Badly behaved bus commuters: Are earbuds part of the solution or part of the problem?

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the belief that a lot of the social ills we see today are tied largely to a loss of social capital. ... a decline in civic engagement and social interaction.

attribute some of the erosion of social capital to technology. ....At the heart of it is that earbuds have made spontaneous social interaction nearly impossible.

So spontaneous conversation has become difficult everywhere. Common spaces are no longer common; they have become a collection of private spaces. People slowly stop to think of a bus or a gym as a space to be shared with other people, but instead, a space to be colonised for personal intentions. Some of my friends tell me even the home is not a common space because all the ears are plugged there too. It has also catalysed personal media. Everyone, even in the same household, sometimes even in the same car, watches different shows, listens to different music and reads different sites.

We have become very good at being together and yet, alone. And I believe actually being together and being conscious of the needs of other people is an essential building block of not behaving selfishly in public.

Sometimes, maybe it is okay to open ourselves to the outside world, to be part of the community at large, to take in the same sights and sounds as everyone else around us.

=For qns on tech causing loneliness, alienation, isolation and selfishness, lack of social graciousness....

=Relate to 2022 'A' level GP Compre AQ on smartphones transforming public into private space

=note the closing BANG making reference to something mentioned earlier in the article....

Qns: 

1. To what extent is technological innovation desirable? (MI Prelim 2023)

2. ‘Modern technology has made us more vulnerable than ever before.’ Do you agree? (TMJC Prelim 2023)