This theory involves a story that everyone knows. But is that really the case?
“Little Red Riding Hood” must be a story no stranger to all of us. In the story, when the wolf pretends to be the grandmother of the red scarf, to the little girl’s question about her strange appearance, it answered: “Grandma’s eyes are big to see you better, her ears are big to hear you better” , after that quickly swallowed the poor girl.
Leaving aside the horror details for later, this is the detail we need to pay attention to: Is it true that ear size affects our hearing ability?
Does ear size affect hearing ability?
The answer is no. First, with animals, ear size is not a necessary criterion for assessing the ability of animals to hear.
For example, bats and chinchillas. Both have large ears but the frequency range of the sound is very different. Bats can hear between 2,000 and 110,000 hertz (Hz), while chinchillas can only detect 90 to 22,800 Hz.
Bats can hear between 2,000 and 110,000 hertz.
And in most animals with large ears, this is more useful in cooling the body than perceiving sounds.
The same elephant, but the African elephant has a much larger ear than the Asian elephant. These giant ears help them dissipate body heat – a useful attribute in hot and humid climates like Africa.
Elephant ears help dissipate body heat, not help hear better.
It’s the same with humans. The outer part of the ear, also known as the pinna , has two main purposes: to protect the ear canal and to allow sound to pass into the ear.
Regardless of the ear size, the two functions are the same.
Although the pinna plays an important role, the organs directly involved in hearing are located deep inside the ear, such as the ear hair cells .
Whether it is “big ears with big face” or “ears with jackfruit leaves”, the function is the same.
These sound receptors help transmit auditory signals to the brain, so they’re deep in the inner ear.
If you need more proof that hearing ability has nothing to do with ear size, consider this: As we get older, our ears also grow in size, but our ability to hear usually decreases. In 50 years, the average human ear grows about 1cm. Meanwhile, age-related hearing loss is on the rise, with about a third of adults experiencing significant hearing loss as they age.
Are these scientific grounds convincing enough for you? So whether it is “big ears with big face” or “ears with jackfruit leaves”, the function is the same!