test your reverse speech skills

[Rex]

I posted this in a different thread then realized it'll get limited exposure, so am re-posting as a new thread (re-edited as well).

Bill suggested that I find a reversal from one of his interviews and post it, and see if other PA'ers hear the same thing. So I took an existing PA interview - the one Bill had with Inelia Benz from May 2011. Below are 5 of the clearest reversals I could find. Each clip has one reversal embedded in it somewhere.

It would be best if you 'right-click and save as' for each mp3 link as you'll probably want to replay them a few times. Each mp3 has the reversal clip at the beginning and the matching forward/normal speech clip at the end. The clips are really short; only a few seconds each. I may have cut a couple of them a little too short making it harder to get the context, apologies for that. Keep in mind I'm a total amateur at this, but am confident these are all legit:

http://deadfoot.com/PA/Inelia_interview_May_2011.01.Inelia.mp3
http://deadfoot.com/PA/Inelia_interview_May_2011.03.Inelia.mp3
http://deadfoot.com/PA/Inelia_interview_May_2011.05.Bill.mp3
http://deadfoot.com/PA/Inelia_interview_May_2011.06.Bill.mp3
http://deadfoot.com/PA/Inelia_interview_May_2011.10.Inelia.mp3

For those that give it a try, please PM me with your results. Don't post your analysis here as we don't want to influence others. After a week or so I'll post up what I hear.

Bill believes much of it is pareidolia as do others on PA. Respectfully I'd like some folks to think otherwise, especially Bill :) Either way, it'll be interesting to see what happens.

[DeDukshyn]

There is a technique called back-masking, an many artists have used it. Sure some phrases sound like an actual phrase backwards - just like the number 2 backwards looks like a five, and like the phrase "I love you" might sound like "Evil eye" to some people ...

Personally, I don't see the point of scouring clips in reverse trying to find something that sounds like English words. I guess it can be as entertaining as finding objects in the clouds? That actually is somewhat satisfying. :) I 'm not sure it helps with conspiracy research though ...

BTW I could hear a couple that I am sure is what you were intending us to hear. But for fun I won't share. Perhaps after a short while you'll go on to explain the phrases you caught, as well as to give some further insight into your feelings on why reverse speech is worth checking into. For example, a good question in my mind is "can we use this?" and "what is the applications"? etc.

My 2 cents.

[Rex]

The important thing to remember here is that backmasking is fully intentional - exactly as you mentioned, like the BEATLES did with "Paul Is Dead" or SLAYER with "Join us". Unfortunately backmasking has nothing to do with true reverse speech reversals, which are purely unintentional and part of normal speech. And, if you'll allow David Oates' research, rs reversals are the voice of the unconscious.

There are definitely cases of certain words or phrases that often reverse a particular way, but that's a small subset of what we're talking about here. The point of this little exercise is to test the argument that this is all pareidolia. I don't think this will definitively prove it either way for some people, but at least we'll all learn something in the process.

Reversals are not only in English. Reversals occur in the native language of the speaker, and if multi-lingual will occur in whatever language they're speaking or thinking. Also, reversals usually have the accent of the speaker.

Reverse speech has many applications, and one is absolutely conspiracy research. I even posted a thread about this: http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?89717-New-reverse-speech-analyses-support-a-JFK-assassination-conspiracy There are many more that David Oates has researched - please check out his website, especially the Applications and Examples sections http://reversespeech.com/ or his recently renewed youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/redwolfe33.

In case anyone is wondering, I have no stake in his work other than having followed it for many years and dabbling in it a bit, and have seen it uncover the truth time and time again. It's the ultimate lie detector.

[DeDukshyn]

The important thing to remember here is that backmasking is fully intentional - exactly as you mentioned, like the BEATLES did with "Paul Is Dead" or SLAYER with "Join us". Unfortunately backmasking has nothing to do with true reverse speech reversals, which are purely unintentional and part of normal speech. And, if you'll allow David Oates' research, rs reversals are the voice of the unconscious.

There are definitely cases of certain words or phrases that often reverse a particular way, but that's a small subset of what we're talking about here. The point of this little exercise is to test the argument that this is all pareidolia. I don't think this will definitively prove it either way for some people, but at least we'll all learn something in the process.

