who are exposed to noise throughout their workday, and provide a significant amount of attenuation. However, the effectiveness of the earplugs depends on proper insertion, and requires training employees on how to correctly place them in the canal. The level of attenuation can vary depending on how well the earplug is fit, as well as the motivation of the employee to wear them consistently (Berger, 2003).

The role of music in society can be best imagined when one thinks of a world without music. Music serves as a personal