A couple have asked why this seems so prevalent in modern society. My personal theory is that it is because people don't know how to think or are afraid to think. Schools don't teach children how to think, they teach them to follow authority, believe everything they are told, and let the media dictate their opinions. They are raising a generation of sheeple - people who behave like sheep.

At the risk of tainting yet another thread with pop music, I am going to quote a line from an Alanis Morrisette song
"Why are you so petrified of silence?
Here, can you handle this?
(one measure of silence)
Did you think about your bills, your ex, your deadlines?
Or when you think you're gonna die?
Did you long for the next distraction?"

I think that the first and last lines of this pretty much sum up the situation. When was the last time that you heard a group of mainstream youths discussing some type of intellectual subject - theology, philosophy, even politics? My sister keeps a television set running literally from the time she gets out of bed until she turns in for the night. To keep her company, she says.

The corollary to this is the so many 'Catters who find the muzak distasteful. From the threads I've read I would surmise that the average 'Catter, or maybe even Folkie, doesn't fit into the mold of sheeple. We do like to think for ourselves and don't like having unnecessary distractions forced onto us.

Personally, I find disturbing that so many people are willing and even eager to give up their brain waves to even subconciously process this noise. I like to keep my full facilities to myself, thank you.

My opinion, for what it's worth.