HAVE YOU EVER HEARD VOICES when
you’ve been alone on the night watch at sea? Voices that don’t really exist?
Lots of people have, apparently, and
it seems to be quite normal. The explanation is given by Professor Michael
Stadler, a psychologist, in his book Psychology
of Sailing: The Sea’s Effects on Mind and Body (International Marine).
All the noises and sounds in our
environment are made up of multiple overlying sinewaves, according to Stadler.
Pure sine waves with only one frequency do not exist in nature, he claims, nor
can they be reproduced by musical instruments. They can only be reproduced
artificially by tone generators.
On the other hand, there are many
noises that contain a broad spectrum of almost all possible frequencies in
random combinations. For example, there’s the noise of the wind and water in
stormy weather at sea. These are complex noises that can, of course, contain
all the frequencies you’ll find in speech or music.
“It thus often happens that the
sailor who has been exposed to this white noise for a long time, and who is
also worn out from struggling against the storm, will succumb to the illusion
that he is hearing voices or music, even though he is quite alone,” says
Stadler. “This is not a psycho-pathological symptom but an entirely normal occurrence
which many people experience.”
He observes that even in a normal
environment our hearing system operates a constant filtering process. “This
selects the frequencies which are of greater significance for survival from the
background of noise, which might otherwise mask them. Without this filtering
process we would not be able to understand what the crewmember calling out from
the fo’c’sle was saying.
“In extreme cases, when one is tired
and perhaps in a position where the sound of another voice would be welcome, it
can quite easily happen that the acoustic system understands something from the
stimuli which in reality does not exist.”
Boaters have reported hearing phantom
cries for help from someone in the sea at night, which must be a frightening
sensation, and, of course, there is Joshua Slocum’s famous story about how the
pilot of the Pinta came aboard the Spray and told him he would help him
while he was sick.
It’s good to know that hearing human
voices or music at sea is a frequent and normal occurrence, and that those who
experience it are not necessarily crazier than the average yachtsman.
Today’s
Thought
The
voice which speaks in conformity with our dearest hopes will always be listened
to.
— Emile Gaboriau, File 113
Tailpiece
As an airplane is about to crash, a
female passenger jumps up frantically and yells: "If I'm going to die, I
want to die feeling like a woman."
She removes all her clothing and
cries: "Is there someone on this plane who is man enough to make me feel
like a woman?"
The guy in front of her stands up
and slowly takes off his pants.
"Sure honey," he says.
"Here, iron these!"
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Friday for a new Mainly about Boats column.)
