Do you hear voices in pink noise?

Just as long as they don't start saying 'kill them all'...

Long time ago, I had a russian compact cassette player. When it was turned on but didn't play any cassettes I could hear voices too. I think it somehow caught a radio station. Old russian gear, you know...

Creepy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eimis 

I think it somehow caught a radio station.

That makes the most sense. In a lot of setups, if you crank the volume high enough you'll hear a tiny bit of AM radio leaking through, especially in urban areas where there are many high-powered transmitters nearby.

--Ethan

One recent study found that people perceive structure in noise pretty easily.  Not saying that this applies to you, but they found that a major factor in people's susceptibility to illusions was the lack of control of their lives.

Certain diseases also tip inductive sensory inference (an integration of sensory and prior information taking place in sensory cortex) too far to the side of the brain's own contributions, like Alzheimer's and schizophrenia.

Don't mean to insult/scare you.  

I chuckle every time I read the title. No, not yet.

I am accused of hearing voices in ICs though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILikeMusic 

Just as long as they don't start saying 'kill them all'...

X1

It's just the brain trying to understand something random and applying structure to it by its own imagination.  When I was a kid I was scared of a mylar balloon with a smiley face on it.  I was also scared of this one van because the headlights and the grill invoked feelings that it was a face that was evil.  I never like coming home when no one is home, especially when it's dark, especially going to the basement or attic when no one is home, as I feel someone could have broken in or a demon could be there.  Sometimes there will be random sounds I will hear that the house will make, and my brain will attribute meaning to them and make them sound like a voice, even though the voice says nothing.  Everyone in the world hears voices and has other weird thoughts like that.  To say you don't is a lie.  Just like someone who says they never masturbate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramicio 

It's just the brain trying to understand something random and applying structure to it by its own imagination. 

The OP's original question may seem amusing at first, but it's quite interesting.

I'm probably less of an audio than a visual person, but I'm easily able to impose structure on random visuals. It's completely normal, and more fascinating the more you examine the subject. 

If I look at anything with a pattern my brain literally draws visual lines in my visual field to connect the pattern or show the grain of it.  Kind of hard to explain since it happens visually and it's not a physical thing happening.  My brain is also good at spotting perfect geometry, such as right angles, parallel lines, perfect polygons, etc.  Weird stuff.

I clean my ears with holy water to stop the voices. It helps.

http://www.simplynoise.com/

 If you were tired when you were doing this it could have been a hypnagonic hallucination.