Shadowing Practice: The famous tree-falling thought experiment has a new answer | Lisa Feldman Barrett - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
66 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Since humans have been able to talk to each other, they've been debating the nature of reality.
2
So traditionally, people believe that there is an objective reality out there,
3
separate from us, and that we perceive reality with more or less accuracy.
4
So if I'm in the therapist's office, and I'm telling the therapist, well, I am really, really mad.
5
And the therapist looks at me and says, no, actually, you're really sad.
6
Who's right?
7
Well, there are some people who would say one of us is right or we're both wrong because there's some objective reality.
8
But reality is not purely objective and it's not purely subjective.
9
It is relational.
10
There is one reality that is perspective dependent.
11
I experience anger.
12
My therapist is experiencing me as sad, and together that's the reality of the situation.
13
My name is Lisa Feldman Barrett.
14
I am a university distinguished professor of psychology at Northeastern University in Boston, and I'm here to talk to you today about the nature of reality.
15
You know, a small topic.
16
The nature of reality.
17
Is reality objective, out there, separate from you, or is reality all in your head?
18
Philosophers have been debating this question for millennia,
19
and I think they're probably asking the wrong question. In reality,
20
everything you do and every experience that you ever have is a combination of the remembered past and the sensory present.
21
That is the signals that are hitting your retina in each eye, the cochlea in each ear, the receptors in your skin.
22
The idea is that reality is made up of stable patterns of signals.
23
Our best available evidence for how the brain is using past experience to anticipate sensory signals from the world,
24
it suggests that reality may not be out there in the world,
25
separate from you, and it's definitely not only in your head.
26
It's actually a combination of the two, which means that reality exists, but it exists in relation to you.
27
Perception box is another way of talking about the remembered past.
28
It's a concept that captures the idea
29
that there is a relationship between what is inside your head and what is outside in the world.
30
What relational realism implies for perception box is that your box is the ingredients,
31
the signals that you bring to creating the relational present.
32
So there's an old parable that people often appeal to when they're talking about the nature of reality, and it goes something like this.
33
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
34
A falling tree will cause vibrations in the air.
35
So a relational realist would say there needs to be a set of receptors that detect those vibrations.
36
And in order for it to be a sound of a tree falling, an organism has to know that that's what those sounds mean.
37
So a relational realist would say
38
if there's no organism there to detect the signals then no the tree does not make a sound.
39
There are other signals that are required to translate those vibrations into a sound.
40
Animals have sensory surfaces that we don't have.
41
Reality as it pertains to them, in relation to them, is different than it is for us.
42
So an example would be,
43
there's a lot of vibration -based noise in the ocean that we don't detect and is not really relevant to us.
44
But it turns out that those signals are detected by whales.
45
And those signals are because of the whale's sensory surfaces and the whale's brain.
46
are part of reality from their perspective.
47
And we interfere with their ability to communicate with each other by our ignorance of their perspective.
48
And it's not that hard to go from that kind of an idea to our interactions with each other.
49
Often in an argument, you want to appeal to the authority of objective reality to say that you're right.
50
And if reality is relational, you can't do that.
51
In order to resolve the conflict,
52
it means you have to admit the idea that somebody else's experience has equivalent authority to your own.
53
The idea that somebody else's experience is part of reality as much as yours doesn't invalidate your experience.
54
It means that your experience is a part of reality, but it's not the only part.
55
There are parts of reality that we share, and there are parts of reality that each of us has access to that the other doesn't.
56
And if you spend time around people who are just like you,
57
who have the same reactions as you or the same experiences as you,
58
you'll be reinforcing the remembered past that's easy for you to conjure.
59
But if you are curious, if you're foraging for new sets of signals,
60
new meanings, you are very likely to expand the aspects of reality that you have access to.
61
The goal there is to be curious and be humble.
62
As a person, I think it's incumbent upon us,
63
we really ought to experience as many aspects of reality as we can.
64
Otherwise, we're ignorant and ignorance is not helpful.
65
It has nothing to do with objectivity.
