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Do you hear ‘Yanny’ or ‘Laurel’ in this audio clip?

THE great debate about whether you can hear Yanny or Laurel divided the internet but it turns out there is a reason we all hear something different.

Frank ChungFrank Chung
@franks_chung
less than 2 min read
May 17, 2018 - 4:28PM
Do you have a Photographic Memory?

DO you hear “Yanny” or “Laurel”?

An audio clip posted to Twitter has social media users locked in fierce debate, with many comparing it to the infamous “blue/gold dress” from 2015. “What do you hear?!” wrote fashion designer Cloe Feldman. “I hear Yanny.”

The clip, posted on Tuesday night, has been retweeted more than 60,000 times and more than 30,000 people have commented on the thread. And the internet is divided with half of users apparently hearing “Laurel”, and the other half hearing what it actually says, which is clearly “Yanny”.

“How are y’all hearing Laurel? It clear as day says Yanny,” Lexy Rose tweeted. “They are saying they hear Yanny because they want attention,” Domenic Zenga replied. Ashley Barrentine wrote, “I hear Yanny but my dad and boyfriend hear Laurel I’m shook.”

Michael Weiss added, “My wife and I just listened through my laptop speakers — she heard Yanny and I heard Laurel and now I feel like I’m living in a simulation.”

According to Google searches “Laurel” is winning the debate.

But it turns out there is a reason we all hear something different and, unfortunately, it’s got a lot to do with hearing loss.

Lars Riecke, an assistant professor of audition and cognitive neuroscience at Maastricht University, told The Verge that frequency was to blame.

He said the acoustic information that makes us hear Yanny was higher frequency than the acoustic information that makes us hear Laurel.

As we get older we start to lose our hearing at the higher frequency ranges, so in theory those with poor hearing will only hear Laurel.

Google searches seem to suggest that Laurel was the most heard term.
Google searches seem to suggest that Laurel was the most heard term.
Optical Illusions

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/do-you-hear-yanny-or-laurel-in-this-audio-clip/news-story/63f729acc13b58318150adee6f48a164