Editorial Stunning Results From Blind Testing

By Michael Goodspeed

We're all familiar with the claim of sceptics that Reverse Speech is a phenomena no different that seeing the image of Jesus in a tortilla, or the face of Elvis in a cloud. They claim the science is a a form of trickery which utilizes the power of persuasion to convince people they are hearing intelligent phrases in meaningless gibberish. This argument is fuelled by the fact that many people have difficulty hearing reversals without being told in advance what to hear.

Personally, I've long understood that this argument is totally specious. I often play reversals for untrained people without prompting them in advance, and if the reversal is clear, they almost always agree with my interpretation. Recently, I decided that it would be worthwhile to put some of my reversals to the acid test, and ask people to participate in 100% blind testing on my website.

Now bear in mind, this was not a multiple choice test; I gave people no hint whatsoever of my interpretation of the reversals or even who was speaking.

Here were the results: reversal number one was an extremely controversial reversal on Major Ed Dames. The reversal contained a total of 4 words. I drew a total of 10 responses, 7 of which agreed with my interpretation, with only the most minor disagreement (some people heard "a" where I heard "the"). 2 people missed it entirely on their first guess, and one person was right on 3 of the 4 words.

For the record, here is my interpretation of this reversal: "I KILLED THE BOY." I must ADAMANTLY make the point that I have no reason to believe we should interpret this reversal literally. As DJO has repeatedly pointed out, anywhere from 70-85% of all reversals are metaphoric in nature; he may be referring to the death of some aspect of his own psyche. I would never accuse anyone of a crime on the basis of a single reversal, irrespective of how clear it might be.

Here's a look at your interpretations:


Michael,
The reversal is obviously Minor Ed dames...should I believe what I'm hearing? He clearly says, "I killed the boy." ???????????????? If I were u, I'd be careful who I piss off...Dames is former military, and has a very short fuse!!!!

--Andrew H.

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Hi Michael,

I tried your blind test (forbidden reversal), I believe it says "I kill the boy" I also believe it to be preceded by "elf mess up", I could read some other stuff in it too but not clear enough for public play.

--Terese
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Hey Michael,
I have already seen that blind test posting on your site and I would agree that it is very clear what is said. "I killed the boy." Is definitely what I hear.

--JT

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Hi Michael -

No question: it's "I killed the boy." But even more interesting is the forward phrase, and even the exact words ("hell to look at"), in which this reversal appeared.
--Fred

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I take it this reversal on your Forbidden Reversal page is of none other than Major Ed Dames, a self proclaimed remote viewer. It sounds like he is saying " I told a lie."
--Ivan

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Except I now hear it as "I killed THE boy". Although it might be interpreted as "A boy". You were certainly right to do a blind test. And now the "killed" word does not seem imprecise to me. I heard it clearly the first time I replayed after your last E-mail.

One of my favourite reversals on myself is "Wolf would eat boy, now" which I interpreted as ,the "wolf" part of my me would take over the "boy" part of me, now. Which it certainly is ,in the process of doing. So, such statements can be metaphorical. Really great work, Michael!
--KEnKC

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Michael -
The unanimous verdict here is "I told a lie." Is that Ed Dames we're listening to?
--Kristin

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hello

After first listening to it , I could not figure it out. After playing it over and over in the background why chatting online I think it says, I killed the black I hope I got close, but buggered if I know what it means

--mike

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Michael,
my initial impression of this reversal of Dames is : " I kill the boy " I tried to hear it as " I killed a boy " but I preconceive the 3rd syllable ( the way I hear the syllable count) as " THE " with a definite " TH " sound! Like I said, this is my initial perception of it, and it is an understatement to say that RS is complex in its nature.

--Brian
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I just listened to that "blind" reversal on your site. Sorry if I'm a little behind in reading your articles. I have tears in my eyes. I heard the reversal say, "I killed the boy" very, very clearly. I'm interested in Reverse Speech, but sometimes I find that the reversals sound different to me than what they're supposed to be saying. Is this what you heard?

Fight the good fight, Michael, but be careful.

--Elva Raymond

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Out of 10 respondents, 7 got it right, with only the most minor disagreement, 1 got 3 out of 4 words right, and only 2 were completely off. That's a very impressive 70% accuracy with no prompting at all. The other test I did was a highly embarrassing reversal I found on a gentleman discussing his problem with impotency. This is possibly the clearest reversal I have ever found, and is astonishingly complimentary to the forward dialogue. Forwards, the man says, "There are plenty of people who aren't able to have sex, so maybe it's not that important." Backwards, "I HAD A WEINER."

So far, I've only received 6 blind interpretations, but the responses have been 100% accurate, with only the most minor disagreement: some people claim they here the the word "if" at the beginning of the reversal. In either case, the meaning of the reversal is the same, and all are in agreement that the words "I had a Weiner" are indeed there.

Here's a look at your interpretations:


Mr Goodspeed,

Normally, I have a had time hearing reversals when I'm not told what to hear, but I think that one says "I had a Weiner." ROFLMAO!!!

--CJ

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"If I had a Weiner" Seems pretty clear, though the "if" is implied, more than stated. I have no idea who the speaker is.
--Kevin Estes

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Michael,
I have no idea who the guy talking is, but he clearly says, "I had a Weiner." Wonder what happened to him...obviously, talking about some inability to sexually perform. Hope for his sake he didn't lose it in an accident!!

--RK , Texas

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Hi Michael -

My first impression of your second blind test was "if I had a Weiner," but upon closer examination, I also hear "if I had a peiner." In either case, the meaning is obvious. It would make perfect sense, considering the forward dialog.

--Fred
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Well, Jeffrey hears "I had a wiener." I hear "if I had a wiener". Too damn funny, for sure.

--Kristin

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Michael,
Quickly, to give my input on your blind test: I would think this man is expressing " if I had a Weiner '' in the reversal (the way I initially heard it) it goes quick of course, but it sounds like " FI had a Weiner "

I believe that if RS is truly a direct and personal expression of the speaker, and I think we both believe it is, then I think it is quite logical to hear mispronunciations or habitual cutting short the full letter sounds like is quite commonly the case with forward speech. In this case, dropping the projection of the short " I " sound in the very begging of the reversal (the way I am hearing it)is quite common in forward speech, further more I would venture, or at least suspect that this man may have lost the ability to sexually perform, or is discussing this condition of others, although the way I hear the " I " in this, makes me think he is referring to himself in this !

--Brian

Many of my other reversals can be heard at http://www.reversespeech.com/goodsp.htm