Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

journals.plos.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 193 posts

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#141

Post by vegavis »

jannyfer wrote: post #138
vegavis wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has everything to do with the fact we have two brains. The left and right brain (more specifically the left and right hemispheres of the Cerebral Cortex) hold different functions cognitively, control the motor movements of the opposite sides of the body, and communicate thru the Corpus Callosum. Your full consciousness, or thought, is almost like a 'stream' created at this meeting point of the two brains where t…

The article's EEG images don't seem to suggest this is due to two brain hemispheres.

The original comment is talking about a related phenomena from Richard Feynman's own thought experiment. The article itself is talking about how the brain pays attention to 2 other people speaking at them; its not the same thing. Article focused on monitoring and listening, the comment is talking about one's own brain trying to complete 2 simultaneous tasks consciously.

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#142

Post by JoshTriplett »

inigyou wrote: post #105
imzadi wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed something similar. I can listen to audiobooks and follow/absorb what is going on without really paying attention, as long as I am not trying to read something. I can't follow an audiobook and read at the same time. This is probably because I subvocalize when I read. I have taken speed reading courses but I don't enjoy reading that way. I like feeling every word as I read.

I read by imagining a voice saying the words. Is that not how everyone reads?

No, and this is one of the first things that tends to come up in any guides on how to read more quickly: reading without internally vocalizing, in order to not limit reading to the speed of vocalizing.

Some people can switch back and forth between both readily, and use them for different purposes. Some people read only in one or the other mode.

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#143

Post by burnte »

a_gopher wrote: post #57

If reading aloud a children story, you may notice you are able to maintain an independent unrelated train of thought. While doing so, I notice that occasionally extra mistakes can "leak" into the story telling - e.g. you read a single word incorrectly, maybe substituting a word from your other train of thought.

I learned at a young age the best way for me to be a good out-loud reader was to think about something else while I'm reading aloud. If I concentrate on the words and the reading aloud I screw up but if I think about other things, even HOW I'm doing while reading or thinking about what I'm reading and going to say NEXT, then I can read aloud flawlessly.

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#144

Post by [deleted] »

NalNezumi wrote: post #70

Related, but this reminds me of the story by Richard Feynman [1] when he practices counting up to 60 seconds in his head, and after many experiments around what he can do simultaneously conclude that he can simultaneously count and read but not speak. Later sharing this to John Tukey, he's told that Tukey can't read while counting but could speak while counting. Turns out Tukey is visualizing looking at a tape, while…

[deleted]

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#145

Post by bironran »

Anecdotal:

A long time ago, in my 20's, I found out it's easy for me to think in two streams as long as they operated in different languages. I could talk to my colleagues in Hebrew and answer emails in English at the same time.

Surprisingly, writing and speaking in the same language is not as easy for me. Possible, but requires some mental effort to keep the buffers separated.

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#146

Post by HarHarVeryFunny »

sigmoid10 wrote: post #78
junon wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes of course, the transmitted audio would be mono. I meant one radio in one ear and another radio in the other ear, or if you mix them and they both play in both ears. But it sounds like they're mixed (talking over each other in a single audio stream).

Yes. I have never seen any system (planes or elsewhere) that splits multiple voice communication inputs so you hear different streams in different ears. How would that be different (let alone better) than having both streams in both ears? It's not like your brain can process each ear separately.

Different voice inputs in different ears wouldn't help since our brain processes auditory input on left/right side of brain based on the type of input, not which ear it came from. Speech is processed on the left side, and non-speech (music etc) on the right side.

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#147

Post by wellthisisgreat »

chrisbrandow wrote: post #87

Famously, the Apollo Mission control team learned to handle multiple conversations stream simultaneously. The side effect was that going to cocktail parties was a nightmare, because they couldn’t turn it off.

that's fascinating. Do you have any link to this tidbit?

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#148

Post by forgotaccount3 »

NalNezumi wrote: post #70

Related, but this reminds me of the story by Richard Feynman [1] when he practices counting up to 60 seconds in his head, and after many experiments around what he can do simultaneously conclude that he can simultaneously count and read but not speak. Later sharing this to John Tukey, he's told that Tukey can't read while counting but could speak while counting. Turns out Tukey is visualizing looking at a tape, while…

How do we know, or would Feynman know, that they can count while reading and not just that counting and reading are simple enough tasks broken down into discrete steps that our brains can context swap in an unnoticeably short unit of time?

Just trying to read your post while counting at a consistent pace I associate with roughly 1 second per number, it didn't feel like I was reading words but instead scanning them and understanding them after the fact from memory. Usually when i read I hear the words 'in my head' but not while counting at the same time.

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#149

Post by invictati »

vegavis wrote: post #128
NalNezumi wrote: post #70

Related, but this reminds me of the story by Richard Feynman [1] when he practices counting up to 60 seconds in his head, and after many experiments around what he can do simultaneously conclude that he can simultaneously count and read but not speak. Later sharing this to John Tukey, he's told that Tukey can't read while counting but could speak while counting. Turns out Tukey is visualizing looking at a tape, while…

This has everything to do with the fact we have two brains. The left and right brain (more specifically the left and right hemispheres of the Cerebral Cortex) hold different functions cognitively, control the motor movements of the opposite sides of the body, and communicate thru the Corpus Callosum. Your full consciousness, or thought, is almost like a 'stream' created at this meeting point of the two brains where t…

Fun fact, the Zizian AI murder cult is similarly obsessed with the idea of two hemispheres being separate brains. They also believe gender dysphoria is a trait present or absent within each hemisphere.

Their long term goal was to abolish sleep by making one hemisphere of their brains sleep at a time, leaving the other to be awake. Supposedly this would allow them to work more and have more sex. In reality, they all simply went insane, committed pointless murders, and ended up in prison.

As it happens, dolphins and whales do this so as to not drown, and they consequently have an underdeveloped hippocampus and take 3x as long as primates to learn the same things.

Long story short: don't mess with your sleep or you might start a murder cult.

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#150

Post by invictati »

taosx wrote: post #103
johnisgood wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh yeah, I have been sleep deprived so much that the things that I said made no sense. I still formulated sentences but they did not have any meaning. In fact, I noticed this myself and I was like "fuck, what I just said made no sense". This happened a few times. It is a pretty interesting experience.

I had the same experience after almost 4+ days going without sleep. A friend came to check up on me after I fell asleep, I woke up and started telling him a whole story that made no sense, but I said it with such importance that for a week he was asking me to explain to him what I meant...which I don't remember exactly, but it was important.

So, sleep deprivation leads to temporary schizophrenia? Who could have foreseen this?
Post reply on HN