Have you ever had such an experience？ When chatting on WeChat， you sent someone a voice message where you thought your voice was clear and moving， but when you heard your own recorded voice， you couldn‘t help wondering： Is this really my voice？ Why is it so ugly！你是否曾有這樣的經歷？微信聊天時，給別人發了一段語音，自以為聲音清脆動人，結果一點開自己的語音條時不禁懷疑：這真的是我的聲音嗎？怎麼這麼難聽！

［Photo/Pexels］

It’s not your fault。 The discomfort we have over hearing our voices in audio recordings is probably due to a mix of physiology and psychology。

這真不是你的鍋！我們在微信中聽到自己的聲音時感到不舒服，可能是由於生理和心理的雙重影響。

For one， the sound from an audio recording is transmitted differently to your brain than the sound generated when you speak。

首先，從錄音中傳來的聲音與說話時產生的聲音是透過不同方式傳遞給大腦的。

When listening to a recording of your voice， the sound travels through the air and into your ears — what‘s referred to as “air conduction”。 The sound energy vibrates the ear drum and small ear bones。 These bones then transmit the sound vibrations to the cochlea， which stimulates nerve axons that send the auditory signal to the brain。

當你聽語音時，聲音會透過空氣進入耳朵，這就是所謂的“空氣傳導”。聲音能振動耳鼓和小耳骨。然後，這些骨頭將聲音振動傳遞到耳蝸，耳蝸刺激神經軸突，將聽覺訊號傳送到大腦。

However， when you speak， the sound from your voice reaches the inner ear in a different way。 While some of the sound is transmitted through air conduction， much of the sound is internally conducted directly through your skull bones。 When you hear your own voice when you speak， it’s due to a blend of both external and internal conduction， and internal bone conduction appears to boost the lower frequencies。

然而，當你說話的時候，你的聲音會以不同的方式到達內耳。一些聲音是透過空氣傳遞的，但大部分聲音是在內部直接透過顱骨進行的。因此你直接聽到的自己的聲音是外部傳導和內部傳導混合作用的結果，而內部骨傳導使聲音訊率變低。

For this reason， people generally perceive their voice as deeper and richer when they speak。 The recorded voice， in comparison， can sound thinner and higher-pitched， which many find cringeworthy。

因此，人們在說話時通常認為自己的聲音更渾厚。相比之下，錄製下來的聲音聽起來更薄更高，許多人覺得這聽起來很尷尬。

There‘s a second reason hearing a recording of your voice can be so disconcerting。 It really is a new voice — one that exposes a difference between your self-perception and reality。 Because your voice is unique and an important component of self-identity， this mismatch can be jarring。 Suddenly you realize other people have been hearing something else all along。

第二個原因是：你的語音確實是一種新的聲音，而這一聲音又暴露了你的自我認知和現實之間的差異。因為你的聲音是獨一無二的，是自我認同的重要組成部分，這種想象與現實的不匹配可能會令人不安。你聽自己的語音時突然意識到別人一直在聽著不同的聲音。

Dr Silke Paulmann， a psychologist at the University of Essex， says， “I would speculate that the fact that we sound more high-pitched than what we think we should leads us to cringe as it doesn’t meet our internal expectations； our voice plays a massive role in forming our identity and I guess no one likes to realize that you‘re not really who you think you are。”

埃塞克斯大學的心理學家西爾克·保爾曼博士說：“錄音裡聽來的聲音比我們想象的要高得多，這讓我們聽到自己的聲音時感到害怕，因為它不符合我們的心理預期。聲音在個人身份認同中起著巨大作用，沒人願意承認自己並不是想象中的模樣。”

So if the voice in your head castigates the voice coming out of a recording device， it’s probably your inner critic overreacting — and you‘re judging yourself a bit too harshly。

因此，如果你頭腦中的聲音“不認同”錄音裝置裡的聲音，那可能是你內心的“批評家”反應過度了——你對自己的評價有點過於苛刻了。

編輯：焦潔

實習生：張媛