Posted by izhak 3 days ago
The computer does not do a Fourier transform (FFT computes the discrete Fourier transform)
Spectroscope dont do a Fourier transform (it's actually the short time FT)
The only thing that actually does Fourier transform is a mathematician, with a pen and some paper.
Cutting the hearing nerve does not cure tinnitus.
It develops due to a destruction of hearing cells that leads the brain to upregulate gain to catch a weak/absent signal, when the deprivation pattern is just right. (no tinnitus develops when the hearinf nerve is cut -> deprivation pattern matters)
As higher-order, statistically transparent abstract nudges of providence existing outside the confines of causality? Metaphysically interesting but philosophically futile.
But, to the vast majority who don't really know or care about the math, "Fourier Transform" is, at best, a totem for the entire concept space of "frequency domain", "spectral decomposition", etc.
They are not making fine distinctions of tradeoffs among different methods. I'm not sure I'd even call it disinformation to tell this hand-wavy story and pique someone's interest in a topic they otherwise never thought about...
there appears to be no software for this, its all hardware, the signal format flips as it travels through the anatomy.
Owls use asymmetric skull structure which helps them in spatial perception of sound.
neurosynaptically, there is no phase, there is frequency shift corresponding to presynaptic intensity, and there is spatio-temporal integration of these signals. temporal integration is where "phase" matters
its all a mix of "digital" all or nothing "gates" and analog frequency shift propagation of the "gate" output.
its all made nebulous by the adaptive, and hysteretic nature of the elements in neural "circuitry"
The content is generally good but I'd argue that the ear is indeed doing very Fourier-y things.
On one corner of the square, you have Fourier Transforms, which are essentially contiguous and infinite. On the opposite corner, you have the DFT, which is both finite (or periodic) and discrete. Hearing is more akin to a Fourier Series, which is finite/periodic but contiguous. That's probably not what the article aims at addressing, though.
But then wavelet transforms are different from Fourier Series again, because you have shifted and stretched shapes (some of them quite weird) instead of sinusoids.
But yeah, colloquially, I agree, the ear is indeed doing very Fourier-y things.