#100sciencepoems 53: Yannylaurel

Dedicated to the aural illusion du jour.

(Yanny, for the record.)

There’s a soundfile that’s making the rounds on the net

And when two or more listen it’s rather uncanny

For it’s always the same set of soundwaves and yet

Some people hear “Laurel” but others hear “Yanny.”

All over the world there are folks close to tears

As voices grow strident and tense in a quarrel

When one can’t perceive what another one hears:

‘It’s blatantly “Yanny”!’ ‘It isn’t! It’s “Laurel”!’

It really is rather unnerving to find

Out how much of our input is down to perception

We think we can trust what comes into our mind

Via our senses, but no! So what’s real? What’s deception?

What causes the difference in which name is heard?

Even scientists must to confusion confess

But my question is not about who hears what word:

Whether Yanny, or Lauren… WHAT COLOUR’S HER DRESS?