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!

你是否曾有这样的经历？微信聊天时，给别人发了一段语音，自以为声音清脆动人，结果一点开自己的语音条时不禁怀疑：这真的是我的声音吗？怎么这么难听！

 

It's not your fault. The discomfort¹ we have over hearing our voices in audio recordings³ is probably due to a mix of physiology⁴ and psychology⁵.

这真不是你的锅！我们在微信中听到自己的声音时感到不舒服，可能是由于生理和心理的双重影响。

 

For one, the sound from an audio recording² is transmitted differently to your brain than the sound generated when you speak.

首先，从录音中传来的声音与说话时产生的声音是通过不同方式传递给大脑的。

 

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 vibrations⁶ to the cochlea, which stimulates⁷ nerve axons that send the auditory signal to the brain.

当你听语音时，声音会通过空气进入耳朵，这就是所谓的“空气传导”。声音能振动耳鼓和小耳骨。然后，这些骨头将声音振动传递到耳蜗，耳蜗刺激神经轴突，将听觉信号发送到大脑。

 

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 skull⁸ 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，当你说话的时候，你的声音会以不同的方式到达内耳。一些声音是通过空气传递的，但大部分声音是在内部直接通过颅骨进行的。因此你直接听到的自己的声音是外部传导和内部传导混合作用的结果，而内部骨传导使声音频率变低。

 

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，人们在说话时通常认为自己的声音更浑厚。相比之下，录制下来的声音听起来更薄更高，许多人觉得这听起来很尴尬。

 

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 component⁹ of self-identity, this mismatch can be jarring. Suddenly you realize other people have been hearing something else all along.

第二个原因是：你的语音确实是一种新的声音，而这一声音又暴露了你的自我认知和现实之间的差异。因为你的声音是独一无二的，是自我认同的重要组成部分，这种想象与现实的不匹配可能会令人不安。你听自己的语音时突然意识到别人一直在听着不同的声音。

 

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."

埃塞克斯大学的心理学家西尔克·保尔曼博士说：“录音里听来的声音比我们想象的要高得多，这让我们听到自己的声音时感到害怕，因为它不符合我们的心理预期。声音在个人身份认同中起着巨大作用，没人愿意承认自己并不是想象中的模样。”

 

So if the voice in your head castigates¹⁰ 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，如果你头脑中的声音“不认同”录音设备里的声音，那可能是你内心的“批评家”反应过度了——你对自己的评价有点过于苛刻了。

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