COMMENTARY
Laurel and Yanny
(Mike Allen)

I was introduced to “The Dress” at a bar in 2015. After several drinks, a friend held a phone near my face and asked “What color is this dress?

I answered “Blue and black,” of course, because that’s what color it was. A different (and better) question, however, would be “What color does it look like to you?” I still would have answered the same, but after reading all of the debate a few years ago and the science behind the phenomenon, I think that question better describes why it’s interesting. I eventually understood seeing gold on the dress. For the life of me, I still don’t understand seeing white.

With the latest debate between Laurel and Yanny, I hear “Laurel” quite clearly. If I had never read that someone heard “Yanny” in there, I would simply dismiss the lo-fi digital artifact that produces that sound in the clip. But much like the yellow lighting and lo-res quality of “The Dress” picture, it’s there, and it allows for confusion.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’ve gone from a perspective of right vs. wrong to a perspective of “I understand, man.” I find it all to be pretty fascinating even if it is a bit silly.

— Mike Allen


More Sundaze

Veto shows Fallin governing from the center … of a coin
Legislature ignores need for SQ 788 framework
Paul George has ‘gone fishing,’ but for how long?
Incinerate romaine lettuce with a flamethrower
Scary spring: Oklahoma wildfires and the need for rain
Hitting the high notes during #OklaEd Capitol rally
Amid Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook advertising seems creepier
Fleeing Oklahoma, teachers could ‘Fall-in’ the Red River
Trump’s ‘violent video games’ go Back to the Future
Oklahoma City produces ‘A Desire Named Streetcar’
Pumping iron by ranking OKC hamburgers
OKC’s Gold Dome deserves a success story
Winter Olympics: The case for shuffleboard over curling
Working in Midwest City: AWACS rattle brain
The Super Blue Blood Moon is over 9000
Flipping the switch for a government shutdown
Tide Pod Challenge makes chores trendy, poisonous
State Question 788: Your prescription for ‘Fourthmeal’
New Year’s Resolutions are ‘something to encourage’
The Last Jedi: Enough ‘disappointment’ to make you think
Exciting crossover movies after Disney bought Fox
Playing Santa, Mary Fallin hands out lumps of coal
Nothing good ever happens after midnight
ESPN obsessed with Baker Mayfield crotch grab
Mark Zuckerberg could have simply used emojis
John F. Kennedy conspiracies live on via internet
The Oklahoma Legislature has been naughty
Tom Delonge wants you to pay his way ‘To The Stars’
Trump fadeaway jumper topples Hurricane Maria
Numerous potential explanations for ‘Cuban attacks’
David Boren rides off into the sunset
Bodega box concept a supposed threat to mom-and-pop stores
NASA does not create hurricanes
Assassin of the flies
Steve Bannon Ganon: Game Over
Eclipse: The path of totality and the super-hot corona
Our pre-meal ritual is becoming ridiculous
Scaramucci down right fierce to Priebus

Looking forward to a July cold front

  • Mike Allen

    Mike Allen is a graphic designer, painter, printer and tailor. He has a fine art degree from the University of Oklahoma.

  • Mike Allen

    Mike Allen is a graphic designer, painter, printer and tailor. He has a fine art degree from the University of Oklahoma.