Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Muffin]

Synthesia is a confusion of the senses.

I have the most common form of synthesia (seeing colours when hearing numbers and proper names) and have yet to meet anyone else with this condition.

One reason may be that people don't realise they have it! I was over thirty when I saw an article in an EFL text book describing the condition, until then I had assumed everyone had the same sensory experience as I did.......

Other forms of synthesia cause the person to experience tastes when hearing certain words or smells when seeing colours.

I would be interested to hear if anyone else on Daves has this condition.

[Green Tea]

Are you for real?

[Delirium's Brother]

Yes, it's real. Vladimir Nabokov had it for example, and there have been other artists to have it as well. It runs in families. I don't have it though. It must be confusing and frustrating at times to suffer from it. Is Muffin for real? Well who knows? Are you for real?

[Woland]

The composer Scriabin also had it, seeing/hearing his compositions (and all music) in colors.

Are you Russian, Muffin?

[Demophobe]

I'd like to see the diagnostic procedure for that one.

[Buff]

No, I don't have synesthesia but have kind of wanted to have it because it actually sounds like a relatively harmless yet interesting disease. I could be totally off on that. OP how do you feel about your synesthesia? Does it make life difficult for you or just different?

[SPINOZA]

Oh dear, sorry to hear that you're a complete philistine, Demophobe.

Muffin - very interesting subject. I'd heard a similar thing - "synaestheticism" - before. This has been associated, big time, with experience with hallucinogenic drugs like LSD and Magic Mushrooms. People report seeing sounds (like a bassline), hearing colors and so forth.

Syd Barrett, peace be upon him, once heard someone strum a beautiful, loud C Major chord on a guitar. Syd said "that's yellow".

Seeing colors whilst hearing numbers however is murky, definition-wise. You describe it as "confusion of the senses" but I'm not sure that suffices. Numbers are abstract entities, as are the concepts in words. I make what you describe as synthesia not only of the senses. I have no problem believing in the existence of this sort of thing because I'm of the opinion that sense date and abstract entities are all of the mind and I see little distinction between them. The notion that a number or a concept can have a synonymous color or sound, or musical chord, is excellent stuff.

[jajdude]

It's pretty rare. Oliver Sacks, the British neurologist mentions it in at least one of his books. No doubt there are a few books about it.

I found a good article (not too long), "Do you see what I hear?"

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=450
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Here's about 30% of the article:
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Human beings are very metaphoric creatures. We love to juxtapose the experience of one sense with another. Whether it’s taste with touch – a sharp cheese, a smooth finish to a beer, or sight with sound – “I see what you’re saying,” or smell with sight – a putrid color.

For some people though, this kind of joining isn’t metaphoric, it’s how they experience the world. The phenomenon is called synesthesia, and while rare it’s very real. Synesthetics have one sense, or more, that responds to sensations from an unrelated sense. The most common form of synesthesia is called colored hearing. The people who have it get impressions of color, and sometimes of shape from the sounds that they hear. The responses may be for only a few specific kinds of sound – loud, sudden noises, for instance, or they may color every sound the synesthetic hears. Other sense pairings have also been found: taste with touch, sight with smell, and in one instance, sound with kinesthesia (body positioning). Synesthetics tend to have strong emotional responses to their experience, often pleasurable, though not always, and are distressed if their synesthesia is blocked in some way. They also tend to have extremely good memories, particularly in regard to their affected sense.
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Of course, lots more info at wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

You can even take a test to see if you have it:

http://www.synesthete.org/

[Hans Blix]

not sure if i have it or not. maybe a mild case.

when i think of the numbers 1-100 a fairly complex picture takes shape, conceivably in more than 3 dimensions - yes, weird.

the days of the week are in colours for me, and they're in a fortnightly loop, sort of looking like film with coloured squares. when i think of a day it rotates to the front, 'kind of like "weapons select" on video games', a friend of mine suggested.

doesn't feel like a condition or disease, it just seems to be the way i think. i can't imagine 'thinking' without these pictures. do you really mean to say you get nothing when you think of the days of the week? i'd go see a doctor about that.

[Demophobe]

[Ody]

[jajdude]

The writer of "Lolita" was retarded?

From Wikipedia:

Vladimir Nabokov's case of synesthesia can be described in more detail than merely the association of colors with particular letters. For a synesthete letters do not merely appear to be certain colors; they are colored. Nabokov frequently endowed his protagonists with a similar gift. In Bend Sinister the main character Krug commented on his perception of the word "loyalty" as being like that of a golden fork lying out in the sun. In The Defense Nabokov mentioned briefly how the main character's father, a writer, found he was unable to complete a novel that he planned to write, becoming lost in the fabricated storyline by "starting with colors." Many other subtle references are made in Nabokov's writing that can be traced back to his synesthesia. Many of his characters have a distinct "sensory appetite" distinctive among synesthetes. Whether Nabokov intended his characters to be this way or he was merely writing what he knew is debatable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Nabokov

[JeJuJitsu]

[Muffin]

Hans Blix: you have synthesia your form of it was featured on a TV documentary I saw. It is nice to 'meet' someone else with it.

Synthesia is not really a disorder as it is only debilitating in extreme cases. For most of us it is quite pleasant and as a child it helped me memorise things quickly. I was a very early talker (6 months which proves I am not retarded...) and I wonder whether the synthesia assisted with this. It is not something the doctor has to diagnose!

I did take an online test which confirmed that I had it (on a BBC science website) but I knew that anyway. Days of the week and months of the year are all coloured for me as are proper names and numbers.

[kermo]