

What It's Like for a Deaf Person to Hear Music for the First Time - mdariani
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/12/08/what-its-like-for-a-deaf-person-to-hear-music-for-the-first-time/260890/

======
nathan_long
After hearing a description of a similar sudden change to hearing on This
American Life, I expected the answer to be "confusing, because his brain can't
interpret the sounds or sort out signal from noise." I was surprised that he
was immediately enjoying music.

Any ideas why this might vary so drastically?

====

Edit: maybe it's a technological difference; the TAL story involved cochlear
implants. [http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-
archives/episode/411/t...](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-
archives/episode/411/transcript)

~~~
matrix
You are correct. When a cochlear implant is activated for the first time,
everything sounds markedly different from how it sounds to normal hearing
people. That lasts for at least first week, while the brain rapidly learns how
to interpret the input.

The guy in this story is still not hearing music normally. Being profoundly
deaf means having a very, very small amount of hearing, which is just enough
for a powerful hearing aid to help. But he's almost certainly not hearing the
full dynamic range of the music.

I have first-hand experience with all of this stuff, and I find this story be
overblown, to say the least.

~~~
danilocampos
> I have first-hand experience with all of this stuff, and I find this story
> be overblown, to say the least.

Only on HN can you find someone willing to be an expert on someone else's
newly-found joy.

~~~
matrix
I am an expert on the topic.

I was profoundly deaf. I wore hearing aids and later got a cochlear implant.
And I've known several people in a similar position.

Trust me, these stories about people hearing for the first time are
sensationalized, to say the least. I'm in no way minimizing how miraculous
these devices are -- just be aware that the experience is quite different to
that being portrayed in the media.

~~~
danilocampos
> I am an expert on the topic.

You're an expert on how this fellow felt the first time he listened to music
via his new equipment?

I think it is likely that you are an expert on how _you_ feel, but this guy is
crying as he listens to Mozart, he said it himself, and I'm not sure how much
more we can ask for.

~~~
matrix
Nice straw man you've got there; I didn't say anything about the guy, let
alone his feelings. Let's keep this discussion constructive.

I'm just sharing my perspective, based on experience -- these stories are
misleading at best. Like all stories, they're far too neat. Reality is
messier. Despite what the stories would have you believe, they still doesn't
hear normally. They hear better. But not normally.

You know what the reality is? The reality is getting hearing aids and still
not being able to use the phone to do phone interviews. And having people
insist on it anyway. And then helplessly watching your dream job slip out of
your grasp because you can't hear the interviewer's questions. Reality is
being in school and failing, because the exam had a verbal component. And
having the instructor just smirk. It's sitting as a bystander in conversations
because you can't follow it. It's being passed over for promotions because you
can't be trusted to hear important things. And nobody can see any of it
happening. Except you.

That's the real story. A little piece of it. Yes, there are delightful moments
with any improvement in hearing, but there's a larger context that always gets
left out of these feel-good pieces.

------
deltaqueue
Not really a technical comment, but I found a video of this type of experience
to be so much more powerful: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsOo3jzkhYA>

Even better, Ellen (US talkshow host) saw the video and paid for both cochlear
implants ($30k each):

[http://ellen.warnerbros.com/videos/index.php?mediaKey=1_ccmh...](http://ellen.warnerbros.com/videos/index.php?mediaKey=1_ccmh4z8w)

*edited for clarity

------
nitrogen
This just looks like a rough summary of a Reddit thread. Where's the
discussion of why he was deaf, what he could and could not hear before, and
what the new hearing aids did differently? I want to know more about the
medical cause of his deafness, and the technology behind the hearing aids.

~~~
danparsonson
You probably weren't looking for an article entitled "What It's Like for a
Deaf Person to Hear Music for the First Time", then.

~~~
nitrogen
The article didn't even really cover that; it basically said "imagine the
emotion" and listed a bunch of music.

~~~
Hari_Seldon
>When Mozart's Lacrimosa came on, I was blown away by the beauty of it. At one
point of the song, it sounded like angels singing and I suddenly realized that
this was the first time I was able to appreciate music. Tears rolled down my
face and I tried to hide it.

Seems to cover it to me

~~~
corin_
It's a fairly simply-described reaction that a non-deaf person could have to
that piece just because of its beauty not because they are hearing music for
the first time.

~~~
Hari_Seldon
Yeah, but you seem to be assuming that the experience would be completely
alien, a language needing to be learned so to speak. I'm not so sure about
that, perhaps music being the most visceral of the arts, does not require
interpretation or explanation, so that even the unschooled ear can apprehend
beauty.

~~~
corin_
I've no idea if it would be any different for a deaf person to hear music for
the first time than for a normal person to hear music, and if it is different
I don't know if there is any way to answer "What It's Like for a Deaf Person
to Hear Music for the First Time".

My point was that this article really doesn't cover that question, as you said
it did.

~~~
gknoy
While it doesn't fully convey the depth of his emotion, or likely even allow
us to fully imagine it, I think that looking at the article as a whole, we can
see that he basically now can experience music in ways very similar to (and
likely the same as) the way we do. He cries to it. He has samples several
different kinds of music, and has definite feelings about the genres (e.g.,
classical vs country). He's actively seeking out new music, and is finding
ways to describe (very well, IMO) _why_ he likes one or the other better. He's
found a song that he has had to listen to over-and-over.

I think that covers "what it's like" from an emotional perspective very well.
It was profoundly moving for me to read this.

------
philipDS
With so much more to listen to, Chapman says that, "ironically enough, I'm
turning my hearing aids off more often than before." There are too many
annoying sounds.

"Silence is still my favorite sound," he writes. "When I turn my aids off my
thoughts become more clear and it's absolutely peaceful."

============================

This is remarkable. I wonder what the world would be like if we were able to
turn our ears off and on.

~~~
peteretep
... buy some really good ear plugs? It's not perfect, but it's pretty good if
you buy good quality ones and stick them in deep enough ...

I bought some noise canceling headphones a while back, and started wearing
them in the office even when I didn't have music coming through them. The
world became a quieter, gentler place when they were on, and it was good.

------
brianjyee
I think one important thing to understand is that beautiful music is not the
only kind of music that can be great. Sometimes music is designed to invoke a
wide array of emotions which is why good music is crucial in TV and film. Good
music can make you feel excited, happy, sad, scared, calm, nervous, anxious,
angry, inspired, or any mix of the above.

So while I think it's great that he is moved by beautiful music, he should
keep his mind open to allowing music to take his emotions in other directions
too.

------
jpwagner

      sigur ros - staralfur
    

yes yes yes yes

------
rickyconnolly
Either this guy is spending a king's ransom on all these tunes or the RIAA is
going to have a field day with him.

~~~
briancooley
"The response was tremendous, running more than 14,000 comments and garnering
the attention of Spotify, which gave him six months of free membersion and a
13-hour playlist that covers a huge range of music."

------
wamatt
I felt unusually moved by this article, my rational side is trying to figure
out why.

------
shell0x
Beethovens symphony nine is the best piece of music, which I ever listened to
:)

------
mst3kzz
"...garnering the attention of Spotify, which gave him six months of free
membersion..."

What is membersion?

