Upon reading this, you’re probably one of the more than millions of people who staunchly believe that this audio clip is saying either the word “yanny” or the word “laurel.”
If you haven’t heard it yet, take a listen:
The short audio clip has sharply divided the Internet since it was posted on Twitter by Cloe Feldman on Monday. Why would so many people hear something completely different?
Nina Kraus, a neurobiology professor at Northwestern University, says, “It is not at all surprising to me that two different people will take a sound that is admittedly acoustically ambiguous and hear it differently.”
The original recording was actually lifted from a Reddit post, which was re-posted from another user that recorded an audio file from Vocabulary.com. Somewhere along the line, the recording could’ve been distorted and ultimately degraded the quality of the audio.
“The poor quality of the audio, likely re-recorded multiple times, makes it more open to
interpretation by the brain, says Brad Story, a professor of speech, language and hearing sciences at the University of Arizona. Primary information that would be present in a high-quality recording or in person is “weakened or attenuated,” Story says, even as the brain is eagerly looking for patterns to interpret.
“And if you throw things off a little bit, in terms of it being somewhat unnatural, then it is possible to fool that perceptual system and our interpretation of it,” says Story.
According to Ben Munson, University of Minnesota professor language professors says that the discrepancy in what people hear comes down to a few different possibilities, none of which sort it out for certain. He also says that one cause of its trickiness is that the sound file is synthesized, which is different than real speech.
Others have theorized that the different sounds are caused by the actual the consonants in “Yanny” and “Laurel.” The “y,” “n,” “l” and “r” sounds are really the chameleons of speech. The way one pronounces them morphs based on the sounds that come before and after them in a word. Because of this, it is the brain of the listener that decides their identity, based on context. In this case, the sound is missing a few elements and your brain automatically makes a judgment, called interpolation, similar to how you can so easily read partially erased text.
Either way, let’s hope we don’t have to endure another internet battle of the wits anytime soon. I don’t think our brains can handle it.
Jasmine Browley holds an MA in journalism from Columbia College Chicago, and has contributed to Ebony, Jet and MADE Magazine among others. So, clearly, she knows some stuff. Follow her digital journey @JasmineBrowley.
By subscribing, you consent to receive emails from BlackDoctor.com. You may unsubscribe at any time. Privacy Policy & Terms of Service.
