Remember the colour-changing dress (gold and white, or blue and black) and the spinning ballerina silhouette illusion that tore the internet apart? Here’s another to blow your mind.
On Tuesday, Cloe Feldman @CloeCouture, a social media influencer and vlogger posted a question on her Instagram Stories, which was cross-posted to Twitter.
Listen to this clip:
It asked, “What do you hear? Yanny or Laurel,” accompanied by a recording of a computerised voice.
For some, like me, I hear “Laurel” clearly. And yet, as discovered in my office of six other people, a large number hear “Yanny.”
Which is absolutely baffling if you think about it.
“Laurel” has a low pitch while “Yanny” as described by those who can hear it is in the higher frequencies.
So, is this our ears and brain interpreting audio waves differently? Or is it some clever trickery?
As I was the only one in the office who hears “Laurel,” I had the theory that it was due to age. Let it be known that I’m the only one over 40 years of age amongst my colleagues.
Is it my depleted frequency range or is it something else?
At least one of my colleagues says he can hear both if he “concentrates.”
There have been several theories that have surfaced on the interweb. One theory was posted by a redditor, who theorised that what you hear depends on the amount of bass that’s being produced from the device you’re listening on.
Based on that theory, I listened to the clip on my iPhone 8 Plus. Then also tried it via earphones.
Still “Laurel.”
Some netizens have called it “Black Magic Fuckery.”
In a tweet, netizen Steve Pomeroy claims that if you pitch-shift the audio clip you will hear different things, while another Earth Vessel Quotes says you can hear both when you adjust bass levels.
The peeps at TNW have a scientific explanation. Go read it.
Please say you hear “Laurel” so it doesn’t drive me crazy.
Tell me what you hear in the comments below.
Source: Vox, Cloe Feldman
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