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The Psychology Behind Headphones
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Mon Mar 08, 2004 10:41 AM
from the thinking-about-it-way-to-hard dept.
from the thinking-about-it-way-to-hard dept.
pvt_medic writes "The BBC has an interesting article today about portable music players and personal space. The article is on the research that Dr Michael Bull has done on portable music players. He analyzes them as a "tool whereby users manage space, time and the boundaries around the self." This article goes on to analyze the social and psychological aspects related to listening to music in public with headphones. A good quick read for those who do this."
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anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Insightful)
People in general do this. I work at a technical college and see numerous students with headphones on (I don't believe I have seen earbuds recently). I see absolutely no reason for people to be listening to music while in any sort of educational institution. I would guess that would be the equivalent of someone's body languge -- showing crossed arms during a conversation.
I think that people are shy enough as it is. We do very little REAL social interaction as it is. Do we really want to become even more anti-social creatures by promoting music as some sort of "shield" from the outside world? Remember, the average person spends about 50% of their daily free time at home watching TV.
Music is something I like to enjoy with others at concerts and at home. Music is something that should be passed on to others. Nothing like finding a new genre of music you have never heard before because a friend had it playing in the car or in his house.
Just my worthless ramblings,
Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Funny)
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A study I would like to see (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:A study I would like to see (Score:5, Interesting)
"In my headphones," Axis II by the Paranoid Social Club [pscmusic.com] (also available in a live set on etree.org).
"Walkman music," Always Will be by J-Live [j-livemusic.com].
Incidentally, I fit this profile to a T. I won't even go to the local mall without my ipod to assuade my agoraphobia. Listening to a walkman stops solicitors and panhandlers from bothering you as well. Shit, I have a pair of Sennheiser DJ phones that cancel about 32 dB of noise, and I sometimes wear them at work with no sound playing on them at all, just to help keep me concentrated.
In short, by supressing one of my senses I also supress some of my natural uneasiness in uncertain social situations and that's helped make me more confident overall.
Parent
Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:4, Insightful)
For myself I realized that wearing headphones was not a good idea since the tendency was to drown out external stimuli.
Anyway... was it just me or did this "article" read more like an ad for iPod than anything else?
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Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Interesting)
I work better if I'm at home dialed in, but I also lose the interactivity that's sometimes necessary.
I've asked to see if I can telecommute full time. We'll see how that goes.
Parent
Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Funny)
I DON'T WATCH TV!
I, um, spend my time here... and listening to songs thats have gratuitous amounts of cowbell.
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Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Interesting)
unless of course the students you're talking about are wearing headphones while in class, which is an entirely different matter. music in your own free time is perfectly healthy diversion.
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Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Insightful)
Why can't normally social people find auditory solitude in their headphones without people accusing them of being "shy, sheilding, or anti-social"? Realize that people work differently from yourself, and having the headphones on can make them work better?
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Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course one could argue that either a) your definition of what is human and what is not is sheer arrogance and simply wrong or b) that it is correct and being human in accordance with your definition is just not something everybody would aspire to.
For instance, I might say that you can never be truly human unless you understand vector calculus, but my s.o. would either disagree - or shrug and admit to not even wanting to be human if that is what it takes. For another example, I can very well imagine some religious persons claiming that religion is a defining characteristic of our species (history and society tend to agree) and say that you can never be truly human if you decide to block out God. To both of that my reply above stands.
Not that I necessarily disagree with what you say, but I think it's a fairly subjective point, and a fairly weak one in a discussion. Cheers, anyway.
Parent
Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Interesting)
Well thanks for you opinion regarding the behaviour of the people around you. But please note that it is none of your business to be telling people that they don't act like you envision. Are you going to force them into uncomfortable situations in order to get them to conform to some social aesthetic? Are you going to go on saying that people should act more like you because they couldn't possibly be happy otherwise?
Worthless ramblings indeed.
