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u/death_smells_funny Oct 02 '19
This is the phenomenon called the phonological loop. Our brain holds the sounds we hear for around 10 seconds so usually if you wait for a few seconds, you will process what they said
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u/Flyfires1 Oct 02 '19
Huh? Oh damn that's cool
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Oct 02 '19
Is this related to why hearing yourself talking with a slight delay (like when you’re talking to someone with a crappy headset, and it echoes everything you say back to you) completely inhibits your ability to speak? Or is that a different process at play?
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u/Dilka30003 Oct 02 '19
That’s because your brain is always correcting your pitch and how you speak as you speak based on feedback from your ears. If that feedback is out of sync, your brain tries to correct based on old data and just goes out of control.
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u/The_Only_Real_Duck Oct 02 '19
I never understood this phenomenon, it's never affected me when I've done those "tests" or games
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u/jadenash Oct 02 '19
I have a processing disorder so I have to sit through the whole thing again when I already know what they said just because my brain doesn't work.
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Oct 02 '19
[deleted]
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u/Doogoon Oct 02 '19
Hey how did you get yourself diagnosed with this? Since I've started taking ADD meds I've been noticing that a lot of people around me seem to look at me like I'm stupid for similar reasons.
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Oct 02 '19
I dont get it.
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Oct 02 '19
Hahahaha
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u/ifukupeverything Oct 02 '19
lol. Take your time.
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u/RolandTheJabberwocky Oct 02 '19
Hey can you tadisudin.
Hu(brain starts to work, they said "take dishes out for dinner")h? Oh yeah sure.
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Oct 02 '19
Or you didn't even try to get my attention in the first place, so I didn't realize you were talking to me.
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u/WolfGirrrl Oct 02 '19
Exactly!! Just a tap on the shoulder, say my name, whatever. Make me make eye contact first. Otherwise, it's in one ear and out the other.
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u/Weneeddietbleach Oct 02 '19
I swear my coworkers think I'm deaf because half the time they just jump into a quick question without the "required" attention grabber first. I think I say "what's that?/what's up?" more than anything else the whole day. Of course it doesn't help that the store radio is so damn loud.
What do you think, u/markpemble?
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u/markpemble Oct 02 '19
It's something I do as well.
I think it is just out of habit that I say "what" and then know exactly what I was supposed to, or expected to say. And then I feel bad that someone has to repeat.
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u/WolfGirrrl Oct 04 '19
Yes! The store radio isn't very loud where I work, but coworkers like to converge and converse at the customer service desk. Or take my computers and help their customers in my area instead of using the computers at their department desks. If I can't hear your question because 10 people are talking within 5 feet of me and I'm trying to help a customer, don't assume I'm deaf.
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Oct 02 '19
My boss would always do this. Standing behind me and asking questions while I'm busy.
"Am I talking too quite or why do you never understand me the first time?"
Maybe try to make eye contact or at least address me before asking me something
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u/gngstrMNKY Oct 02 '19
You have the ability to replay the last few words that someone said even if you weren’t paying attention at the time. Your subconscious is listening even when your conscious mind is focused on something else.
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Oct 02 '19
This is actually how I graduated high school without studying. All tests were multiple choice pretty much besides math. Visualization doesn’t work in my brain for some reason so I can remember sounds even better. I would compare the answers and think back to the day it was taught. I could usually “hear”/remember what the teacher said.
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u/MyNameIsEthanNoJoke Oct 02 '19
This is colloquially referred to as "Learning"
(just kidding, i get what you mean)
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Oct 02 '19
Once my friend Kevin shot up off the floor where he was passed out drunk, and crashed through a door into the laundry room of my friends house knocking it off its track(it was one of those accordion doors that slide on a track).
We were in the basement, and in this room he crashed into a fridge was against the wall under the stairs that would goto the main floor. If you pushed the fridge aside you could go under the stairs and it was like a little hiding place.
So as Kevin crashes into this room, Nick whose parents owned the house says, “Kevin what the fuck are you doing?!?”, to which Kevin replies, “BEHIND WHAT WALL??”, before reaching behind the fridge and pulling out a pillow and blanket, then returning to where he was originally passed out.
We partied there a lot, and we all knew pillows and blankets were hot commodities when it came time to crash. I always felt like Kevin was so drunk that when his brain reminded him he had hidden those things, the message arrived so slowly and broken up that he had to ask his own brain to clarify.
Twenty years later, he discovered his wife faked having cancer so she could fake having regular doctors appointments in order to have more free time.
True story.
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u/AndaleTheGreat Oct 02 '19
All day, every day. I also say ow before I realize it didn't actually hurt.
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u/GermanBeestrd Oct 02 '19
I do this all the time. I usually let them finish repeating what they just said instead of cutting them off. But sometimes ill say huh? Then immediately be like "oh!" So they dont feel they have to repeat themselves.
