For humans to achieve accurate speech recognition and communicate with one another, the auditory system must recognize distinct categories of sounds – such as words – from a continuous incoming stream of sounds. This task becomes complicated when considering the variability in sounds produced by individuals with different accents, pitches, or intonations. In a new paper, researchers detail a computational model that explores how the auditory system tackles this complex task. (1)

In the beginning there was silence.

And then… noise.

Noise cancelling everything out.

With time, we managed to get used to it.

In time, we managed to recognize words.

And we thought we discovered Logos.

Meaning out of nothingness.

Order out of chaos.

But there can be no such thing.

For chaos is chaos.

And noise is noise.

Listen carefully.

Beyond the words.

And you will see the void.

Don’t be afraid of that void.

For it is you.

Unique.

Alone.

Complete.

Staying silent.

Listening to everything…

Before it was ever spoken…