I think I'm a synesthete as I can see certain sounds as colors - normally blue.
I was just wondering if there are any other synesthetes on this site or if anyone else has any other information about synesthesia.
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I think I'm a synesthete as I can see certain sounds as colors - normally blue.
I was just wondering if there are any other synesthetes on this site or if anyone else has any other information about synesthesia.
I would recommend you V.S.Ramachandran. He's a neurologist and did
a lot on synesthesia (also phantom limb, and schizophrenia). So some
of his talks are not all about synesthesia...
V.S. Ramachandran at Beyond Belief 2007 Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb-fj...om=PL&index=30
This might be what you're looking for. Enjoy
I have had spiritual crisises where I have seen sound coming out of speakers. I could see it as shape better than color but blue was one of the colors I could depict along with green & yellow. It was really trippy.
Hijo, that just sounds like a hallucination to me.
grapheme/numerical-colour. so, I see a different colour for every letter and every number.
No, it's not hallucination. Synesthesia is scientifically proven.Quote:
Originally Posted by Noogah
Watch the video I posted. It explains exactly what and why.
@People, who have it:
Are you glad that you do or does it annoy you?
^Quote:
Originally Posted by nerve
For the first ten numbers and letters, this is how they are depicted in my
head (as an example, it applies to all numbers and the rest of the alphabet).
1 a
2 b
3 c
4 d
5 e
6 f
7 g
8 h
9 i
10 j
I think I've made a post on this before, but I had only listed the numbers.
Almost every multiple of 5 is black, and most numbers that have a 2 in them
are blue-ish whatever. Never gave this too much thought, it's minor for me
and isn't a glaring thing when I think about any number or letter in particular.
I'm sure others experience this to much, much greater degrees.
I remember I played "Blind Man's Bluff" with my nieces (It's like hide and seek only your blindfolded when you're the seeker). I was the seeker and I was always able to keep track of my nieces whereabouts even when I was blindfolded because whenever they made a sound I saw a flash of blue and the blue was strongest and brightest when I was facing them.
And before you say, the blindfold wasn't see through.
I also see blue light sometimes from the TV speakers and such.
Wow, thanks for posting that. Very interesting video, learned a lot.Quote:
Originally Posted by dajo
wow that is so different from what I see:Quote:
Originally Posted by Invader
1 a
2 b
3 c
4 d
5 e
6 f
7 g
8 h
9 i
10 j
I'm glad I have it, for one thing it's interesting to bring up in conversation...it has never annoyed me, I didn't even realize I had it until a friend brought it up one day, and I was very surprised. I had actually suspected that I had sound - color synesthesia, because whenever I listened to music with my CD player (which was often at the time) the songs would seem to have a color. I never really looked into it, but of course later I realized it was the track number, not the music, that had colour. XDQuote:
@People, who have it:
Are you glad that you do or does it annoy you?
I'm also glad I have it because it is fun to use in art. I already very much enjoy vocabulary and reading, and it gives words another dimension of beauty. (this is one reason it didn't occur to me that "rottingteeth" is not a pretty screen name - the colours overwhelmed the imagery.)
it never gets in the way. although I always "see" the colours when I read, I don't actually see them, they still appear black. I just sortof "know" what colour each letter is, I'm just...aware of it somehow. it's strange o_o
I have the ability to taste certain things I see or think of. It gets triggered pretty sporadically; there are periods of days where it will get triggered a lot, but then I may go without it being triggered for weeks. There's no telling what will trigger it, but the most common trigger is things of a sexual nature. That's right, I can taste sex.
...I don't know about the sex part, but I can taste things and even feel the textures of foods very clearly without actually consuming them...I have asked many times and never got a satisfactory answer: what do you call it? it's not like you can "imagine" a taste, right? doesn't "imagine" imply imagery?
I've been meaning to make a thread about different levels of imagination that people have...maybe later +yawn+
I see colors for notes (more of imagine, i don't physically see them)
But I have always given letters and number emotions, or I related them
For instance, N is 2.
4 is M
9 is cool.
Really interesting. Personally I would love to have it. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by nerve
That's association, not synesthesia.Quote:
Originally Posted by guitarboy
You'd have to physically see them.
Hey, just found out that I may have another form of synesthesia.
I'm able to see colored outlines around people and objects ("auras" some people call them). However, I just read about "emotion-color synesthesia" - which is you see colors in response to people, words or other things which bring emotion to you - i.e. you may see the color pink around a boyfriend or girlfriend showing you love them.
Wow...that explains a lot...
