Bronze-level articleElectronic voice phenomenon

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==Audio pareidolia==
 
==Audio pareidolia==
  
Looking for patterns in randomness may seem familiar to anyone as a child that ever played the game of [[Pareidolia|finding animals in the shapes of clouds]]. [[Human]]s are [[pattern recognition|pattern recognition machine]]s and it is no surprise that in hours and hours of white noise people can find what they hear as voices - indeed, human pattern recognition here is very strong, consider that people can still be understood through strongly differing accents and dialects, and in foreign languages people can still pick out what they perceive to be their own words. The EVP recordings are never anything more complex then one sentence or two very short sentences, and are often just single words. Usually in order to "hear" it, you must first be told what it says. This gets into the [[power of suggestion]].
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Looking for patterns in randomness may seem familiar to anyone as a child that ever played the game of [[Pareidolia|finding animals in the shapes of clouds]]. [[Human]]s are [[pattern recognition|pattern recognition machine]]s and it is no surprise that in hours and hours of white noise people can find what they hear as voices - indeed, human pattern recognition here is very strong, consider that people can still be understood through strongly differing accents and dialects, and in foreign languages people can still pick out what they perceive to be their own words. The EVP recordings are never anything more complex than one sentence or two very short sentences, and are often just single words. Usually in order to "hear" it, you must first be told what it says. This gets into the [[power of suggestion]].
  
 
It is used fairly prominently in the ''[[Ghosthunters]]'' comedy [[television]] show.  They show quite clearly, depending on your level of gullibility, that it is ''amazingly true'' or what a bucket of moldy [[tripe]] it is.  This tripe has also been featured on [[Coast to Coast AM]].
 
It is used fairly prominently in the ''[[Ghosthunters]]'' comedy [[television]] show.  They show quite clearly, depending on your level of gullibility, that it is ''amazingly true'' or what a bucket of moldy [[tripe]] it is.  This tripe has also been featured on [[Coast to Coast AM]].

Revision as of 16:29, 14 August 2011

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Not to be confused with the machine used by Stephen Hawking.

Electronic voice phenomenon, or EVP, or most hilariously "Instrumental Transcommunication", refers to the belief that spirits can communicate from "beyond" on electronic audio recording equipment. Practitioners often set up a recording device in a room where it is thought that ghosts reside. The practitioner then asks various questions while recording. Later the tape is analyzed both forward and backwards, searching the "white noise" for anything that might sound like a sentence or word.

Contents

Audio pareidolia

Looking for patterns in randomness may seem familiar to anyone as a child that ever played the game of finding animals in the shapes of clouds. Humans are pattern recognition machines and it is no surprise that in hours and hours of white noise people can find what they hear as voices - indeed, human pattern recognition here is very strong, consider that people can still be understood through strongly differing accents and dialects, and in foreign languages people can still pick out what they perceive to be their own words. The EVP recordings are never anything more complex than one sentence or two very short sentences, and are often just single words. Usually in order to "hear" it, you must first be told what it says. This gets into the power of suggestion.

It is used fairly prominently in the Ghosthunters comedy television show. They show quite clearly, depending on your level of gullibility, that it is amazingly true or what a bucket of moldy tripe it is. This tripe has also been featured on Coast to Coast AM.

Problem with concept

Considering how much recording is done all over the world, on a daily basis, for purposes such as preparing radio and television shows, films, and musical productions, it's amazing that these ubiquitous "phenomena"[1] allow any work to ever get done in the entertainment industry, or in technical fields where recording at "voice frequencies" matters.

In Derren Brown's show "The Ghost Hunter", the late Lou Gentile used EVP to capture some static that he interpreted as paranormal. Brown pointed out that the recording device had automatic volume control: the noise could have occured as the volume adjusted to the silence. Author Brian Clegg also notes that the second audio recording device present - the TV crew's microphone - did not capture this sound. This narrows the phenomena down to a technical artifact or a really selective ghost.[2]

Sample woo

"The experimenter’s excitement in trying a new detection device or recording technique may be the source of improved EVP collection. As the new approach becomes “normal operating procedure,” the improvements generally fade back to a more “normal” Quality and Quantity (QQ) of EVP collection. This suggests that it is important for the experimenter to maintain piqued interest during experiments. This is also one of the reasons it is speculated that the experimenter is an integral part of the recording circuit. The experimenter is apparently supplying the necessary psi energy to enable a nonphysical to physical transfer of energy."[3]
"Digital voice recorders are recommended for transform EVP. Less expensive models produce more internal noise which is useful for voice formation. High quality units will probably require added background noise. A computer can also be used, but will probably require added noise."[4]

See also

Footnotes

  1. http://www.wikisynergy.com/w/index.php?title=Instrumental_Transcommunication&oldid=4247#Characteristics_of_EVP
  2. [http://brianclegg.blogspot.com/2010/06/ghost-hunting-with-derren.html "Ghost Hunting with Derren". Now Appearing. 2010-06-01
  3. Pure woo, baby, from here at WikiSynergy.
  4. Yes, they actually recommend mucking up your fidelity in order to "better" hallucinate that you are hearing voices.
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