66
It has everything to do with being able to experience as much of reality as possible.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
C11
Mindfulness isn’t the only powerful mental state | Clay Routledge
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C16
Kids don’t always make you happier. Here’s why people have them anyway. | Paul Bloom
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
Would a society based on genetics be… good? | Kathryn Paige Harden
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
C13
Is success genetic? | Kathryn Paige Harden
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
C118
Why successful people set habits, not just goals | Wendy Wood
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
Why I’m against empathy | Paul Bloom
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
Why schools of the future will be designed with geneticists | Kathryn Paige Harden
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
C13
Evolution explains kindness—even when it kills us | Paul Bloom
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
C11
The lost art of accomplishment without burnout | Cal Newport for Big Think +
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C180
What science can’t answer, according to physicist Jim Al-Khalili | Big Think
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
A mind-blowing explanation of symmetry | Frank Wilczek for Big Think
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
Why humans believe “everything happens for a reason” | Clay Routledge
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
How evolution works, in 54 minutes | Sean B. Carroll: Full Interview
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C16
Your genes affect your education. Here’s why that’s controversial. | Kathryn Paige Harden
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
What happens to your brain when you’re dreaming
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
How do elite performers automate their habits? | Wendy Wood
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
What if quantum physics could eradicate illness? | Jim Al-Khalili for Big Think
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B25
Hit peak performance with the power of habit | Wendy Wood
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
C11
Why softness beats stress | Giulia Enders
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
C13
Your brain wasn't built to hold this much information | Richard Cytowic
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
C11
133 sentences
Has quantum mechanics proved that reality does not exist?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
259 sentences
Talk Back: Why Arguing With Yourself Can Help You Flourish
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
40 sentences
Put Thought in its Right Place
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C15
96 sentences
Theories of Emotion | Processing the Environment | MCAT | Khan Academy
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
C16
51 sentences
1 6 What Illusions Teach Us
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
C11
654 sentences
Stuart & Cliffe Knechtle | Do Agnostics Just Want To Have Control? | Give Me an Answer
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C110
14 sentences
Would You Upload Your Mind?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
85 sentences
stop running away from reality.
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
C11
386 sentences
All of Human Psychology Explained in 20 Minutes
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
138 sentences
Does God exist? | J. Krishnamurti
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “The famous tree-falling thought experiment has a new answer”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: reality, experience, signals, relational, objective. This video has 66 sentences and 881 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:17. The speaker talks at a steady 121 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| objective noun | /ɒbˈd͡ʒɛk.tɪv/ | A material object that physically exists. |
| detect verb | /dɪˈtɛkt/ | To discover or find by careful search, examination, or probing. |
| sensory adjective | /ˈsɛn.sə.ɹi/ | Of the physical senses or sensation. |
| vibration noun | /vaɪˈbɹeɪʃən/ | The act of vibrating or the condition of being vibrated. |
| therapist noun | /ˈθɛɹəpɪst/ | Someone who provides therapy, usually professionally. |
| curious adjective | /ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs/ | Tending to ask questions, or to want to explore or investigate; inquisitive; (with a negative connotation) nosy, prying. |
| aspect noun | /ˈæspɛkt/ | Any specific feature, part, or element of something. |
| relation noun | /ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/ | The manner in which two things may be associated. |
| perception noun | /pɚˈsɛpʃ(ə)n/ | The organisation, identification and interpretation of sensory information. |
| purely adverb | /ˈpjʊɹli/ | Wholly; really, completely. |
| ignorance noun | /ˈɪɡ.nɚ.əns/ | The condition of being uninformed or uneducated; lack of knowledge or information. |
| receptor noun | /ɹɪˈsɛp.tə/ | A protein on a cell wall that binds with specific molecules so that they can be absorbed into the cell in order to control certain functions. |
| organism noun | /ˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.əm/ | A discrete and complete living thing, such as animal, plant, fungus or microorganism. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| stable noun | /ˈsteɪ.bəl/ | A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| turn out verb | To end up; to result. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | they've been debating · have been debating |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is made · are required · are detected |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who would · two, which means · people who are |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 17 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: vibration /vaɪˈbɹeɪʃən/, relation /ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/, perception /pɚˈsɛpʃ(ə)n/, capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/, interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: organism /ˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.əm/, psychology /saɪˈkɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/, accuracy /ˈæk.jɚ.ə.si/, communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like objective, detect, sensory.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.