Parent
Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Interesting)
As I work in large research lab/room in a education institution, I can explain this. Perhaps it's the way that some people are wired, but may of us seem to use the audio buffers in our brains to store temporary information about the tasks we're doing. If there are any sudden loud noises, then we lose track of whatever we're doing, and have to start over again. Such noises include slamming door, someone racking their printouts from the laser printer to get the sides lined up (that seems to get to everyone), slamming shut the papers trays of the laser printer, rummaging through filing cabinets (opening and slamming doors). The only way to shield yourself from this continuous barrage of random "audio spam" is to wear a set of headphones and play something calming. (My favourite is Peter Gabriel's "Steam" or USURA's "Open Your Mind" for 3D animation work).
Maybe I'm slightly autistic or something, but I've always found myself distracted by such information. Playing football on a playing field, and I'd find the wind turbulence patterns and the shadows of the clouds moving across the grass more interesting than the battle going on between two lumbering jocks at the centre of the field.
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Re:anti-social behaviors... (Score:5, Interesting)
How fascist of you.
All of those who have worn headphones at the office without actually listening to anything raise your hand! [/me raises hand].
It's a great way to get people to leave you alone when you're busy trying to concentrate; something that's very important in the modern office which often lacks even cubicles.
Subconsciously or not, I sometimes put my headphones on, fully meaning to hit play on the playlist of the day but something takes my attention away and three hours later I'm still coding with winamp in stopped mode. But nevertheless, those were 3 uninterrupted hours.
Parent
Written up in Wired magazine, too. (Score:5, Informative)
Half a dupe. (Score:4, Interesting)
Other reasons... (Score:5, Funny)
I created my own personal space... (Score:5, Funny)
I dropped the headphones when I got an office. What a blessing.
So true. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:So true. (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, I agree that you are entitled to your own privacy and to not be disturbed at times, but you see people carrying these mp3 players everywhere. Whenever I go on the subway, every fourth person on the train is listening to music on their headphones.
It comes to the point where people put on headphones wherever they go (as you said).
Quoth the article, "listening to music acts as a shield, aura or cocoon."
Let me make an analogy of an analogy. Perhaps, as technologically oriented individuals, we can consider this as being a firewall, or perhaps a blanket spam filter. The problem is, it filters everything out. It's like making a habit of putting a DND sign at your office or dorm entrance - it prevents you from interacting, having wonderful experiences.
As I said in another post, life is worth living because it is dynamic and unpredictable. You will never know what you are missing if you choose to block out the world on a consistent basis. Maybe I am sitting on that subway train next to you, maybe we have some common interests. Maybe I have some interest tidbit of news, or a perspective on life or some other issue. But know what? That's too bad, because you'll never get to hear it, since I won't think to disturb you from listening to your music.
Here's some advice: you're entitled to listen to your music, but once in a while get a little adventurous and take them off.
Parent
Post-modernist crap (Score:5, Insightful)
Or could it be that they just want to listen to music?
Nah....
Re:Post-modernist crap (Score:4, Funny)
Shush! He's an "expert"! He's got qualifications and everything.
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in the workspace (Score:5, Funny)
Alas, I'm on a helpdesk. That doesn't work out too well.
Re:in the workspace (Score:4, Interesting)
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Is This Science??? (Score:4, Insightful)
Sounds like junk-science to me. The guy has a hypothesis. That's about it.
Here's my hypothesis: "Music sounds good. Noise sounds bad." Can someone write up an article on my thoughts? TIA.
Which university again (Score:5, Funny)
The University of Stating the Bleedin' Obvious ?
Why do I use my mp3 player? (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously, though...this shows how much we've advanced. 100 years ago, you had to go out of your way to learn an insturment (such as a fiddle) to have music at all. Now, people have an mp3 player filled with any music they want on a whim. People can be listening to their own sort of "theme song" when they're in a certain mood. If you're bored and can't just go away (like my study hall plight), you can just flip on a song that reminds you of something that's happened or you want to happen, and slip away. It's a nice thing to be able to do.
Headphones are banned (Score:5, Interesting)
Dude, people are not urban creatures (Score:5, Insightful)
The whole reason humanity left africa and then spread out across the entire planet, is because most people would prefer to be left alone. We all want, for the most part, our own 100 acre plots of land.
Re:Dude, people are not urban creatures (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Dude, people are not urban creatures (Score:5, Insightful)
while i agree that i would like to own a 100 acre plot of land, it would be terribly lonely without someone to help me cultivate it, don't you think?
or is it better to say, rather, that we would prefer to be left alone with people we like and people who are like us?
