system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is it that we’re able to determine the origin of a sound in all directions despite only having two ears at left and right of our heads?

And similarly, do people with one damaged ear still differentiate between sounds coming from left/right, or is that ability lost?
gpt
The fact that we have two ears gives us the ability to determine left and right, based on the time differences between when each ear receives the sound.

The fact that our ears are on the sides of our heads, *and* are shaped differently front versus rear, changes the "shape" of the sound wave our ears receive enough so that our brains can determine whether the source of the sound is in front of us or behind us.

Determining above and below works on the same principle as ahead and behind.