Have you ever had such an experience? When chatting on WeChat, you sent someone a voice message wher you thought your voice was clear and moving, but when you heard your own recorded voice, you couldnt help wondering: Is this really my voice? Why is it so ugly!
你是不是曾有如此的历程？微信聊天时，给其他人发了一段语音，自以为声音清脆动人，结果一点开我们的语音条时不禁怀疑：这真的是我的声音吗？如何这么难听！
Its not your fault. The discomfort we have over hearing our voices in audio recordings is probably due to a mix of physiology and psychology.
这真不是你的锅！大家在微信中听到我们的声音时感到不舒服，可能是因为生理和心理的双重影响。
For one, the sound from an audio recording is transmitted differently to your brain than the sound generated when you speak.
第一，从录音中传来的声音与说话时产生的声音是通过不同方法传递给大脑的。
When listening to a recording of your voice, the sound travels through the air and into your ears — whats referred to as air conduction. The sound energy vibrates the ear drum and small ear bones. These bones then transmit the sound vibrations to the cochlea, which stimulates 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，这类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 skull bones. When you hear your own voice when you speak, its 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，你的声音会以不一样的方法到达内耳。一些声音是通过空气传递的，但大多数声音是在内部直接通过颅骨进行的。因此你直接听到的我们的声音是外部传导和内部传导混合用途的结果，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，大家在说话时一般觉得我们的声音更浑厚。相比之下，录制下来的声音听起来更薄更高，很多人感觉这听起来非常尴尬。
Theres 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 component of self-identity, this mismatch can be jarring. Suddenly you realize other people have been hearing something else all along.
第二个缘由是：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。由于你的声音是与众不同的，是自我认可的要紧组成部分，这种想象与现实的不匹配或许会让人不安。你听我们的语音时忽然意识到其他人一直在听着不一样的声音。
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 doesnt meet our internal expectations; our voice plays a massive role in forming our identity and I guess no one likes to realize that youre 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大家想象的要高得多，这让大家听到我们的声音时感到害怕，由于它不符合大家的心理预期。声音在个人身份认可中起着巨大用途，没人想承认自己并非想象中的模样。”
So if the voice in your head castigates the voice coming out of a recording device, its probably your inner critic overreacting — and youre judging yourself a bit too harshly.
因此，假如你头脑中的声音“不认可”录音设施里的声音，那可能是你内心的“批评家”反应过度了——你对我们的评价有点过于苛刻了。
