ArticleBlog | What does this internet debate teach us about preaching? Yanny … or Laurel?
What does this internet debate teach us about preaching? Yanny … or Laurel?
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 26.09.18
Another internet sensation is causing disputes around kitchen tables and student common rooms. Do you hear Yanny or Laurel? Everyone I have spoken to is very clear that they hear one rather than the other and struggle to believe that anyone can hear anything differently. Veteran preacher Tim Keller, the master of presenting the two most common opinions on a subject and then offering a third way forward has even taken the unusual step of picking a side in this debate with a definitive tweet: “Laurel” @timkellernyc1
A number of theories have been put forward as to why we hear such different words from the same sound source. Professor David Alais from the University of Sydney’s school of psychology says the Yanny/Laurel sound is an example of a ‘perceptually ambiguous stimulus. If there is litle ambiguity, the brain locks on to a single perceptual interpretation. Here, the Yanny/Laurel sound is meant to be ambiguous because each sound has a similar timing and energy content – so in principle it’s confusable.’
