>"This seems so backwards to me, why would you want other people to behave the way you want them to when you can just put in earplugs, noise cancelling headphon

>"This seems so backwards to me, why would you want other people to behave the way you want them to when you can just put in earplugs, noise cancelling headphones, have self control and not get annoyed, etc etc." Because you are in a captive environment at increasingly close quarters on increasingly fuller flights. "Live and let live" is a great philosophy but flying coach today is not the same level of "shared public space" as say walking on a city sidewalk or sitting in a park.