< 2) You can usually find quiet if you want to rather easily.

What are you basing this on, exactly? About half the people on this thread a) have been reduced to wearing sound-canceling or over-the-ear headphones; b) work in open office setups where there is no quiet to be had; or both.

That might be your experience, but it certainly isn't the experience of the people on this thread; of the author of the original post; or of most people I know.