Wearing headphones while programming is like putting blinders on a race horse. Headphones block everything out. I can only see forward, there are no distractions. People around me fade in to the background. Nothing is more important than the code on my screen.
As parts of "hacker culture" have become more mainstream, wearing headphones has become synonymous with "being in the zone". It's become taboo to talk to someone wearing headphones, they are not to be interrupted. All you can do is listen, invisibly, as electronica pulses in their headphones.
