"Human speech

April 17, 2002 5:41 AM

"Human speech has two disctinctive yet complementary functions and modes. The Overt mode is spoken forwards and is primarily under conscious control. The Covert mode is spoken backward and is not under conscious control. In the dynamics of interpersonal communication, both modes of speech combined communicate the total psyche of the person, conscious as well as unconscious. " Can this show us new insights into the human mind, or is it merely tihsllub?
posted by cashmein (23 comments total)

Tihsllub. Yletinifed.
posted by grabbingsand at 5:45 AM on April 17, 2002

I think this guy has been a guest on TalkSport (a UK Talk radio station) - for a guy called James Whale who broadcasts on there.

I think that his theories are hopeless...if you listen to enough stuff backwards, then phonetically its likely that syllables will appear...enough backwards speech can find stuff that sounds similar to forward words...

When you listen to his examples, they are 'not exactly conclusive'.

Stick me in the *tihsllub* camp
posted by mattr at 5:55 AM on April 17, 2002

"I buried my parakeet in the backyard. Oh no, you're playing the record backwards. Watch out, you might ruin your needle."
- reversed section at the end of B-52's song "Detour Through Your Mind"
posted by yhbc at 6:03 AM on April 17, 2002

tihsllub. The processing complexity of getting the speech signal all linearized in the forward direction is daunting enough.
posted by rodii at 6:08 AM on April 17, 2002

David John Oates used to be a regular on the Art Bell Show for several years, until Art kicked him off. That SHOULD say all you need to know about his credibility. I remember downloading a file of Neil Armstrong's "One small step" quote from the Bell show which definitely had an eery message when played backwards. When I downloaded the clip from a reliable source, there was no such message. tihsllub, definitely tihsllub
posted by faceonmars at 6:45 AM on April 17, 2002

Kicked off the Art Bell show--!rorroh eht !rorroh eht
posted by y2karl at 7:33 AM on April 17, 2002

Phtil ot tnaw em htekaM ! tihslluB
posted by Tarrama at 7:41 AM on April 17, 2002

!lived nainamsaT ouY
posted by y2karl at 8:38 AM on April 17, 2002

.gnod ot yenom ruoy fo lla dnes dna natas pihsrow
posted by dong_resin at 11:57 AM on April 17, 2002

!ehtiT !ehtiT !hcruhc ot oG !stnerap ruoy yebO
posted by hincandenza at 1:35 PM on April 17, 2002

.su ot gonleb era sekoj sdrawkcab bmud ruoy llA
posted by y2karl at 2:08 PM on April 17, 2002

The Skeptic's Dictionary has an interesting article about Oates. And here you can read "an open (angry) letter" from a former protege of Oates'. Sounds like he's got some enemies out there.

Perhaps best of all, RemoteSeduction.com tells you how to use reverse speech to seduce women "at the speed of thought." (Site has nekked chicks so don't let your boss catch you). Who knew this technology was so practical and rewarding?
posted by gutenberg at 2:19 PM on April 17, 2002

$ perl -ne'chop;print join"",reverse split//;print"\n";'

Just in case anyone needs it for this thread.
posted by majick at 2:21 PM on April 17, 2002

YKCOWREBBAJ

sevot yhtils eht dna ,gillirb sawT`
ebaw eht ni elbmig dna eryg diD
,sevogorob eht erew ysmim llA
.ebargtuo shtar emom eht dnA
posted by Shadowkeeper at 2:28 PM on April 17, 2002

Live not on evil deed, live not on evil.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:42 PM on April 17, 2002

Lrak2y
“dnaL snameiD naV” dellac ylsuoiverp ainamsaT
“natas ma I” dnalsi dias fo margana
!ahahahuM
posted by Tarrama at 5:08 PM on April 17, 2002

Heh... this almost qualifies as a double post, albeit two years and 15,000 posts later.
posted by stopgap at 5:33 PM on April 17, 2002

Sit on a potato pan, Otis stavros.
posted by yhbc at 6:27 PM on April 17, 2002

Bonnie Raitt ---Something to talk about<>Grab our butt and whip us --- Seems to say more about the subconscious of the interpreter.

To me it sounds more like: Have a Boston Linbus. (Which the link indicates makes as much sense as their parc.)
posted by HTuttle at 7:15 PM on April 17, 2002

¿⊥Ω°9∀ ς!Η⊥ ς! ll∃Η ∃Η⊥ ⊥∀ΗM
posted by rodii at 7:44 PM on April 17, 2002

ffo wohS
posted by y2karl at 8:21 PM on April 17, 2002

"jesus loves you" played backwards is "we smell sausage" or "we smell hashish"

Deep, huh?
posted by yesster at 2:34 PM on April 18, 2002

"Morris, how you doin'?" played backwards is "Yoda, you're so wrong".

Definitely not deep.
posted by MUD at 9:13 AM on April 19, 2002