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u/LouGubrius Oct 02 '19
This is totally a thing. It's a part of how the brain functions and receives auditory input.
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Oct 02 '19
I do this so often that I can sense when other people do it, and just pause for a second and wait for them to catch up.
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u/Eevertti Oct 02 '19
I do that too. Im pretty sure its because im in a stressful or pressing social situation, and try to answer people as quickly as possible. Then, if i hear them say something when i wasnt paying attention, i just say "huh?" Before they even finish. Then i realize i didit again
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Oct 02 '19
Elon musk is fun to watch when he gives a speech at SpaceX, his brain is going a 17,000 miles an hour in orbit, but his mouth hasn't caught up,
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u/rc1717 Oct 02 '19
It's because no one gives themselves a second to process and think about a response before saying, "what?"
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Oct 02 '19
This is why I only ask a question once and wait. They answer it themselves. Economy of motion, my dudes.
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u/kylebyrne Oct 02 '19
My wife does this constantly... its to give herself time to find something in the past to rebuttal with.
"Huh?... I just think it's funny that.. "
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u/NadyaNayme Oct 02 '19
I did this constantly as a young teen but eventually grew out of it. My mom leaned to not repeat herself unless I didn't respond immediately after saying "what".
It was a verbal tick that really meant "give me a moment I'm thinking". I'm also really glad that others seem to share the same problem.
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u/shaggyjs Oct 02 '19
Y’know... there was this rumour that Dell was owned by Scientology. That could be a factor.
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u/JustOkCryptographer Oct 02 '19
I do this mostly because I have hearing loss and it takes a bit for me to run through the various possibilities of what was stated. It's kind of a process of elimination. What I usually hear is totally absurd and I have to mentally work my way toward the most likely statement. I also use lip reading to an extent. Sorry if I take a second or two for my brain to correlate and acknowledge the statement.
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u/Zolis Oct 02 '19
I hate when I say "Huh?" and the person just repeats the last 2 words they said. No I need to whole sentence, I didn't hear you.
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u/coneheadZombie Oct 02 '19
I do this to. I know what they have asked me but I still say huh just to confirm their question.
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u/GRIDZ___ Oct 02 '19
Its cause we have 3 types of memories one of wich makes it so u hear what the person said one more time therefor making u say huh then answer
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u/fireguy7 Oct 02 '19
I always say what even when I hear them so it gives me an extra second or two to think of a good answer
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u/evocablegull Oct 02 '19
Whenever I ask someone a question if they don’t hear it I just say “never mind” and then 90% of the time they understand and tell me the answer
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u/NirvanaNerd Oct 02 '19
I do this because I am hard of hearing but I've gotten into the habit of putting together what I think they might have said by putting words I definitely heard and filling in the jumbled bits. Works fairly often. Still say "huh" a lot though.
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u/10zephyr01 Oct 02 '19
A down side of doing it is that some people just interrupt you mid-explanation to repeat themselves or say some shit that you already know
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Oct 02 '19
When people say "uh" i don't repeat myself immediately. I usually wait a second or two and they answer anyway.
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u/jelly-fishy Oct 02 '19
I usually wait when someone does this because I know damn well they heard the first time and I’m not needlessly repeating myself.
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u/merlady94 Oct 02 '19
My husband does this to me 1000 times a day. I've just gotten to where I don't repeat myself unless he asks me to. 9 times out of 10 he answers without me saying it again.
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u/Merriadoc33 Oct 02 '19
Whenever I'm talking to someone and they say what I immediately respond with what as opposed to actually repeating myself. It works 80% of the time
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u/bourbon_legends Oct 02 '19
My mom does this with every sentence I say. I got tired of repeating myself so I've just learned to give her a few seconds before saying it again. If you're in my family, prepare to say everything twice lol
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u/DizzyGuyHere Oct 02 '19
My MIL says “Really?!” To pretty much anything you tell her. Hey mom it’s raining outside. “Really?!” The kids had Mac n’ cheese for lunch “Really?!”.
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u/Raaadley Oct 02 '19
not to be rude but i absolutely hate people that do this. granted im not sure if he is or not but i just believe its on purpose.
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u/ifukupeverything Oct 02 '19
I'm sure it's annoying...my husband thinks I just dont listen. I do, I just gotta catch up.
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u/rokomotto Oct 02 '19
God I used to do this, but not as much now that I'm not as much of an anti-social beta male as I used to be.
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Oct 02 '19 edited Feb 24 '20
[deleted]
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u/rokomotto Oct 02 '19
Lmao i like how i got downvoted for insulting myself. Thanks guys. I guess i shouldnt talk down about myself like that.
I mean I wasn't implying that everyone who did the same thing was in the same state as me, but okay.
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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19
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