My mother clenched her teeth and endured the jabbering radio for the first few minutes of her taxi ride. The thought of listening to it all the way to the airport was appalling.
        "I'm paying for this ride," she decided, at last. "I don't have to put up with this." She tapped the driver on the shoulder. "Please turn the radio off."
        "What?" he hollered. He couldn't hear her over the radio. Raising her voice to a shout, she slowly and clearly repeated her request.
        Surprised, he asked, "Turn it down?"
        "No, off."
        "Right off?" He was astonished.
        She nodded. Hesitantly, he reached for the dial, and relative quiet descended on the cab. She took a deep breath, and began to relax. All the way to the airport, he shot her glances of bafflement. She heard his radio start to blare again before he drove away.

        Years later she described to me that cabman's amazement at someone preferring silence. But it's not a new issue, nor restricted to musicians. ("Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence." 1682)

        Science fiction short story writers have had fun with this. Arthur C. Clarke gleefully thumbed his nose at the laws of physics with "Silence Please" (in his playful collection, Tales from the White Hart, found in any good library). The newly-invented Fenton Silencer becomes the ruin of a conniving exploiter.
        Alan Nelson with "Silenzia" (collected in two anthologies) postulates a mysterious bottle with a "sound wick." It becomes addictive - until overstrained...
        In someone else's wicked little piece, advertisers' freedom-of-speech lobby has made earplugs illegal. Every five minutes, your phone speaks up to remind you to check the phone book before dialing directory assistance. Try commuting on a subway where every ad talks and sings at once!

        Re Mr. Hammond's view: We who grew up with it find your 'silence' deafening and a waste of space and time.... and the kids coming up behind us want even more media...
And if I'm not in the mood, I tune it out... it's an important skill...
        I've heard that elementary school teachers can spot children who watch little TV in the home. Without skill in unconsciously "tuning out" the teacher as soon as their attention starts to wander, the kids without TV are much better at concentrating on the teacher's words long enough to find their meaning.
        I suspect that awareness will remain a more adaptive skill in the long run. But then, I do choose not to live in cities, because of the stress levels.