> "I used to think their ubiquitous earbuds were feeding their need for stimulation; now I wonder if they’re sometimes blocking out the noise."
Most of the time my earbuds are in, I'm either listening to white noise or I'm not listening to anything at all... I put them in with the intention of listening to music, but never actually get as far as remembering to put the music on - and it's exactly for that, blocking out noise. Frequently, even if I have music playing, I'm not even listening to the music, I'm just drowning out distraction so I can concentrate.
Most of the time my earbuds are in, I'm either listening to white noise or I'm not listening to anything at all... I put them in with the intention of listening to music, but never actually get as far as remembering to put the music on - and it's exactly for that, blocking out noise. Frequently, even if I have music playing, I'm not even listening to the music, I'm just drowning out distraction so I can concentrate.