Things who speak, have a voice. Things who listen have ears, commonly two. A human head doesn’t seem particularly wide, though it’s wide enough for direction finding. Eyes are even closer together and still provide depth perception, after all. Somehow I have found myself in the position of needing to read about hearing. I seem to recall that I’ve gotten here by reading about perception and consciousness. There is something that it is like to be a blank,  that sort of thing. From that ultrasound and infrasound, and moths with impaired hearing being more commonly predated by bats. Hunters and hunted evolved their capacities. Human people gained capacity via technological advancement. This compressed time. Now I need to know more about where we are. If it’s different from where we would be if we did things the natural way.

Unfortunately this borders on the wrong kind of field, the sort in which I want to cut no trails.

Safe routes should always be taken. Stick to the coastline. Keep it rooted in mechanics. Think about how physical it is. Focus on the externalities. Reject that which is perceived with one sense alone. Touch the wall for reassurance. Have a plan. Overwhelm the input and leave no room for the unwelcome. Denial is food for it. Inattention is the best response. Don’t flinch. Don’t look. Hug the ground and abhor the deep and unsoft dome of sky. Avoid distance. Stick to chamber music, made in small rooms, without speaking.

Well, time to read The Universal Sense: How Hearing Shapes the Mind by Seth S. Horowitz. It’s already terribly frightening. Still, everyone should buy it, I need this sort of book to exist