or Laurel

還是 Laurel ？

A recent Twitter poll found, that 47% of people hear "Yanny", while 53% hear "Laurel"

最近在推特上有一個民調發現有 47 % 的人會聽到 Yanny ， 另外 53 % 則會聽到 Laurel

Clearly this has created an internet argument that is dividing the nation

這個民調在網路上引起一陣風波害整個國家在搞分裂

So what is the science behind the madness?

所以到底該如何用科學的角度來解釋這個瘋狂的現象呢？

One of the first aspects is priming

第一個解釋方法是你有沒有準備

If you were to play this clip without providing the option of "Yanny" or "Laurel"

如果你在聽這個錄音檔前沒有被提供 Yanny 或 Laurel 這兩個選項

you may have heard neither of these words

你聽到的可能不會是以上的兩個字

But by reading them, you're primed to hear one or the other.

但當你已經得到這兩個選項時，你就會準備好聽到其中一個

Secondly when you speak you are producing sound waves, which propagate through the air

第二是當你講話時你會產生聲波，而這個聲波會透過空氣傳播

This is a visual depiction of the sound waves of the original Yanny/Laurel recording

由語言學教授 Brad Story 所創的 Yanny/Laurel 音欓的聲波長這樣

created by Brad Story, a Professor of Speech, Language, and Hearing

由語言學教授 Brad Story 所創的 Yanny/Laurel 音欓的聲波長這樣

Here is the depiction of him saying "Laurel"

這是他說 Laurel 時的聲波

You can see that the acoustic features are very similar

你們可以看到原音的特徵非常相似

Here is a depiction of him saying "Yanny"

這是他說 Yanny 時的聲波

The acoustic features are also similar

原音的特徵也非常相似

So the words "Yanny" and "Laurel" audibly are more similar than you might think

所以 Yanny 和 Laurel 這兩個字聽起來比你想像中的還要相似許多

Whether you're listening on a laptop, phone or headphones

你用什麼樣的裝置來收聽這個音檔也會決定你聽到什麼，不管你是用筆電、手機還是耳機

will influence what you hear based on sound quality

那個音質會影響你聽到的東西

But what if you were listening through the same device but you hear different things with someone next to you

但為什麼當你與身旁的人用相同的裝置收聽還是可能會聽到不同的東西呢？

It might have to do with the age of your ears

這就與你們耳朵的年齡有關係

The sounds in "Yanny" play at a higher frequency than the sounds in "Laurel"

Yanny 的聲波頻率比 Laurel 來得高

As we age, our ears are less able to hear higher frequencies

隨著我們年齡的增長，我們的耳朵會越來越難接收高頻率的聲音

So if you are hearing "Yanny", you might have younger ears

所以如果你到的是 Yanny ，就代表你的耳朵很有可能比較年輕

Luckily with the help of the internet, we can hear both

還好有網路的幫助，我們兩個都能聽到

Brilliant twitter user @xxv posted audio of the pitch brought both down and up

冰雪聰明的一位推特用戶 @xxv 發了一個音檔把原先的檔案音調調高和調低

When you listen to it brought down 30%, you will hear "Yanny"

當我們把音調調低百分之 30 ，你將會聽到 Yanny

Yanny x2

Yanny x2

But when you listen to it with the pitch brought up 30%, you will likely hear Laurel

但如果我們把音調調高百分之 30 ，你很有可能會聽到 Laurel

Laurel x2

Laurel x2

Your brain has so much stimulus at all times that it uses existing information and precise neurological pathways to focus its attention

你的頭腦在被外來物多重刺激下，它會專注在已經存在的資訊還有選擇明確的神經路徑去傳遞

This is why at a loud party you can listen to your friend beside you

這就是為什麼在吵雜的派對中你能聽到你身旁朋友說的話

but pop your attention into another convo if need be

但也可以選擇去聽另一個你想聽的對話

Similarly, your brain is unconsciously choosing which frequencies in the recording to pay attention to so

同樣的，你的頭腦會在你不知不覺中選擇收聽音檔裡的其中一個頻率

So... What is the final answer?

所以...原音檔究竟是說 Yanny 還是 Laurel 呢？

If you heard "Laurel", you are correct! The original recording is saying Laurel

如果你聽到的 Laurel ，那麼你是正確的！原本的音檔就是說 Laurel

but with higher frequencies overlaid, creating ambiguity

但用高頻率去覆蓋它，產生含糊的音波混淆大家的視聽

Love learning about amazing and interesting things in the world?

你喜歡學習一些有趣又驚奇的知識嗎？

We actually just started a brand new podcast called "SIDENOTE"

我們最近新增了一個 podcast 的頻道叫做 SIDENOTE

where we explore the things that are stumping us or making us curious in life

在探討一些在人生中引起我們好奇心的事物

and then insert all the mind-blowing science behind it

然後用會震撼人心的科學原因去解釋它

We'd love for you to check it out on iTunes or whichever podcast app you use

歡迎你們到 iTunes 或是其他你在使用的軟體來追蹤收聽

Your support means a ton to us as we slowly journey into exploring more science in a new medium

你們的支持是我們使用新手法探討更多科學的原動力

Again it's called SIDENOTE and it's brand new, so we're excited to know what you think

再說一次它叫做 SIDENOTE 熱騰騰剛出爐的 podcast ，我們很期待聽到你的回饋

We'll leave some links below

我們會在下面留連結

And subscribe for more weekly science videos every Thursday

還有記得追蹤我們，每週四準時收看每週科學影片