Thread: Anyone have Synesthesia

I find this so interesting. It shows how our perception of the universe is only one of probably an infinite number of ways of perceiving the universe. We only see colours because a certain part of our brain is wired to direct that stimuli to our eyes. Same goes for all senses. And there's probably stimuli we have no senses for.

I wonder if it's possible to see pure energy for example, like what people describe when on a strong psychedelic trip. Or to sense some stimuli we don't even know about yet. Just like some other animals can see ultraviolet light. Even though it's right in front of us we are unable to perceive it.

"I read about some guy who had grapheme-colour synesthesia and he could learn languages in a few days because he wasn't just connecting words, but colours too, so it makes it easier for the brain to remember."

Really? I have grapheme-color synesthesia (as well as a few other types) and it is a little bit easier for me to learn languages (compared to my friends, that is) but not THAT easy! O_O

I think I have very mild synesthesia with days as colors and months as colors
feb is blue
march green

Some colors produce either sounds or causes a weird fake memory. I had a teacher that wore a big purple jewel in his ring. Every time I looked at his ring, I would hear a tone and my thoughts would go to babies in the womb. It rarely happens with colors but on occasion a specific color will do that. If I hear water falling or rain, I start to feel cold. I wonder if that counts.

Originally Posted by Xei

Invader, what about really large numbers?

Answering this a year later.

The numerical form of large numbers don't conjure colour as well, but the spelled out version, or what I would hear (557 => five hundred and fifty seven) will. My example brings to mind heavy browns and some orange. It's curious that I should see this thread again tonight, as a few hours ago I was describing to someone close to me how I catalogue personalities as having their own representative feelings, which translate to sets of colors and spaces, in a manner of speaking. The colors of personality have a sort of life in them, which makes this concept very difficult for me to convey. I think everyone does this in their own way, though they may use literal images, sounds, text, texture, taste, and so on.

When it comes to numbers though the colors are bland. Words however can range from bland to powerful or full of life. Again, I'm not exactly sure how to approach explaining the sensations. I don't think this is a unique quality, but I do feel everyone experiences it differently and in varying degrees. It just becomes such a part of that person that it doesn't stand out as anything out of the ordinary or as something to observe and define. I hadn't thought about it until I was told that someone had a complimentary personality to my own, at which point I had to explain why I disagreed...

How do you interpret the personalities of other people? That might make this more understandable.

I am a syntheste. I can taste colour...

Well, anyone have it? And what type do you have? probably I might be the only one because its believed to be rarer than 1 in 20 000, and im not even 100% sure. But this is dreamviews, and i bet there are at least 10 of you who have it :/ If you dont know what it is google it. It will tell you all about seeing numbers and letters as colours, but there are other types, for each sense. (sight -> taste, smell -> hear, hear -> sight, etc)

For me all colours have tastes

Anyone who doesnt have it can ask questions ^.^

Well, I don't have actual senses added to others, but I imagine numbers and musical notes (keys as well) having specific colors assigned to them. B flat is blue, also brings to mind blue sky on a bright morning, B is yellow, C is brown, D is red, E is also yellow, F is green, etc, and the black keys are all shades of pink, violet and purple (except F# is neon green and I've mentioned B flat being blue). C# is a bit of a darker, duller violet than D#, which is hot pink. G minor is blue while G major is orange, and B flat minor is a very bleak gray.

Wow! Solarflare you have it?!?!?! I do too! I didn't think anyone else on this site had it!!!

Sight ----> Sound.

So when I see movement, a noise goes along with that movement. I have had it my whole life and didn't think anything of it. Last year I realized it wasn't normal and looked into it.

Originally Posted by Mancon

So when I see movement, a noise goes along with that movement. I have had it my whole life and didn't think anything of it. Last year I realized it wasn't normal and looked into it.

What kinds of sounds do you hear? Can you say which kinds of movement evoke which kinds of sounds?

Part of the reason i think orange is my favourite colour is because my synesthesia is strongest for that colour

I've heard of this a while back! It's had me completely fascinated since I learned what it was, even though I'm pretty sure I don't have it.