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..users manage space, time.. (Score:5, Funny)
I thought that was what my Tardis was for.
Headphones rocks, but... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Headphones rocks, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
Please believe me, kids, you will be thirty years old one day, and how well you are able to hear at that time depends very much on how well you treat your delicate, sensitive ears today.
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Re:Headphones rocks, but... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Headphones rocks, but... (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Headphones rocks, but... (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Headphones rocks, but... (Score:5, Informative)
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The only time people ask me things (Score:5, Interesting)
on the street is when I have my headphones on. They don't care. I can be in a crowd of people and they still come to me - they guy with the headphones on to ask directions, for a cigarette, for money.
Don't these people know headphones mean Leave me alone!?
Do not disturb (Score:5, Funny)
Completed Dr. Bull's survey this weekend (Score:5, Interesting)
the fabric (Score:5, Funny)
'Phones at work : replacement for mutual respect (Score:5, Interesting)
When I asked him if he could have that conversation over IM he told me to stick my fingers in my ears or to listen to music.
The problem is that I refuse to listen to music *because* that inconsiderate prick has the manners of a five year old.
I listen to music when I know I'll be able to appreciate it fully, not as a means of protection. In the best of cases, I'm unable to concentrate on work when I have music playing : I love my tunes so much that I generally need to be able to dive into them fully. Impossible to concentrate on work when I have some lush tunes in my ears.
I guess it's really just my problem seeing how all the other people here at work are OK with wearing earphones all day in order to keep the twit's shrill nasal voice our of their heads.
Bummer.
8th Ave New York City (Score:5, Interesting)
Add sunglass and headphones and the world is my music video. Not to mention I'm preserving my desire to have children some day by wearing headphones on the train.
Then I spend all day listening to internet radio so I can focus on my work and not hear the loud office gossip over from the next area. We have an open office design where teams share a large square space, all facing outward to a shared desk. Good for teamwork, bad for concentration.
I would get nothing done without headphones...and that only on the days I could bear to come to work.
Music players aren't the only form of this (Score:5, Interesting)
I've seen similar "control of personal space" with cell phones (and not suprisingly here in Los Angeles) automobiles.
All three offer a way to insulate yourself from your immediate surroundings, albeit in slightly different ways.
A simple example of this is driving a car thru a neighborhood, rather than driving in a neighborhood. The car is an environment unto itself that allows one to pass through another physical space with a minimum of interaction.
As an experiment, I've stopped driving my car in favor of public transportation. Granted, I listen to an iPod, as do many of my fellow riders, but even in this case, I am much less insulated. This is also the case when I walk to and from bus stops and rail stations.
I am actually preferring this mode of transport, and have a renewed love of my city. This probably has much to do with the fact that I am experiencing it differently, interacting with my fellow Angelenos more (despite my iPod), and actually being in my environment, rather than being in my car. Previously, much of my Los Angeles experience was that of being stuck on the freeway, "interacting" with other cars (and sometimes their drivers), most of which were either going too slow or too fast. There are no roses on the freeway.
I haven't owned a cell phone in several years, but I notice a similar phenomena. While one is talking on the phone, a large part of one's attention is placed on the person on the other end of the conversation. There is an overlap between one's presence in the real world and a sort of virtual telephone world. This is most noticeable with people using ear sets, and positively dangerous with people driving cars (especially SUVs, but that's another topic!).
I once watched what I thought was a crazy person walking down the street, ranting and raving about hockey of all things. It was a bit puzzling, since he seemed to be dressed to nicely to be a crazy street person. When he came close enough, I saw that he was talking on a hands-free phone, and was totally oblivious of his surroundings. Other than the fact that he was on the phone, his behavior was completely that of a mentally deranged person hearing voices.
Something of further interest that I haven't spent much time reflecting on is the passive aggressive nature of behavior I've observed in those that use these insulating technologies; especially obnoxious/oblivious drivers, loud cell phone talkers, and the now thankfully less common boom box wielders.
Re:Just sounds to me (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:original walkman (Score:5, Informative)
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