sounds, maybe voices, have you heard this?

I know this sounds totally crazy but... When I hear water falling down, I hear like what seems to be voices. Has anyone else heard something like this?

yes i have heard it to in one place at night when every thing was quiet it sound like there were a bunch of people laughing and shouting but nothing was there apart from the river

peace

That's the an auditory version of pareidolia (although I thought it had a different name?)...

Any way it's the human tendency to see things like shapes in the clouds, paterns in the stars, and in your case voices in the water.... I remember one time as kids infront of a huge roaring fire this old guy had about 20 of us kids memorised as he told a story and the way he did it we could all see horses charging and castles, all the characters in the fire - He must of been doing that one for years, it was a camp.

It's been a very useful evolutionary tool in that it has allowed people to spot vague and complex patterns in chaotic systems - it's also has a big part to play in spirituality and beliefs, especially the achient ones... It's a great way of driving druggies mad also

reply to post by Now_Then


I think it is called parakousis, the phenomenon of false hearing. A falsely perceived sound would be a parakousma. I don't know however if that is the case with the OP's experiences.

I have had very similar things happen to me, and like you i set out to find out what it was or meant. It turns out that most sound we hear, from water to white noise, there are a number of sound frequencies, even if you hit your hand on a surface, you can hear different sounds, highs and lows, when you have something like water which is slower than white noise sound, its easier to hear things that are not really their. which is where the phenomena of hearing or seeing sence in randomness.


Paredolia

Its called "Paranoid Schizophrenia"

[edit on 2-1-2010 by DjSharperimage]

Originally posted by digby888
yes i have heard it to in one place at night when every thing was quiet it sound like there were a bunch of people laughing and shouting but nothing was there apart from the river

peace

Thank you. Yes, especially at night, like there is a room full of people laughing and talking but you can't key in on anything. It's like they are all talking at the same time or like something you would hear when you walk into a party.