I'm away to go and make an appointment with my doctor to see if I'm not seeing things, just to be on the safe side.
But go see one, who actually specializes on this kind of stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Subaru
You know... a neurologist.
If I were you I would try out the tests they did in the video with
a couple of my friends. That should give you some feedback.
glad you liked it :)Quote:
Originally Posted by khh
For me things are 3d. I learned a year ago this is a type of synesthesia. Not flashy like the others, though.
You actually don't have to 'physically' (whatever that means) see them.Quote:
Originally Posted by dajo
Hm, it's not a word? weird. Maybe I meant literally.
What I mean is, there is association. (Which I do too)
And then there is synesthesia, where you see a color
in a number (for example), because two different
sensory parts of the brain a cross-wired. So just as
you look at the sky and say 'blue', you might look
at an eight and say 'blue'. And actually see it, just
like you see the color of the sky.
Edit: That is if the visual cortex is involved.
But I think that is the case, usually.
But 'actually experiencing' it is not necessary. That's one of two experiences you can have with it.
I'm not sure if this is synthesis but when i feel certain rough textures(like sand paper or dry wood) or hear a board being scraped i get goosebumps in my skin and it produces a weird type of bittery taste in my mouth.
On very rare occasions I've vividly smelt something in a picture or on TV, but I don't have synesthesia... it's really interesting though.
Invader, what about really large numbers?
It often happens when I'm almost falling assleep and everything is silent I'll literally see any outside sound in white color. And that's it as far as "phisical" or "direct" synesthesia goes for me, apart from that it's just situations of imagination (mostly taste, if I think about a certain food it's as if I can taste it) and the typical associations of color/sex/personality/position with concepts like numbers/days of the week/months/etc.
I think there's a possibility I might be a synesthete too. I don't experience this often at all, only recently for the first time since I was a child. For instance when I had a pain up my leg I could see the pain as a bright pink light, sort of like electricity with smaller bright blue beams around it, it was really vivid...and as embarassing as it is to say it, i always see yellow and sometimes numbers during sex. I never really thought about it until I saw a programme about it. I'm not sure how i see them, I just do. Is this colour-emotion synesthesia?
sorry to bump an old thread up, but i'm a synesthete with a lot of knowledge on the subject and wanted to throw in my two cents.
first of all, experiencing synesthesia isn't purely visual. you can imagine smells and sounds. some people even imagine tastes. the things you 'see' aren't in front of you and are not physical at all - they're just in your head. i mean, some people see it right in front of them but that's uncommon and i imagine would get very annoying.
i have multiple forms of synesthesia but there's another thing about it that makes it unique - the things you see or hear while experiencing synesthesia don't change. when i hear a musical 'C' tone i see a vivid green line. that C tone will always produce a green line for me. what changes that is the instrument being used to play the tone. for instance a bass tone produces a pinkish brown line instead of a green one, which i see when listening to a guitar play the note.
when instruments are combined, their corresponding images mend together in my mind to create a unique, but consistent image of the song playing. so no matter what, the same song will give me the same mental paintings, unchanged.
to have the same, unchanged patterns is what tells you you are truly a synesthete. if they change (for instance listening to a bass play a C tone produces green, then pink, then orange lines), you just have a knack at visualizing the things you hear or feel. anyone can do it, but synesthetes have an involuntary, consistent reaction to whatever senses are affected.
i personally don't find it annoying since i've lived with it all my life, but i confuse people when i talk about it. :<
Haha that is so cool. You could probably use that well in paintball or something lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Subaru
That's pretty much as far as it goes for me too. I've wanted synesthesia since I heard about it but I never considered this to be synesthesia. Because it generally only happens when I'm falling asleep and suddenly hear a noise, even if it's quiet. I just get this flash of white and sometimes other colours, but very pale ones. I think it's just something to do with the brain overreacting or something. Like it suddenly tries to perceive the sound with other senses. Not sure though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scatterbrain
Here's a question for you synesthetes.... Have you found a use for these abilities in every day life? Or even not in everyday life, but have you found a use for them?
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.
I get synesthesia when I take LSD, and I feel like it's very distinct and, once you experience it, you're sure of what it is. I think of it like this: if you aren't very sure it is synesthesia, it probably isn't.
What happens to me is when I look at a person or object and it moves and makes a noise, colours follow and emanate from them, all different colours based on how loud the object is and how much it moves. The colour doesn't immediately disappear, either. It lingers for a good 3 or so seconds, but since the colour continuously emanates from the object (as most objects that I am paying attention to, such as people, don't stop moving or making sound) it's almost as if it is permanent. The colours themselves are brilliant and seem to be the most "pure" I've ever seen them.
