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We all know I'm a little weird, maybe that's why I hear neither, but LARRY! That was my first thought! Like, who even hears Yanny or Laurel? I hear Larry. Period. But here's the file again:
What do you hear?! Yanny or Laurel pic.twitter.com/jvHhCbMc8I— Cloe Feldman (@CloeCouture) May 15, 2018
The explanation - the big WHY? - is way easier and logical than you'd think. Are you looking for someone to explain the science behind the latest trending phenomenon that's tearing the Internet apart? Danny Aronson, CEO of EVEN, the company creating headphones known as "glasses for your ears" can lay out the technical reasons why the infamous Yanny and Laurel recording is an optical illusion for your ears.
For starters: What you hear depends on which frequencies your brain emphasizes. In a noisy recording, there are lots of different frequencies captured. Higher frequency sounds in the recording make people hear "Yanny," whereas lower frequencies cause others to hear "Laurel." What you hear also depends on your age. Older adults often start losing their hearing within the higher-frequency range, meaning it's possible that more young people hear "Yanny."
There are also other technical explanations. For example, what you hear might have to do with your speakers, headphones, or the acoustics in the room. There's also the question of what platform you heard the recording on first — the differences in the audio could have something to do with how Twitter or Instagram compresses video files.
Thanks for sharing the explanation on Mommy Monday blog post.
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