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'Yanny' or 'Laurel'?

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
At first, I heard 'Yanny' at the center. Then, I slid all the way to the left and heard 'Laurel'.

Then, I moved the slider by small steps to the right and now hear 'Laurel' all the way to the right. I don't hear 'Yanny' at all.

I'm going to wait a bit and see if I can regain 'Yanny' and do the experiment the other way and destroy 'Laurel'.

Or, can someone else start at the right and go left by small steps?
 

Woberts

The Perfumed Seneschal
The original recording is laurel. It has something to do with the frequencies at which the sound is being played.
 
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A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
I only heard "Laurel" when I listened.
Same here.

Edit: I didn't realize the link had the slider, and was going by what my wife had played to me the night before. But then she was listening to something else this morning and that crap played again, and all I could hear was "Yanny" - though she still insisted she heard "Laurel".

So then I felt compelled to come back and tried the New York Times slider - I hear "Laurel" in the middle and left, and "Yanny" when slid to the right.
 
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Kirran

Premium Member
Once I'd heard both I could listen for one or the other and hear that one pretty easily. At least in the middle range. Bizarre.
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
I can now hear 'Yanny' again after not being able to, but I can't get all the way to the left and still hear it as 'Yanny'.

I satrted out hearing 'Yanny', then 'trained' myself to hear 'Laurel' and now default to 'Laurel'....very strange....
 

Vouthon

Dominus Deus tuus ignis consumens est
Staff member
Premium Member
I heard Laurel at first then I moved it one notch up and heard Yanny.

Then I moved it back down and still heard Yanny until I got it to the far left.

Then I moved it back to the centre. When I moved close, I heard Laurel alone or with a bit of Yanny.

When I moved far away from the table with my phone I heard either Yanny alone or Laurel in the background.

Distance seems to affect it in me. The closer, Laurel. The further, Yanny.

I heard that younger folks hear higher frequencies better and so tend to hear Yanny, so I hope this doesn't mean I've busted my hearing with earphones over the years!

My mother only hears Yanny. Can't hear Laurel at all. My father's hears neither word: he hears yearly.
 
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Vouthon

Dominus Deus tuus ignis consumens est
Staff member
Premium Member
Ah, if I cover my ears with my hands I hear only Yanny.

Then, uncovered, I hear Laurel.

And now, I'm hearing both....

Now I hear just Yanny. Ahhhhhhhhhh......
 

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
Ah, if I cover my ears with my hands I hear only Yanny.

Then, uncovered, I hear Laurel.

And now, I'm hearing both....

Now I hear just Yanny. Ahhhhhhhhhh......
Hehe. The sound only held my interest for about 10 seconds... I heard either depending on where I put the slider.
 

Vouthon

Dominus Deus tuus ignis consumens est
Staff member
Premium Member
I'm gradually regaining my 'Yanny' ability....wild!

I tested my grandparents (in their 80s) and they only hear 'yanny'. They are incapable of hearing 'laurel' at all, so the same category as my mother and father. (I texted them all the link and they texted me back)

Which kind of, anecdotally, puts paid to the age interpretation.

For a while, I lost the ability to hear Laurel. I would go off the site, then back on, and hear only yanny. And I thought to myself, "Oh no, I'll never hear laurel again!"

And then, ten minutes in, it suddenly changed to laurel.

I fear you are going to get me sectioned in a mental asylum over this! What have you done to me Polymath :eek: :p:);)
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
I tested my grandparents (in their 80s) and they only hear 'yanny'. They are incapable of hearing 'laurel' at all, so the same category as my mother and father. (I texted them all the link and they texted me back)

Which kind of, anecdotally, puts paid to the age interpretation.

For a while, I lost the ability to hear Laurel. I would go off the site, then back on, and hear only yanny. And I thought to myself, "Oh no, I'll never hear laurel again!"

And then, ten minutes in, it suddenly changed to laurel.

I fear you are going to get me sectioned in a mental asylum over this! What have you done to me Polymath :eek: :p:);)

I'm 55 years old and heard 'yanny' first...so that might support the age aspect here also.....

Do your parents/grandparents have any diagnosed hearing loss?
 

Vouthon

Dominus Deus tuus ignis consumens est
Staff member
Premium Member
I'm 55 years old and heard 'yanny' first...so that might support the age aspect here also.....

Do your parents/grandparents have any diagnosed hearing loss?

It's odd because on a few of the media reports, there was speculation that younger people might hear "yanny" more because they perhaps hear higher frequencies better.

However, in my family all the older relatives are incapable of hearing 'laurel' and hear only 'yanny'. Even my elder brother only hears 'laurel' with great difficulty (he's in his mid-thirties).

My mother, bless her, has complained for years of having poor hearing. She seems to suffer from some kind of nasal congestion which makes her talk louder than she intends and affects her inner ear. So she is hard of hearing, to an extent.

As for my grandparents, well, judging by the volume which they put their TVs at (despite sitting right in front of the screen), I can say with high confidence that their hearing can't be good. Sometimes, when I visit their house, I think I've accidentally walked into a nightclub with a DJ - its that loud.
 
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Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
A nice video that explains it. A lot of it has to do with "priming". One goes in expecting to hear either Laurel or Yanny due to being primed by the question. When I listed to the NYT piece I hear "Laurel" right at the midpoint, but only a slight shift to the right and I hear Yanny. Oops, almost forgot the video:


ETA: Younger ears are more apt to hear "Yanny" due to a greater sensitivity to higher frequencies. As we get older our ability to hear higher pitches diminishes so to hear "Yanny" one must use a source that boosts those tones.
 

Vouthon

Dominus Deus tuus ignis consumens est
Staff member
Premium Member
ETA: Younger ears are more apt to hear "Yanny" due to a greater sensitivity to higher frequencies. As we get older our ability to hear higher pitches diminishes so to hear "Yanny" one must use a source that boosts those tones.

That's the bit I don't get, since neither my parents (56-57) or grandparents (84-86) heard it as "laurel" but as "yanny" while I heard it first as laurel (I'm 25).
 

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
That's the bit I don't get, since neither my parents (56-57) or grandparents (84-86) heard it as "laurel" but as "yanny" while I heard it first as laurel (I'm 25).

Too much loud music?

Also what one expects to hear can affect what one does hear. The best way to approach this as a test would be to play a version of it for people without telling them what the choices are first. Simply ask "What do you hear?" By applying only two choices all sorts of human prejudices can affect what one hears.
 
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