Numerous times the Nautilus article quotes Jonathan Berger, a composer and professor of music at Stanford. Among other things Berger notes that sitting quietly in a concert hall can be viewed as an isolating activity, particularly in the light of the fact that throughout history people tended not to sit quietly while listening to, and reacting to, music. I'm sure that's true, though I'm not sure that it also logically leads to Berger's claim that earphones can perform a social function because:
I see kids walking with their earbuds and I'm trying to infer what they're listening to. In a way that's social bonding.If bonding is really taking place here it's because Berger is actively trying to make sense of what he sees around him. I'll often try to see what people on the trains or the buses I ride are reading (or what they're doing on their smartphones) and certainly I can learn about them (or at least make guesses about them) that way. But rather than bonding with those people I'm acting more as an observer making assumptions that may be quite far off the mark. Rather than "social bonding", Berger's claim is much more a case of wishful thinking.