Excerpt from plugged in, but tuned out: the evil influence of ear buds darrell thomas people refuse to recognize the danger of mp3 players because they simply love their mp3 players too much to give them up. the mp3 players are probably doing serious physical damage to their inner eardrums or even the brain itself, but apparently that doesn’t bother anyone. i shudder to think of what the future will be like if we continue on the path of mp3 player slavery we’re traveling. next time you’re tempted to plug in and tune out, remember my warning. either we learn to live without mp3 players, or we’re going to turn into a nation of complete zombies. is that where you want to live? how could the author make his argument that ear buds actually damage listeners’ ears even more persuasive? a) by including the statistics on hearing loss in the united states b) by mentioning his own father’s struggle with hearing loss from old age c) by citing statistics of how live concerts often damage audience members’ hearing d)