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When I run water in the shower, sometimes I hear voices - like a crowd of people-
talking, laughing, yelling, making "background noise", but it sounds
far-away.
They are not distinguishable. That is, I cannot tell what they are saying.
Like when you hear a bunch of people talking in the next room,
but can't tell what they are saying.
I used-to think it was ghosts or spirits coming from the running water.
I know I'm not alone, because my mom once mentioned it,
and I learned that both of us had the same problem;
(by the way she is Bi-polar)
I never talked about it with anyone else, or have heard of anyone else having
this problem.
Usually happens when there is a window near the shower.
It hasn't happened lately, and I'm assuming it's because I don't have a window
in my shower anymore.
If anyone else has this problem or has had it,
it would be cool to hear your input.
And maybe give a reasonable explanation for this phenomenon.
Yes I also hear voices in the water. When I run the bathwater or sometimes other taps. I don't always hear voices but often. Sometimes it sounds like singing, sometimes talking. I have never been able to make out a clear message.
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My parents house had this weird thing that in one room, you could hear what sounded EXACTLY like my dad talking in a low quiet voice. You couldn't make out a single thing he was saying, but his voice droned on and on. There would be pauses, that sounded like my mother was responding but so quietly you couldn't make out a sound. Then he'd start in again.
I got up in the middle of the night, to go see if there was a problem, what was making him talk and talk and talk in the wee hours. The hallway was silent, and outside their door was silent.
It was a newish house to them (not a new house, but they had only been there a few months), when we had a family reunion and at the breakfast table I joked I'd have slept better if Dad had ever shut up. My 11 year old niece piped up (who had spent nights in that room) and said SEEEE?????? I"M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HEARS IT!!! No one else ever did besides the two of us, and we described it exactly the same. Every time I slept in that room, I could "hear" him talking.
Very old thread that just got revived by a one-and-done poster 4 days ago ... and please keep in mind that this is NOT the paranormal, it's-much-more-fun-to-come-up-with-supernatural-"explanations"-than-rational-ones forum!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cloven
Sure, I've had auditory illusions but since I know they are "mis-perceptions", I don't fret about it.
While in the shower with water running, I've thought I heard the telephone ring-
sometimes that turns out to have been the case, but other times not.
Same with the sound of voices or other noises intruding- it's due to the ambiguous/undifferentiated quality of the sound of water rushing, which nudges the brain to pick out a pattern-any pattern-from it,
so as to make sense/derive information from the environment-even if that info. turns out to be mistaken/irrelevant.
Just as there is a bias towards thinking that a branch swaying could mean there is a person and/or predator behind it.
The costs of a false positive ("huh, that turned out to be nothing-what a relief, I'm safe" )
are worth the benefits of avoiding a false negative ("oops, turns out that was a thing, after all-drat !" ) and being eaten/ended.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO
This link describes "musical ear syndrome" which is also EXACTLY what the OP describes, i think someone above also mentioned it. I'd say he has musical ear syndrome.
The OP is long gone, but maybe others will see this thread and find it helpful. However, again, the OP was NOT describing anything paranormal, as some seem to want to believe -- he's describing something that is actually somewhat common, especially among people with some hearing loss. See the above posts that I quoted for rational responses.
The brain is a pattern-perceiving device, always using what information is stored to make sense out of new information. We all are familiar with pareidolia - seeing familiar shapes in rocks, clouds, fire.
What the OP describes also has a name - apophenia, trying to find a pattern in sound that makes sense to us. I see one of the earlier posters referenced this as Musical Ear Syndrome.
I wonder how many of these little ghost fragments of tunes have been the inspiration for famous music. I remember more than once hearing a composer say he doesn't know where his inspiration comes from. It just seems to come.
I also find that being in the shower seems to amplify other sounds. A noise the neighbor makes next door, that would clearly sound like it's coming from next door when not in the shower, can, when in the shower, sound like it's actually in your apartment or house. BTDT, and it weirded me out the first couple times I thought I heard someone walking in my apartment when I knew I was the only one home (okay, most of us never should have watched Psycho, right? lol). Then I heard it again when I wasn't in the shower, and realized that what had sounded like someone walking in my apartment was actually next door or downstairs, and the actual proximity was very obvious at all other times...
It still happens to me sometimes... I hear a sound or a voice that sounds like it's coming from my apartment, but I know it's someone in the hall or outside.
I’ve got a huge window next to my shower and I don’t hear conversations or laughter instead I hear screaming. Like the pits of hell. I’ve always heard things but now at my new house it’s always screaming.
It may be acoustical it possibly could be electromagnetic anomaly. Recently finished reading the invisible Rainbow by Arthur Firstenberg. It goes over the history of the early inventors / developers of electricity and there were instance of people being sensitive to the electromagnetic frequencies who would claim to hear a variety of things.
It's possible that in the material enclosure of what most showers are made from, combined with the flowing waters repetition or chemical/physical qualities that there may be something to it for extremely sensitive people depending on proximity to electrical power sources et al.
From an acoustical perspective the shower always lent itself to 'seemingly' make singing sound better. And then there is the other extreme of acoustical impact on humans of being in a perfectly sound proof enclosure...
Perhaps it is friendly ghosts? Or maybe an inter-dimensional shift that occurs in that unique location where dimensional planes cross? Sort of like the twilight zone episode "Little Girl Lost" where young girl seemingly disappear through her wall into another dimension?
An old thread but why not have some fun conjecture!
so how about this theory? Your brain hears sounds and then interprets them into what we call hearing. Could be the brain is misinterpreting the sound and thats what you are hearing. or there are too many sounds so the brain just chooses certain ones for you to hear.. or your brain is remembering something in your past and you hear the shower water, and now your brain retrieves that memory and now you have what is like an illusion and you think aha thats people talking, but its really a memory you might have forgotten.
I too have been in the shower and the running water sometimes does sound like people talking in the background. strange how my brain is interperting the sound of the shower as that. but it does.. i think its just a beningn brain thing happening.
You ever get deja vu? now THAT is one freaky thing. but again, its our brains tricking us.
When i was a little kid, i used to dream about people marching and i could hear them marching. So strange! But then, i noticed when i was awake and laying on the side of my head, i could hear the blood pounding thru this one area above my hear on the side of my forehead.. so that was what i was hearing in my dream. Now thats an amazing thing that really was a reality!
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) 
) and being eaten/ended.
And then there is the other extreme of acoustical impact on humans of being in a perfectly sound proof enclosure...