Stefan Stern Urges 21st-Century Earphone Users to Tune Out Less
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 9
Stefan Stern Urges 21st-Century Earphone Users to Tune Out Less
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 9
Summary
Stefan Stern used a new opinion piece to call on people to remove earphones more often and pay attention to the world around them.
Covid-era habits and open-plan offices have helped normalize constant headphone use, he argues, but that also makes spontaneous conversation and quick workplace exchanges harder.
Public transport is one place where earphones can be polite, Stern says, and he notes neurodivergent people may need to block out noise.
Still, he frames near-ubiquitous listening as a broader social retreat from silence, shared experience and even basic alertness in public.
If constant earphone use is making us antisocial, why are new audio technologies becoming essential tools for workplace efficiency and public accessibility?
Are our noise-canceling earbuds quietly destroying our ability to connect, or are they a necessary shield against an overwhelmingly loud modern world?