Great you've proven the problem is not the physical arrangement but the noise level. You think you are providing a counter argument, but you are not, you are he

Great you've proven the problem is not the physical arrangement but the noise level. You think you are providing a counter argument, but you are not, you are helping support the main idea that open layout does NOT help productivity BECAUSE of the noise level, as the primary reason. Of course it's a bit uncomfortable for most to be bumping elbows with others, and having the constant 'motion' of things going on in your peripheral vision, and zero privacy, but the biggest hindrance of open layout is noise, which is precisely why in libraries you are not allowed to make noise, and even talking at a normal level is (and should be) considered too much noise. Using the library example is the perfect analogy to help teach dumb employers how their open layout sucks big time. And as another post on here already said the REAL reason employers do it is to save on their burn rate by packing as many humans into as small a sardine can as possible, just like the airlines make millions by shrinking your legroom by a millimeter.