If you're trying to remove or drastically limit the human element, that is a sign that you need to freelance.

Agreed, but limiting the human element (as opposed to 'drastically limiting') can lead to better productivity.

But most developers work better in offices with doors that shut (at least according to what I remember of Peopleware [http://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Second-...], though that was published before IM was everywhere).

So I think acknowledging that you work better with quiet, and framing it as 'I want to be as effective as I can', is fine.

It can even open up a discussion on true effectiveness--if I am writing tons of great code because it is quiet, but you could have saved me 8 hours of code writing because of a library you know about or wrote, am I as effective as I could be (no). This is the quiet end of the spectrum.

The loud end is the bullpen with no headphones, where it can be very difficult to think.