The shape of our ear is designed to maximize the sounds we hear. If we had no ear, everything would sound sharp and 'metallic?, but God has designed a large, flexible flap, which catches low, medium and high frequency sounds, and also acts as a buffer. These energy waves are channeled down the ear canal and strike the ear drum, which vibrates against three tiny bones. The bones are designed to catch minute vibrations, yet also protect us from dangerous sounds. Each bones is shaped and fitted in a remarkable way, transferring the energy to a snail-like structure, which analyzes the energy it receives and sends appropriate signals to the brain, which in turn identifies these signals and interprets them for our mind. In this way we can discern between a voice, wind, metal, strings and so on.

A sound seldom hits both our ears simultaneously. Our brain gauges the time interval between the sound's reaching one ear and its arrival at the other ? the interaural time delay ? and automatically makes further calculations about the sound's origin. Based on this minute difference in arrival of the . . . The shape of our ear is designed to maximize the sounds we hear. If we had no ear, everything would sound sharp and 'metallic?, but God has designed a large, flexible flap, which catches low, medium and high frequency sounds, and also acts as a buffer. These energy waves are channeled down the ear canal and strike the ear drum, which vibrates against three tiny bones. The bones are designed to catch minute vibrations, yet also protect us from dangerous sounds. Each bones is shaped and fitted in a remarkable way, transferring the energy to a snail-like structure, which analyzes the energy it receives and sends appropriate signals to the brain, which in turn identifies these signals and interprets them for our mind. In this way we can discern between a voice, wind, metal, strings and so on.

A sound seldom hits both our ears simultaneously. Our brain gauges the time interval between the sound's reaching one ear and its arrival at the other ? the interaural time delay ? and automatically makes further calculations about the sound's origin. Based on this minute difference in arrival of the sound, the brain can calculate where the sound is coming from - hence our ability to track a mosquito in the dark.

Another amazing ability when we hear is called the precedence effect. This is another ability built into our brain which suppresses similar sounds which come 40 milliseconds after we hear them. The brain recognizes similarities in wavelength and other qualities and almost instantly blocks them. The purpose behind this ability is to help us avoid being distracted by reverberations ? for example, if you are standing in a cave, or small space with hard-surface walls. It is always the first sound which has the most definition, and the echoes of that sound which are not so significant to us ? otherwise we would find our heads full of echoes.

Just as any well-designed machine reveals the hand of an intelligent designer, the gift of ears and hearing reveals the hand of a Great Creator God, who designed all things well.

Richard Gunther, Copyright 2005