Solarflare, in your case, what's it like to see a color? Does it evoke a certain taste memory, or...?

Originally Posted by DeeryTheDeer

What kinds of sounds do you hear? Can you say which kinds of movement evoke which kinds of sounds?

Well I can give you a few examples, but there are SO many different movements each and everyday I can't list them all! When someone waves to me, I can hear sleigh bells moving to the sound of their hand. When I see horses running I can hear a low piano tone to the sound of their feet. When I see blinking I hear this exactly.

Originally Posted by Solarflare

Part of the reason i think orange is my favourite colour is because my synesthesia is strongest for that colour

Wait...ORANGE IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?!?! MINE TOO! My walls are painted bright orange!

EDIT: By the way Deery, I can HEAR your avatar moving XD. (Yours too Puffin.) I love GIFS because of my synesthesia, I could stare at them all day!

Also Solarflare, have you told anyone else about your synesthesia? I have tried telling my mom and a few friends, but they don't believe me!!!!

i can only explain for orange. When i see orange;



it makes me thirsty, sometimes, if i have water with me, i'll drink gulps of it. Sometimes i'll want to drink a certain drink (mostly soda)

Its very hard to explain for other colours, so sorry

Originally Posted by Mancon

Also Solarflare, have you told anyone else about your synesthesia? I have tried telling my mom and a few friends, but they don't believe me!!!!

sorry for triple post, i dont know how to edit posts with new quotes

i have told both of my closest friends. My really 100% science science loving science science freak said, thats sick, so my other friend was like holy shit what is it, then i told him and he was like O_O

Threads merged....ironically you made the last post in the previous thread about synesthesia Solar.

Originally Posted by Auron

Threads merged....ironically you made the last post in the previous thread about synesthesia Solar.

oh shit O_O

I don't have synesthesia, except when I look at the word Google. I can tell that the first 'o' is red and the second is yellow, because I literally see the colors when I look at it as I just typed it. But other than that I don't experience it.

I do associate colors with letters and numbers, pretty strongly, although I don't literally see them except for in the special case of Google.


a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
...

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9


Some are really strongly associated and it seems that particular character has to be that color. Like with red a, b, i, 3. 3 is green. Even if I see a 3 written in red or something, I'll still kind of think of the color green in my head. Others I had to think about more and wasn't entirely sure of or was stuck between two, like with h, 6, and 9.

Originally Posted by Auron

Threads merged....ironically you made the last post in the previous thread about synesthesia Solar.

LOL. And he said he doesn't think anyone else would have it haha

Perfect Merge.

I wish I had it....

Dianeva - I think ti would be interesting, going by what you described with google, to see if you taught kids from a young age to associate letters with colours, if they would develop synaesthesia.
I've thought about this before and I think I would try it with my own kids. Seeing as it only seems to help people. For example you could colour each letter in a different colour in the books they read etc.

I may have mentioned this earlier in the previous thread.

Also with that guy that learned a language in 3 days. I just looked it up recently actually, and I found out the language was ICELANDIC!
Probably one of the hardest languages to learn ever! lol
he could speak it within 3 days, correct pronunciation and everything. Crazy!....

Originally Posted by Mancon

EDIT: By the way Deery, I can HEAR your avatar moving XD. (Yours too Puffin.) I love GIFS because of my synesthesia, I could stare at them all day!

That is awesome! O.O

So you're actually hearing the GIFs make the sounds they would make in real life?

Wow this is really interesting. I can't believe I never stumbled across this on my own even once! Especially since I'm always learning new scientific stuff on my own.

As for me: Letters and numbers are naught but letters and numbers to me. And I don't have any visual synaesthesia in the sence of seeing stuff literally in front of my eyes.
However I seem to have some sort of Music → X synaesthesia. Saying music because it only comes to effect with music, not sounds. Saying X for it usually is color but it can be more sometimes. And not every type of music. But those that do can invoke quite a lot of stuff. A big amount of tracks has some colors, usually changing with the current feeling of the track. A few select amount of tracks goes as far as creating a complete scenery within my imagination. It's not normal synaesthesia in a way because I can partially turn it off or on the contrary reinforce it. However the sensations are consistent.

