The McGurk effect

In Confident Communicator workshops, we learn to pause before speaking, so we can respond the way we chose, rather than react impulsively. This helps because as humans, we simply don’t have the capacity to fully understand a situation or person, and our impulsive reactions can get us in trouble.

Why don’t we have the capacity to understand what’s really going on, with ourselves and others? Because our senses are severely limited. Information gets scrambled on the way in.

Want proof? Check out the McGurk Effect.

Google it. 

Watch any of the videos that explain how one of our senses, in this case, visual perception, gets it wrong.  

In the video, you see a man repeating the sound “bah, bah, bah…” Then his mouth shape changes to saying “fah, fah, fah…” and you hear him say “fah” repeatedly.

But he didn’t. 

The audio had never changed. The sound was “bah, bah, bah…” the entire time.

Our visual sense changed what we heard. 

This works even when we know it’s an illusion.

The truth is, humans bounce from one illusion to another. 

So the next time you think you know what’s happening in a conversation, pause before reacting because you don’t have all the information.