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OT: I don't know if this effect has a name, but the reason you hallucinated a train crossing bell was because shower sounds a lot like white noise, and white n

OT: I don't know if this effect has a name, but the reason you hallucinated a train crossing bell was because shower sounds a lot like white noise, and white noise contains all sounds. Your brain 'found' and selectively filtered a bell in it. It's somewhat similar to the Ganzfeld effect. If you ever experience a new auditory environment like a factory floor or hospital, you will keep hearing sounds from that environment for a few days if exposed to white noise.

xyzzy_plugh 7y ago
Fascinating! I figured it was something like this, but didn't bother digging into the science. Thanks!
tluyben2 7y ago
That sounds interesting; when i'm in the shower I hear a lot of things over time (all of them friendly, nothing aggressive strangely enough, so far anyway); music (quite complete songs as if there is music on in the house), dogs trying to get in at the door, people calling me, people on the phone; when I turn the shower off, it is silence (dogs are already inside as well). I have tinnitus and that might make it worse?
uryga 7y ago
> If you ever experience a new auditory environment like a factory floor or hospital, you will keep hearing sounds from that environment for a few days if exposed to white noise. i've also experienced this when a song got stuck in my head (didn't know the title, so i kept looking for it) and i occasionally heard bits of it in white noise / high pitched sounds. also fun fact - this is roughly how vocoders (the Kraftwerk / Daft punk voice effect) work! a carrier signal, e.g. white noise, is selectively filtered to match the frequencies in a modulator signal, e.g. a human voice.
AstralStorm 7y ago
And we tend to drop these hallucinations on high level of cognition. Self driving cars also can have a weirdness censor. No particular intelligence is required to ignore "faulty" sensor inputs or to not act on weird sensor combinations.

xyzzy_plugh 7y ago

Fascinating! I figured it was something like this, but didn't bother digging into the science. Thanks!

tluyben2 7y ago

That sounds interesting; when i'm in the shower I hear a lot of things over time (all of them friendly, nothing aggressive strangely enough, so far anyway); music (quite complete songs as if there is music on in the house), dogs trying to get in at the door, people calling me, people on the phone; when I turn the shower off, it is silence (dogs are already inside as well). I have tinnitus and that might make it worse?

uryga 7y ago

> If you ever experience a new auditory environment like a factory floor or hospital, you will keep hearing sounds from that environment for a few days if exposed to white noise. i've also experienced this when a song got stuck in my head (didn't know the title, so i kept looking for it) and i occasionally heard bits of it in white noise / high pitched sounds. also fun fact - this is roughly how vocoders (the Kraftwerk / Daft punk voice effect) work! a carrier signal, e.g. white noise, is selectively filtered to match the frequencies in a modulator signal, e.g. a human voice.

AstralStorm 7y ago

And we tend to drop these hallucinations on high level of cognition. Self driving cars also can have a weirdness censor. No particular intelligence is required to ignore "faulty" sensor inputs or to not act on weird sensor combinations.