I disagree with your disagreement!

I've had good closed headphones before, and they're... okay... but nothing like a good active noise cancelling headphones.

For example, the Sony WH-1000XM3 is already a relatively good closed headphone! If you put one on with the noise cancelling disabled, it still provides a quite decent amount of isolation. But then instant you press that little switch... near total silence.

I used to tell people that first class tickets on planes are a waste of money because: You're still on a plane, it's still noisy, you just get better food.

But now with my Sony headphones, cattle class feels like first class. It's bliss: I can sleep. I can watch movies and actually understand what people are saying. I can read a book without feeling like there's a running hair dryer behind my head the whole time. The cries of babies are completely inaudible.