The ear does not mechanically ring on like a string after sound stops

Evidence

It is easy to check whether any mechanical tone persistence exists in our hearing. We abruptly end a 500 Hz sinusoidal tone, and immediately begin a 520 Hz tone. If the 500 Hz tone is still ringing like a lyre string after the source is off, we should hear a few beats at 20 Hz as the 520 Hz tone ramps up (see section 24.2 for a discussion of beats). It is easy to create such a test in any number of pieces of software; not the slightest hint of such beating is heard. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 1958

Categorization

• QUESTION: If there were ringing, we’d hear beats at 20 Hz — this is a testable prediction worth replicating myself.
• CANDY: A cheap, fun demo: cut a 500 Hz tone and start a 520 Hz tone; if your ear rang, you’d hear beats — you don’t.
• XREF: Connects to the uncertainty principle discussion of frequency resolution vs. temporal decay in the same chapter.