I did not serve in the military when I was a young man. I got close though. When the dreaded numbers were drawn for my age group, numbers that decided who went to war and who stayed home, you didn't want to have a number below 200. My number was 23. Fortunately I was doing well in college and that allowed me to remain on student deferment. However when I graduated, I would be going into the United States Army. In preparation for my service I got a letter in January 1973, summoning me to the old Ford plant on Ponce de Leon Avenue, to take my U.S. Army physical. I was pretty sure I'd pass and I did. I learned something odd about myself that day that I have not forgotten. There was a hearing test. About 20 of us went into this unit that was sealed up behind us. I remember it being silver. There were booths along the wall with a set of headphones in each and a hand-held push button. We were instructed to put on the headphones and listen. Everytime we heard a sound we were to push the button and hold it until the sound went away and then let go. When we came out they handed us cards with our names on them. They had columns and rows and a line sketched across the card that indicated when we heard each of the many differently pitched sounds that had been played for us. There were numbers down the side as well and it appeared that people routinely scored 10, 20, or 30 on each sound. Everyone passed. We could all hear well enough to serve. My card was different from the others however. The sketched line never came down into the boxes, rather the line was sketched into the several lines of writing, including names and other info at the top. I was a super listener. Could there be such a thing? Today I hear things that are not there--high pitched squeals. Mostly I don't notice them but the are getting louder as years go by. Still I hear pretty well. I wonder if this ability influenced my profession, listening to choirs and singers. I wonder if I actually do hear things that others can't hear. When I listen to a soloist, I have a good idea of what they are doing and what they can do to improve. Mostly, even singing teachers don't hear that. But I don't know if that is a listening skill, or an analytical skill, an innate ability, or the wisdom of years of experience. I'm sure all the senses decline with age, so perhaps I don't hear worth a toot any more.

I was interested to read some years ago about super tasters. They have 10 times as many tastebuds as regular folk and can taste every nuance of a sip of wine, how it was stored, how it was made. They can list the ingredients of a cookie with a single bite. Are all the super seers fighter pilots? Are there super sniffers too?