How would things be if we could close our ears?

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We can block out our vision by closing our eyes or covering them up with something, but we can't block out our hearing.

There are such things as ear plugs, and those things that look like head phones for protecting your hearing while you use circular saws and lathes etc. But you're right that we don't have the equivalent of eyelids for our ears.

OMG, I would've missed out on even more, as if my attention span isn't poor enough as it is. Things people say, lessons, things I watch/listen to....

I would use it consciously when out and about in order to be left alone.

Heavenly!

When I was a kid I read about this in a children's magazine, where it said that we since we have eyelids we should have ear-lids. And then it goes one about all the things you wouldn't want to hear, like people teasing you, and you wouldn't have to because you'd have your ear-lids shut. And then it goes on about how you wouldn't be able to hear people say things like "You're nice", or "Want some ice cream?", and then the author decides maybe ear-lids wouldn't be so great after all. But then they start talking about what you might really need is a nose-lid.

That was amusing and all, but I think having both earlids and noselids would be great. Especially when swimming underwater. And while we're at it I'd like to have a second set of clear eyelids so I could see underwater without swim goggles.

When I was at school I used to wish that all humans had some sort of muscle in our ears that could controllably block out sound without being visible on the outside, a bit like your tongue. This was because I had a phobia and a sensory problem with the bell, and I wanted to be able to mask the sound without needing to put my hands over my ears or use earplugs. I did have some earplugs once, but somebody noticed straight away and asked if I had blue tac in my ears - even though my hair was over my ears. Being scared of bells was one way to get bullied, so I didn't tell anybody about it.

If we had ear-lids, we’d be expected to sleep with them closed, too, so you wouldn’t be able to pretend to be asleep and still hear what people around you say, believing you can’t hear them.

Also, it’d be harder for a sudden noise to wake us up; this doesn’t look like a good thing for survival.

I'd love to be able to close my ears. I would have been able to drown out the verbal abuse that I got from my parents and my teachers if I would have been able to do that.