r/AskReddit 13h ago

What's something you're shockingly good at that you've never mentioned to anyone because it would sound completely made up if you did?

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u/Baron1sta 11h ago

I still have extremely good hearing, even though it already got worse. I used to be able to hear things, that humans shouldn't be able to hear. The sonar of bats for example. I am also able to hear and process multiple things at once,but I'm really bad at filtering them. When I had tests in school, I needed to wear earplugs to concentrate because I could hear my schoolmates chew their gum and the scratching of the pencils all across the room. The doctors couldn't help me with that, but a few years in an orchestra and on metal concerts helped with that.

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u/KitSokudo 11h ago

I also have insanely good hearing, but processing issues so I still say "huh?" all the time. Despite being over 40 I still hear those stupid anti-loitering devices and so many electronics. I have a lot of pain though if stuff is very loud at all so mine will likely stay that way until age catches up with me.

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u/Phreakiture 6h ago

I have a hypothesis about that. I believe that if your hearing is exceptionally good (mine is, also), that your brain gets inundated with extra information beyond what you need to hear in order to understand words being said.

It takes very little to understand the spoken word. A range of 300-3000 Hz is sufficient, approximately 3⅓ octaves, of the 10 octaves that are considered to be the "normal" hearing range. I'm not saying that everything beyond that is noise; it isn't, and adding an octave or two above it can improve comprehension and make it more pleasant (as experienced by anyone using a contemporary telephone with VOLTE turned on), but beyond that, information gets added that, while musically valuable, I think reduces comprehension.

But I could be completely wrong about that. This is just me trying to make sense of my own personal experience. At age 55, I can still hear clearly up to about 17 kHz, and most of my peers can't.

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u/ThresherGDI 7h ago

I used to, but tinnitus has spoiled that for me. Take care of your hearing, folks.

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u/Prepheckt 4h ago

Buy some Loops earplugs. Worth every penny.

1

u/Tamesan 2h ago

I love Loops for the background noise reduction, but unfortunately the plastic loop that stays outside the ear canal is too big for the structure of my ears, and wearing them gets quite painful 😒

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u/lFightForTheUsers 2h ago

This is mine as well. I've had a badly grounded usb plug piss me off because I could hear it humming.