Yanny or Laurel – The Debate is on

There is a heated debate happening on the Internet and it’s dividing the world into 2 camps! The fact is, both sides are actually right.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, there is a sound clip that repeats a name a couple of times. When heard, either the name Yanny or Laurel can be heard. It is really difficult to believe that two seemingly different names can be heard in the same audio clip. The problem is that once you listen to the clip, and you hear the name being spoken, you can’t possibly understand how anyone could hear the other name. When I first heard the clip, it was a definite “Yanny”. Now when I hear it, it’s almost always a “Laurel”. It really is crazy, because the clip is identical, so what gives??

The trick, if you can call it that, is the fact that it all comes down to pitch. The name Yanny can be heard at a pitch lower than Laurel. Depending on a few factors, including your age, environmental noise and what else is going on around you, your brain will tune into one of the pitches and the name will be heard.

If you hear the clip with the pitch adjusted higher or lower, you’ll probably hear the other name.

There is a lot more science behind it, but that is pretty much it. It’s not a hoax or trickery, it’s just the way the human ears (and brain) works.

Here is a video of the original clip, plus the same clip adjusted for a higher and lower pitch. See you can hear the difference.

I’d love to see what you hear in the clip.

Please comment with your thoughts!!

Hugs,
V