This is a story about a human who has experienced a decline in hearing ability. While hearing impairment may be common in humans, it has been a crucial feature for mammals throughout their evolutionary history, aiding in their survival for millions of years.

The ear serves as a sound-concentrating apparatus, reflecting sound waves from a relatively large surface. Animals utilize their ear muscles to swiftly rotate their ears as a reflex, without needing to turn their heads.

But here’s the fascinating part: we possess the same capability! Even with our “ape” ears, we can detect very faint sounds in the silence of a forest or during a frigid winter. This adaptation allows us to perceive potential threats and respond, such as swiftly fleeing from danger. We can even discern heartbeats—a remarkable adaptation rather than a lost ability. Similarly, our capacity to see in darkness is an adaptation, although not as exceptional as that of cats or owls. After spending around 15 to 20 minutes in darkness, our vision becomes partially restored.

Now, let’s delve into frequencies. Bats, for instance, require specific frequencies because shorter sound waves yield better patterns when reflected from small flying prey. It is not solely the shape of the internal ear organ called the “cochlea” that matters; there is a purpose behind it.

In nature, purely musical tones are rare or absent since the mechanisms for generating such sounds are lacking. Instead, there are what we call overtones—multiple frequencies produced by a sound source that are loud enough to be heard. These overtones occur at higher frequencies. So, even if an animal can hear high-frequency sounds like the calls of their mate or offspring, which are actually low-frequency sounds, they could be perceiving overtones that are audible to everyone. To keep their calls hidden from potential threats, animals need to employ high-frequency sounds, often resembling screams. The size and vulnerability of their prey determine the frequency they use—the smaller and weaker the prey, the higher the frequency employed.

In essence, this is primarily a survival mechanism.

When explaining the fundamentals of multimedia, particularly technical aspects, I always start with these basics: there exist various types of eyes, ears, and other sensory organs. These natural organ features have developed over millions of years of evolution. It is unnecessary to strive for devices that create stimuli our natural organs cannot capture and transmit to the brain.

However, there is a genuine need to create perfect musical instruments, train voices, reach artistic levels, and utilize sophisticated architectural acoustics in concert halls to create the finest musical and cinematic sound experiences that we can cherish.

Thanks to the remarkable adaptability of human listeners, often surpassing that of animals without art or artistic traditions, we can appreciate and enjoy these endeavors to the fullest.