Q. What is worse than a phone?

A. A headphone.

When you connect your headphones to your phone, you disconnect from the world. And that is tragic, though giving many a comic relief to others.

The Evolutionary Perspective

Humans have evolved from living on trees. The most important evolutionary change is not scientific advances, but cooperation. Without cooperation, scientific advances wouldn’t have been possible. However, to cooperate, humans need to connect with each other.

Humans also need to feel the world with all their senses and be mindfully involved in it. For that, they need to have their eyes, ears, and minds open. Headphones defeat that purpose, pushing one into isolation within their own bubble.

The Impact of Self-Absorption

Should our senses be awake only when something is happening to us or only when we are making something happen? Why can’t we experience what’s happening to others around us? Why can’t we absorb it and learn from it to enrich ourselves with third-party experiences and heightened emotional understanding?

Being self-absorbed prevents us from doing that. Headphones are one of the devices that aid in becoming self-absorbed.

Hearing Damage from Headphones

Most MP3 players today can produce sounds up to 120 decibels, equivalent to the sound level at a rock concert. At that level, hearing loss can occur after only about an hour and 15 minutes.

“If you can’t hear anything going on around you when listening to headphones, the decibel level is too high.”

As a rule of thumb, you should only use devices at levels up to 60% of maximum volume for a total of 60 minutes a day. The louder the volume, the shorter your duration should be. At maximum volume, you should listen for only about five minutes a day.

Tinnitus and Headphones

Earphones can cause tinnitus, a constant ringing or buzzing in the ears. Listening to music at high volumes for extended periods can damage the hair cells in the inner ear, leading to tinnitus. This condition can be temporary or permanent, depending on the extent of the damage.

Earphones and Ear Infections

There are two ways that earbuds might cause an ear infection:

• They can trap earwax in the ear canal and push it further up. This may result in a buildup of earwax that causes an ear infection to develop.
• Earbuds can also trap moisture and fluid in the ears. This can create a warm, moist environment in which bacteria thrive, increasing the risk of ear infections.