By Khalil Smith, Dr. Heidi Grant & Dr. David Rock
Do you hear Yanny or Laurel?
Believe it or not, the same science that fuels this debate—it’s definitely “Yanny,” by the way—can also help explain why it’s difficult to overcome bias in the office.
There are deep reasons for why there can be so much disagreement over how an audio clip sounds. In each moment (including this one!), the brain is combining sensory input from the outside world with what’s already happening inside (experiences and beliefs) to create our perception. These subjective perceptions of reality are different for every person. But because our perceptual processes are not accessible to us, our perceptions feel like objective reality.
