[csail-related] GSB Tonight: Senses

[jamoozy at csail.mit.edu (Andrew "Jamoozy" Correa)]

I don't think it's any surprise that sight is our primary sense.  It's 
our most powerful sense in many ways.  I don't know about you, but 
despite my terrible vision, I fear going blind more than going deaf ... 
though that may also have something to do with the fact that my ASL is 
better than my braille by far.

I had a minor epiphany the other day.  It happened when I was chilling 
at a friend's place.  We were in the living room with the TV watching 
Youtube videos.  A video came up of some Shaggy-from-Scooby-Doo-looking 
dude strumming a guitar in front of an audience and singing Space 
Oddity.  For some reason, my friends were trying to convince me that the 
dude was a chick.  I guess with friends that'll just mess with you out 
of the blue for no reason, who needs enemies, right?  Anyways, the 
epiphany came when the singer sang in her natural register---much higher 
than what she had been singing in.  That's right: *she* sang at a higher 
frequency, one more common among women.

So here's my epiphany: I'm an extremely aural person.  Despite sight 
being more important to me than sound (if I had to choose), I place more 
weight on what I'm hearing than what I'm seeing.  Since she was singing 
so low, my SVM irrefutably classified her as a man.  My friends 
correcting my classification of her as a man was met with skepticism and 
some annoyance.  Obviously she was a man.  As soon as she started 
singing in the higher register, though, it became immediately apparent 
to me that she was a woman.  It felt like being flooded by a wave of 
realization ... and then stupidity for having made such an odd error.

This could also explain why I hate loud clubs ...

So anyway, it's a great video and she's a great singer.  If you're 
interested, here's a link to that video:
     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zzcMmfGBjY
So let's discuss sight, sound, and all the realms of the imagination at 
this week's:

           +-                                                  -+
              girl scout benefit -+-  5:30 pm  -+- 32-G9 lounge
           +-                                                  -+

               For those coming from elsewhere: Building 32 is
                <http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?selection=32>
           Once you are in 32, just take the G-elevator to the 9th
       floor and we will be in the lounge that you will be looking at
                     <http://projects.csail.mit.edu/gsb>