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.
Answering this a year later.Quote:
Originally Posted by Xei
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... :P
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 :D
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!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:
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. :)
What kinds of sounds do you hear? Can you say which kinds of movement evoke which kinds of sounds?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mancon
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...?
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeeryTheDeer
Wait...ORANGE IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?!?! MINE TOO! My walls are painted bright orange! :shock:Quote:
Originally Posted by Solarflare
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;
http://www.integratedlasers.com/Dark...ge%20Twill.jpg
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 :P
sorry for triple post, i dont know how to edit posts with new quotesQuote:
Originally Posted by Mancon
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.
oh shit O_OQuote:
Originally Posted by Auron
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.
LOL. And he said he doesn't think anyone else would have it hahaQuote:
Originally Posted by Auron
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!....
That is awesome! O.OQuote:
Originally Posted by Mancon
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.
Yeah, pretty much :D.Quote:
Originally Posted by Puffin
chords:Quote:
Originally Posted by DeeryTheDeer
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mancon
Well its an old thread. But the hell with it. Im also on the synesthesia wagon.
Like many i put colors to sound, names, words, letters and numbers.
Well in sound like music it mostly bass, drums or any lowpitched sounds is where i put any colors. I feel colors aswell. They all have different feels of texture and taste.
I thought it was totally normal until.. well I saw a woman on tv whom had it talking about it.
I like it this way though. I also tend to feel people as different colors aswell.
Might be necroing... but I thought it would be better to necro than to create an unnecessary brand-new thread.
I do, though not as much as my sister it seems. I associate colors with letters and numbers, I can picture shapes and colors when listening to music (the colors there seem to be pretty inconsistent, but hey, music isn't one long note), and when I hear certain noises my teeth hurt.
Recently my brother and dad were setting up the artificial Christmas tree, that fake pine needle cshhh noise made my lower two molars hurt terribly. I've never had my molars hurt before. Kids in elementary used to scrape their shoes against that woven-type carpet, because they knew I didn't like it. That hurt too. And it hurt my heart. :(
My sister is crazy though, all of her letters and numbers have colors, only most of mine do. And several of mine are shades of blue (not that I control it, but I find that rather suspicious). She also has the teeth thing. My mom has the teeth thing (her same teeth hurt with the tree!), my dad has letter/color, and my brother has sound/color/shape.
It gets stronger when I'm tired, and crazy on the one instance where I was high. I want to paint/draw some songs, but it would be hard to pick where in the song to draw :)
If you're curious as to what colors I see, here's a chart. I took a test where it gave me letters and I had to pick the colors, whcih is why there is a bit of variation. This is the summary of what I picked.
Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
That would be cool! Get high again and draw Shpongle!Quote:
Originally Posted by NewArtemis
I hear colors sometimes, mostly at night, but it's not as intense NewArtemis described.
To clarify the test results:
For the number 1, it was kind of like iridescent pink and black, but it was mostly black. 4 and B confused me, sometimes B was red, sometimes blue, four was sometimes green and sometimes brown. I'm inclined to say it's green.
It's difficult to describe this stuff too - I was trying to describe part of a song to my friend and said "It rolls on the ground, just like thunder." And she replied, "Yeah, cause that totally helps." How do you guys describe it?
(And in case you were curious, it's a bass noise, low, sustained, and rumbling, and looks like a dust wave or a wave wave.)
Haven't given it much thought and I'm not even sure if it's normal or not, but whenever someone mentions an object or activity or anything like that, the first thing my memory does is conjure up what it feels like to touch and probe that object or perform that activity. After that an image of it comes to mind along with a taste or smell. Always the senastion of touching it first though. When I watch a movie and someone's firing a gun, I always get the feeling of holding a gun myself, pulling the trigger and feeling the kick.
If you say "spoon", I'll immediately get the sensation of holding and touching the spoons we have at home. What they feel like when I put them in my mouth. Often it's very realistic, like I'm doing it for real.
Had alot of fun doing this as a kid as I could conjure up any taste I'd tasted before. Used to visualize myself walking around in an empty mall, gorging myself on ice cream and grilled chicken. Conjuring up tastes is just as simple and combine that with how it feels to eat a chicken and I start drooling like crazy.
Never talked to anyone about this before except recently with a few friends, they don't experience it nearly as vivid as I do. But like I said, I might be completely normal and this might be something most people can do. Just felt like getting it out there :)