Do you hear "Yanny" or "Laurel"? A recent Twitter poll found that 47 percent of people hear "Yanny," while 53 percent hear "Laurel." Clearly, this has created an Internet argument that is dividing the nation. So what is the science behind the madness?
你聽到「Yanny」還是「Laurel」？最近一個推特的投票調查發現，百分之四十七的人聽到「Yanny」，而百分之五十三的人聽到「Laurel」。顯然地，這已經造成網路上的爭論，快把國家分裂了。所以在這個亂象之下到底存在什麼科學呢？
One of the first aspects is priming. If you were to play this clip without providing the option of "Yanny" or "Laurel," you may have heard neither of these words, but by reading them, you're primed to hear one or the other.
其中第一個角度是促發效應。如果你播放這個片段的時候沒有提供「Yanny」或「Laurel」的選項，你可能兩個字都聽不到，但透過用閱讀的，你就能聽到其中之一。
Secondly, when you speak, you are producing sound waves, which propagate through the air. This is a visual depiction of the sound waves of the original Yanny/Laurel recording, created by Brad Story, a professor of speech, language, and hearing.
第二，你說話的時候會產生聲波，那會經由空氣傳導。這是原始的 Yanny/Laurel 音檔聲波圖像，由聽力語言學教授 Brad Story 創造的。
Here is the depiction of him saying "Laurel." You can see that the acoustic features are very similar. Here is a depiction of him saying "Yanny." The acoustic features are also similar. So the words "Yanny" and "Laurel" audibly are more similar than you might think.
這是他唸「Laurel」的圖像。你可以看到聲學特徵非常相似。這是他唸「Yanny」的圖像。聲學特徵也非常相似。所以「Yanny」和「Laurel」聽起來可能比你想像的還相似。
Whether you're listening on a laptop, phone, or headphones will influence what you hear based on sound quality. But what if you are listening through the same device, but you hear different things with someone next to you? It might have to do with the age of your ears. The sounds in "Yanny" play at a higher frequency than the sounds in "Laurel." As we age, our ears are less able to hear higher frequencies. So if you are hearing "Yanny", you might have younger ears.
不管你是用筆電、手機或耳機聽，都會因為音質而影響你聽到的內容。但如果你們是用同樣的裝置聽，而你跟隔壁的人還是聽到不一樣的聲音呢？這可能跟耳朵年齡有關。「Yanny」的聲音頻率比「Laurel」還要高。隨著我們年齡增長，我們的耳朵越來越聽不到較高的頻率。所以如果你聽到「Yanny」，你的耳朵可能比較年輕。
Luckily, with the help of the Internet, we can hear both. Brilliant Twitter user @xxv posted audio of the pitch brought both down and up. When you listen to it brought down 30 percent, you'll hear "Yanny."
幸運的是，透過網路的幫助，我們兩種都聽得到。聰明的推特用戶 @xxv 發佈了將音頻調高和調低的音檔。當你聆聽音頻拉低百分之三十的音檔，你會聽到「Yanny」。
Yanny.
Yanny。
Yanny.
Yanny。
But when you listen to it with the pitch brought up 30 percent, you will likely hear "Laurel."
但當你聆聽音頻拉高百分之三十的音檔，你可能會聽到「Laurel」。
Laurel.
Laurel。
Laurel.
Laurel。
Your brain has so much stimulus at all times that it uses existing information and precise neurological pathways to focus its attention. This is why at a loud party, you can listen to your friend beside you, but pop your attention into another convo if need be. Similarly, your brain is unconsciously choosing which frequencies in the recording to pay attention to.
你的頭腦同時有太多刺激，所以頭腦會用現有的資訊和精準的神經通道來集中注意力。這就是為什麼在一個很吵雜的派對上，你可以一邊聽你旁邊的朋友說話，但需要的時候也能將注意力轉移到另一個對話上。同樣地，你的頭腦也會在無意識中選擇要注意錄音中的哪個音頻。
So...what is the final answer? If you heard "Laurel," you are correct! The original recording is saying "Laurel" but with higher frequencies overlaid creating ambiguity.
所以...最終答案是什麼？如果你聽到「Laurel」，你就是對的!原音檔其實是「Laurel」，但與比較高音頻的聲音交疊來製造模糊效果。
- 「和某件事情有關」- Have To Do With Something
It might have to do with the age of your ears.
這可能跟耳朵年齡有關。 - 「降低、拉低」- Bring Down
When you listen to it brought down 30 percent, you'll hear "Yanny."
當你聆聽音頻拉低百分之三十的音檔，你會聽到「Yanny」。
