readersdigest.co.in 157The Genius Sectionthe floor a few feet from a wall has
a hollow quality because of slight
echoes that immediately follow the
original click of contact. The echoes
from the stick tapping the floor follow
too quickly to distinguish as distinct
replicas of the original click, but
they add slightly to the original click
sound nonetheless.
If you tap the stick closer to
the wall (within a few inches),
the click will have a somewhat higher
pitch. Some people report that clicks
right next to the wall sound ‘deader’
because they contain fewer echoes
and overtones.4
See behind you
Sound shadowing is a close
cousin of echolocation. It lets
you sense when someone—or a large
something, such as a predator—is right
behind you, even when that someone
(or something) makes no sound.
Stand with your eyes closed on a
carpeted surface (or another sound-
deadening surface, such as grass or
beach sand), and have a friend sneak
up behind you so that you don’t
hear his or her footsteps, breath-
ing or clothes rustling. The experi-
ment works best when you have aPsychologytoday.com ( june 2018), copyright ©
2018 by erichaseltine.conspicuous sound source, such as
a radio, located about 10 feet behind
you to create background noise.
As your friend approaches from
behind, even though you can’t see or
hear him or her directly, you should
be able to ‘feel’ the person’s proximity
by the sound shadow that he or she
casts—the way the person blocks the
sound. If you pay close attention to
the sound shadow, you’ll perceive
it has two parts: a slight lowering of
volume and a deadening of echoes
of the radio noise off surfaces behind
you. These two effects become
increasingly obvious as the person
gets closer to you. Our unconscious
ability to sense that someone is
behind us may have given rise to
that overworked phrase in thrillers
and mysteries: “She felt someone
watching her.”
Although the perception of sound
shadows, like echolocation, is yet
another example of implicit memory,
it may also have a hardwired survival
component that helps us fill in a large
blind spot behind us that predatory
animals (and nasty humans) could
otherwise exploit.Change That Tune
I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas.
I’m frightened of the old ones.
john cage