Maeda's SIMPLICITY

In the Blink of an Ear

The favorite airport book appears to be Malcolm Gladwell's Blink book. My data is formed by counting the number of instances I see someone carrying it in an airplane. On the average I count 0.80 people carrying the book across the last five flights I have been on. I haven't read it yet but I hear it is entertaining. However I doubt I will ever read it as I'm the kind of guy that rarely has time to go to the movie theater so I often cheat and read the summaries that are posted online. I know it's wrong so I don't need to be lectured.

At the AIGA Seattle Influenced conference I had the pleasure of seeing some really interesting people present their work and influences. Like all good conferences, you can tell by the smiles on the faces of the people that work behind the scenes when things are going well. It usually has something to do with their friendships for each other—teamwork is always easiest when everyone gets along well.

A gentleman named Marty O'Donnell from the famed videogaming company Bungie spoke about the art of designing sound for videogames. I was struck by one particular comment by Mr. O'Donnell where he said, "The ear doesn't blink." This should be an obvious fact to most of you, as you rarely find yourself talking to a person and see their ears flap spontaneously during conversation. If they did, you would probably be a bit concerned. His point wasn't to make biological humor, but that the act of editing, or putting together cuts of material as a single piece, makes complete sense visually because our eyes blink. We are used to being interrupted visually—not by the world around us, but by the fact that we blink.

Try this yourself. Close your eyes. Turn your head, and open your eyes again. There. You've edited a scene in your life.

In the case of our auditory surroundings however, Mr. O'Donnell's point was that our experience is generally continous. We can unnaturally disrupt it by surfing through stations on the radio—which nobody likes to hear because it is entirely unnatural and jarring to our ears. Or when you are in a skyscraper's elevator you get that annoying pop that seems completely out of place cognitively. Our auditory mind demands continuity because our ears don't blink.

Now try this. Cup your hands on both sides of your head and toggle your hearing by squeezing your head at the ears. There, your ears are blinking now. You may have also offended your co-workers at the office with this gesture. But at least, I made you blink.