Reversals are not only in English. Reversals occur in the native language of the speaker, and if multi-lingual will occur in whatever language they're speaking or thinking. Also, reversals usually have the accent of the speaker.
...

I would expect that reversals might come in any language ... If I took some French played it backwards, I am sure there would be some English sounding phrases or words, and Italian, and maybe even Russian. I would expect that.
An experiment that would be useful for me, might be to take some "reverse speech" and analyze what the initial phrase was, how it was said, how common that usage of wordage might be, and record it various times by different people. In order for me to be able to practically accept an application of this, I would have of be clearly shown how the reverse speech is unique to the speaker. If it is not fully unique, then these "found" phrases / words must be just that ... "found" - as they could well be found in anyone using the same wordage, which would, in my book, cause it to lose some credibility.

I highly doubt it can make a good lie detector ... any actual, even "somewhat" scientific studies that can prove this? Or is that thought just formed by anecdote?

[Rex]

I highly doubt it can make a good lie detector ... any actual, even "somewhat" scientific studies that can prove this? Or is that thought just formed by anecdote?

Did you check out either of the links? If not, I wish you would do a little homework before brushing this off so quickly. Everything you ask about is all there.

[DeDukshyn]

I highly doubt it can make a good lie detector ... any actual, even "somewhat" scientific studies that can prove this? Or is that thought just formed by anecdote?

Did you check out either of the links? If not, I wish you would do a little homework before brushing this off so quickly. Everything you ask about is all there.

I am not seeing anything that looks like a scientific study ... just long text about interpretations and anecdotes ... I don't have hours and hours to spend reading those so I can be "convinced", but if I could be directed to a proper scientific study, that would shorten the time I would have to spend.

I do work with audio a fair bit (amateur and "semi pro" videographer, as well as hobby musician), maybe we could conduct such a study ourselves? What I wouls want to look at is not how it might be right, or appear to "work", but to see how it might not work or be "fooled" - basically to test for robustness in the concept. If the concept can be proven robust, then that has value,

[Rex]

First, apologies about context... I got so caught up in finding and editing the clips to make them as easy as possible to hear I forgot to keep notes on the full context of the forward speech. Though there is probably enough there for the purposes of this exercise. Context is an important part of the analysis, as to whether or not the forward and reverse speech is congruent. When they're congruent, the person is being honest about what they're saying. If they're at odds, the person is being less than honest. There are other types of relationships between forward and reverse speech, but congruency is the main one and easiest to understand.

http://deadfoot.com/PA/Inelia_interview_May_2011.01.Inelia.mp3

In the forward, Bill and Inelia are happily in agreement about something. Note that this is the only clip I left embedded within the rest so you have to pick it out.

In reverse, starting at roughly the 2 second mark and ending just before the 3rd, Inelia says "he's really smart". This is a congruent reversal, and could even be considered complimentary or expansive as she's positively adding to the conversation.

http://deadfoot.com/PA/Inelia_interview_May_2011.03.Inelia.mp3

My fault on the lack of context. Forwards Inelia is finishing a thought/question, something like "uhm... path?" The reverse clip is the entire reversal: "f*ck that". I'll try to dig up the forward context on this one. It might be very interesting.

http://deadfoot.com/PA/Inelia_interview_May_2011.05.Bill.mp3

Bill is asking Inelia if she remembers. In reverse: "her memories". Totally congruent reversal.

http://deadfoot.com/PA/Inelia_interview_May_2011.06.Bill.mp3

Another congruent memory clip - Bill says "and you remember this". In reverse: "see the memory in it" or "see the memory here".

http://deadfoot.com/PA/Inelia_interview_May_2011.10.Inelia.mp3

Inelia is laughing in response to something Bill said "yeah whatever hahaha". In reverse, the second half of the clip starting just before the 1 second mark says: "her right away" or "her right of way". I'll have to get the context on this one as well.

One other thing I heard when searching for these reversals is they sometimes had a Scottish brogue. Both Bill and Inelia had it (not in clips posted here). For the most part, reversals will generally follow the normal pronunciation of the speaker, but other accents do occur. Maybe there's a past Scottish connection, who knows.