I suddenly remembered that audio illusion — Laurel or Yanny. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, this is the exact recording people have been arguing about for years over what they hear.
I always hear Laurel. No matter how hard I try to hear it differently — I just can’t. And honestly, I don’t understand how anyone could hear something else. I mean, Yanny? That’s a completely different word. How is that even possible? So I went to read the comments and let my friends listen to it. And guess what…There really are people who hear Yanny. It’s kind of mind-blowing.
It turns out there aren’t two different words in the recording. It’s the same sound, but it contains both low and high frequencies at the same time. Some ears are better at picking up higher frequencies — and then it sounds like “Yanny.” Others catch the lower ones more easily — and then it sounds like “Laurel.”
On top of that, headphones matter, volume matters, and even the moment when you listen matters. Your brain tries to recognize a familiar word and simply “chooses” the one that’s easier for it to hear. So people really do hear different things, even though the sound itself is exactly the same. I find that fascinating.
