Synesthesia
Yesterday in English my teacher gave us a list of literary terms. Her favorite, she said, was "synesthesia," which refers to describing a sensory detail in terms of another, such as "hot pink," as pink does not have a temperature.
She then told us about an email she received from a friend that some people have such conditions. For instance, one lady sees sounds, and one man sees tastes, to the degree that the visual from eating distracts him from driving. This condition happens in one in two thousand people.
This story was particularly interesting to me. I am the one in two thousand.
In elementary school, I noticed that I viewed the sound of the bell as a series of blue circles, and the fire alarm as a brown, zigzagging line. I don't really notice it anymore, as I am used to it, but I subconsciously see sounds. High-pitched sounds are usually blue and purple, low sounds are usually brown and orange, and other colors occur occasionally.
Those of us who have it also see letters and numbers as colors. I do this too, but not as much as sounds. Even numbers are usually blue. Odds are usually red.
A beeping electronic device is a collection of blue or sometimes purple dots. A woman's voice is a somewhat-rectangular, bumpy, green blob. A rock group is a disarray of rough orange ellipses with brown squiggles. Each sound has a unique appearance, but similar sounds have similar appearances. A pleasing sound does not always have a pleasing appearance.
I've always wondered why I see sounds. I was glad to learn that it's not a completely weird phenomenon. I was a little confused, though. I'm just an average person, and I have a condition that happens only in one in two thousand people! Fortunately, I don't think I have it as bad as some.
posted by Mark at 5:47 PM
5 Comments:
How interesting. I have never heard of that. When you think about it, one in two thousand is an awful lot of people. I can't remember how many people there are in the world, but there are 12 million church members. That means that 6,000 church members experience this. This is something I am going to have to read up on. It's kind of cool really
Definitely very interesting. Sounds kind of cool, actually. You must be able to use more of your brain at one time than the rest of us! Glad you have a name for it now.
Mark, I learned about his in medical school, but I've never actually met anyone who has this. I have always thought it would be interesting to hear someone describes what sound looks like to them. Where exactly do you see the colors? Right in front of you, in the area where the sound is located, just off in the background? Have you ever thought about drawing all of the sounds that you see? Does the intensity of the color vary with the sound? What an interesting way to experience the world!
Thanks for sharing. That is fascinating. I just can't comprehend it! I would love to sneak into your mind for a little bit to see what it's like!
In my mind, I picture what is making the sound--which I imagine is fairly common--with the sound in front of or next to it. For instance, if I hear fife music, I imagine a fife, and above it are fuzzy blue circles.
I have thought about drawing the sounds before; however, the sounds are generally like nothing anyone has seen before in real life, and drawing them would be difficult, not being an artist. I could, however, make a drawing that is something like what it is.
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