Virginia Heffernan's Argument Against Head Phones

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

There is a lot of controversy over music, musical genres, and the volume that music is played at, but the indirect effects of excessive volume are frequently overlooked. One novel helps illustrate these effects when caused by ear equipment. Contemporary earbuds as well as “seashells” in a book called Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury often lead to hearing loss, which leads to less socializing, and therefore physical and medical problems.

John is encouraged to put his earplugs in while traveling in the hallways, during PE, and in the lunchroom. Headsets are utilized in the classroom during group activities, and in the library. John excels academically with

I struggled to listen to the instructor and found myself having to work very hard to understand her then about an hour into class I began to lose focus and stopped paying attention. In this instance, I empathized with the children who have an unidentified hearing loss and struggle to pay attention in school. These children are often identified as having attention and behavior issues when in reality their hearing is the problem. This further emphasized the importance of services such as hearing aids, FM systems or other amplification methods to ensure that these children do not have to work so hard to understand

Incorporating logical appeals into her writing allows Heffernan to reach a larger audience by providing factual support as backing for the argument. The author writes, “the number of teenagers with hearing loss… has jumped 33 percent since 1994” (Heffernan, 2011). By using a statistic as a logical premise in support of prohibiting headphones, the author sheds light on the harsh reality of headphone use: more young people experience hearing loss. When discussing the history of headphones, the author states, “workers and soldiers have long used [headphones] to mute out the din of machinery or artillery while receiving one-way orders from someone with a microphone” (Heffernan, 2011). Heffernan recognizes a factual use of headphones while at the same time acknowledging that headphones are useful in some instances, which helps to strengthen her argument. Heffernan then goes on to say, “headphone users who listen to

Revealed Object and Speaker Credibility: Headphones are a pair of listening devices with speakers that are most commonly used to listen to music. The reason why this invention exists is because it helps you block out any distractions/noise from you and it prevents others from hearing what you hear.

The main claim of this article is that there will always be fear new technology and that it will damage society. An example from the article looks back at history to the invention of the radio and how people condemned it because of the harm it brought to children that listened to it, according to

Wearing earplugs for six hours has given me so much insight into what those who use hearing aids and cochlear implants experience. It has also given me a new appreciation for my ears. I did not realize how difficult it would be to attempt to communicate as I normally would with the earplugs in; however, it was frustrating, straining, and exhausting. I wore the earplugs in three different situations. The first setting was with my roommates at home, the second setting took place in a shopping trip to the mall, and the third setting in which I wore earplugs was a cell phone conversation with my mom. These experiences were trying, but ultimately gave me a better understanding and empathy for individuals who are hard of hearing; this exercise will

The Today Show aired a video informing people about the dangers of headphones. According to their video the whole generation is at risk because our headphones and listening devices are much more powerful than they use to be and can play louder.. It shocked me at how low the volume has to be to not affect your hearing. I am constantly wearing headphones. I used them to watch the Today shows video. I am very guilty of turning up the volume to avoid other people are to drown out the outside noises. Now that I am aware of the dangers I will try to be more cautious, but I feel like this is going to be a hard habit to break. In an article posted by NBC News, titled Generation Deaf they also talk about the dangers of headphones. The study in the

The Bionic Ear has revolutionised the lives of deaf individuals all over the world, it is not only a great scientific achievement, but also a great progression in a socio-cultural context within the lives and communities of the deaf and hearing-impaired individuals. The Bionic Ear with the aid of IT has provided new capabilities and in turn gives individuals new choices of

To begin with, Derek Thompson uses precise language in his essay which allows for his essay to be easily understood by the general public. First off, Thompson only addresses what is needed for the readers to obtain a good level of understanding about the topic. One can argue that “headphones have the capacity to make our music like our thoughts. Something that nobody else can hear. Something we can choose to share” (Thompson 3). By reading that quote, the general public is able to clearly understand that headphones can make music like our thoughts, and 2 specific reasons why. There is no further explanation or additional examples, because it is simply not necessary. There is not too little, or too much information and therefore allows for readers to understand the Thompson’s ideas clearer. Secondly, he makes his sentences precise. His

However, just because earbuds are commonly used, doesn’t mean they are the best for hearing health if used improperly. Being cautious on the duration and volume when using earbuds can greatly impact the results of hearing health in earbud users. Earbuds are now a revolutionary item that has been introduced into this generation along with many other profound technologies, though it is not the best item when it comes to benefiting the health of hearing as it can lead to hearing loss or overall deafness. Excessive earbud use has harmful effects to the numerous amounts of people that use them on a day to day basis. That being said, there are many options doctors and companies have yet to fully (put to action) discover that can dramatically limit and perhaps can even prevent these harmful effects, such as noise-induced hearing loss, from earbud users. By permanently implanting effective solutions in the lives of earbud users, it can bring the constantly increasing rate of noise-induced hearing loss among them to a halt, resulting in a not only healthier community, but also a more placid life for earbud users. There are many solutions that can be suggested to steady the amount of all forms of hearing loss among society, but the only true way to prevent this ongoing issue lies entirely in the hands of people. It takes their own willpower to determine the direction they

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).

Those not thoroughly educated in communication tend to confuse the terms “hearing” and “listening.” Although they appear to mean the same thing, utilize the same body part, and are both required for functional communication, there is a great difference between these two actions. Hearing involves the perception of sound using the ears, while listening is based upon giving attention to the sound being perceived. Additionally, because these concepts are different, there are also several different ways of improving hearing and listening. Thus, there are several differences between these two concepts, and it is important to signify these differences in order to practice effective communication.

The statement of the first headphones inventor can be a fine debatable topic, which is not the goal of this essay. Thus, the historical background will be reviewed only to obtain the engineering improvement for the acoustic transducer, while the statement for the creator of “first true headphones” will be left at the reader’s belief. Some people may associate headphones’ origin to the engineering of the first Walkman in 1979, while others instead, declare that Beyerdynamic should be taking the credit. Most of archives and encyclopaedias, such as Wikipedia, say that the first working headphones were created and sold to the US Navy by Nathaniel Baldwin, in 1910. (Figure 1