One very good example are tracks with a cold feeling of snow/ice. I know quite a few of them and they are often also named in one way or another after something cold, telling me that the interprets of the tracks should have the same or at least a similar type of synaesthesia. For these tracks it's a certain way of sound instruments in them need to have, something I'd describe as clear, but honestly I can't really put it into words.

Some more examples I can think of:

A certain track called big bridge created a scenery inside of my head of (obviously) a huge bridge across a green and beautiful landscape. The dimensions are pretty off as the bridge is some several kilometers long. The sky is clear blue and the sun would always be behind my back.

Another track called aproaching light always gives me the sensation of a positive departure, feeling like one would leave the atmosphere.

I personally wouldn't be surprised if most people who can genuinly enjoy music would have one or another type of syaesthesia for that.

I think my associations definitely come from some experience. I have a memory of being very little, maybe 3, and looking at a board with letters on it. When I go through the alphabet in my head, I still see the order presented on that board. The first row is A-G, the second is H-N, etc. And I think the letters were colored, the same colors I see now when I think of the letters. Maybe that was the purpose of the board.

I don't get it with music at all. The only thing that sounds close is associating music with certain environments, and it's pretty much only when I've listened to the same song over and over while doing a certain thing. Like a song called Nepal in Tomb Raider - Legend. It takes place in an icy, snowy environment. And when I listen to the song, even while not playing the game, I feel that environment and atmosphere again. But I'm guessing everyone gets that.

And I don't think this is related to synesthesia at all, but I'll associate music with just about anything, if I do the thing while listening to music at the same time. I listened to a song often while reading a certain book, and now the song reminds me of the book. It seems to bring me back memories of the book's atmosphere and story that I can't remember otherwise.

Smells can do that too but are much more powerful. Different book printing places make the paper smell differently, so when I smell a book, I'll get a metal overload of atmospheres of stories, memories of when I was immersed in all of the books I've read that smelled the same, that I'd forgotten.

And another thing. I used to listen to audio shows while playing games like Tomb Raider or Minecraft, and it seemed like I was associating the voices I was hearing with the game's environment, and I would subconsciously make up metaphors for the things I was hearing in the game itself.

Synesthesia sounds really cool. I wish I had it. The only thing I have is that bright light makes me sneeze.

Originally Posted by Puffin

That is awesome! O.O

So you're actually hearing the GIFs make the sounds they would make in real life?

Yeah, pretty much .

Originally Posted by DeeryTheDeer

Well, I don't have actual senses added to others, but I imagine numbers and musical notes (keys as well) having specific colors assigned to them. B flat is blue, also brings to mind blue sky on a bright morning, B is yellow, C is brown, D is red, E is also yellow, F is green, etc, and the black keys are all shades of pink, violet and purple (except F# is neon green and I've mentioned B flat being blue). C# is a bit of a darker, duller violet than D#, which is hot pink. G minor is blue while G major is orange, and B flat minor is a very bleak gray.

chords:
G, D, C, E / E-, F, A, A-, B

Sort of a mental thing, like you mentioned. I don't really see the colors ( not like I see physical things), although I am a very visual thinker, and that plays into it. Didn't really notice it until I started playing guitar, for obvious reasons. When I think of chords I sort of "see" a visualization of their layout on the neck, and I noticed this visualization having different colors for each chord. Happens to a lesser degree with single notes. Not synesthesia, just an interesting association.

Originally Posted by Mancon

Yeah, pretty much .

Reminds me of something else. Whenever I see something like that with a short, repetitive motion, such as Dark Merlin's (was it his?) avatar with the cat doing the wierd thing with it;s head, if I look at it for a few repetitions, I sometimes sort of imagine a sound that goes with it; usually a very strange/unreal sort of repetitive sound that sort of represents the motion of the image, and then I hear/imagine that when I look at the image.