I have synaesthesia...

[ermitonto]

So the other day I heard something interesting about synaesthesia (where people's senses get mixed up, like they can hear colors and smell shapes), so I decided to read up on it more since it seemed like an interesting subject.

First I learned that it is more common in people with autism, which is interesting because I'm pretty sure I have Asperger's Syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism that isn't a totally bad condition to have. It has its up sides (like higher intelligence, intense focus on one's interests, and good memory) and its down sides (usually an atypical social life due to hindered ability to read and convey emotion).

So anyways, as I read further I find out that the most common type of synaesthesia is something I've experienced as long as I can remember! It's called grapheme-color synaesthesia, where every letter and number has a particular color associated with it in my head, and sometimes if I glance at a letter it will appear to be tinted that color, and I am strongly reminded of the color when I look at a letter or a word starting with that letter. For example, A, G, M and 2 are all red for me. D, F, J and P are green. R, X and 9 are purple. C, I and O are yellow, and so forth. They will often combine and a whole word will be a certain color. For example, the word "the" is orange because T and H are both orange letters. I had no idea most people do not read like this. What is it like to perceive every letter as boring old black all the time? :D

[mlleyeuxbleus]

Me too!!! :)

I also have synesthesia, & have wondered about Asperger's, but not been tested or anything. It sure would explain a lot! I would post about the colors of my letters & numbers, but I've just been out dancing & am a bit drunkish... maybe tomorrow.

[ermitonto]

Yes, it's even interesting that it sort of carried over into my Russian when I started studying it, even though they have a totally different alphabet. For example ,the Russian alphabet has a letter that looks like an English P but it is pronounced like an R, and I see it as purple like an R rather than green like a P, which helps me keep them separate in my head and I don't get them mixed up!

[st0n3r]

wow how interesting 2 boast about urself.........i have a disease which makes me clever and can remember things. can ppl honestly b more stubborn?

[ermitonto]

Hey, it's not all fun and games. It's nice to have a good memory and shit, but the atypical social life sucks. Imagine hardly having any friends, and never getting laid.

[Red King]

wow thats pretty crazy. Just good ol black text for me.

[mlleyeuxbleus]

Synesthesia isn't a disease... it's an overlapping of the senses. For example, in addition to seeing letters & numbers as colors, I also see/feel music as color/texture.

It's actually kind of cool to talk about, in that once you become aware of it, you realize it's not totally normal, & there comes a desire to talk about it, & see if others experience the same thing. :)

[ermitonto]

Actually it's more like this. Weird, huh?

Actually, it'seven more like this, taking into account that colors like to assimilate to the first letter of the word.

[general]

one time i was high on something icant remeber but i could taste the color blue it was crazy

[GHoSToKeR]

Hmm..

[Mirno Sctlnd]

Indeed hmm it sounds like half of you are just trippers, I mean I am aware of this condition just didn't think it was so common.

I also see/feel music as color/texture.
So does almost anyone who can truly appreciate good music, and not just music for noise.

[F L E S H]

When I was a kid, I thought I had something like that, but just for numbers. But it seems I grew out of it....

[mlleyeuxbleus]

Indeed hmm it sounds like half of you are just trippers, I mean I am aware of this condition just didn't think it was so common.

So does almost anyone who can truly appreciate good music, and not just music for noise.

Lol, I'm definitely not tripping. As for appreciating music, I absolutely agree with you to an extent, but I believe that what I experience goes beyond that. I used to date a guy who had a PhD in music, has been played at Carnegie Hall, & is a music prof at 'the Harvard of the South'. So this is definitely an individual who appreciates music. When I explained to him my visual/tactile experience of hearing music, he was intrigued & unfamiliar with what I was talking about.

It's really hard to explain my experience, & everyone's is different. But for me, each instrument has a very distinct quality, that then has myriads of variations depending on how it is played. For example, string bass for me is like plush velvet, usually in shades of chocolate ranging up to merlot. Horns for me are sorta like huge ribbons of solid honey. Piano is hard to describe if you aren't in my brain (& if y'are, please leave, lol), but it depends on whether it's chords or solo notes, & it varies greatly with pitch. Being high, for me, increases the effects; sometimes I like to just go to bed & listen to some great music... amazing.

Here's a link to an interesting site, that has a demo of the alphabet & one of music. Keep in mind that everyone's manifestation is different, but it's a good idea of what it's like. http://web.mit.edu/synesthesia/www/virtual.html.

But for the really critical people, dudes, just relax & spark one up, geez! :) It is a known & studied condition that's harmless, & just because it sounds strange to you doesn't mean it's not valid. I was shot down similarly the first several times I tried to talk about it to others... I didn't realize everyone else didn't have it too, when I was younger. I got some major attitude, yikes. But then I did some research & found out what was going on, & it's pretty cool. But really, no need to be so harsh & growly. Have a puff & a smile, y'all!

[Mirno Sctlnd]

Cheers that link helped me kinda see where you're coming from. It's still pretty hard for me to get my head around it tho.

[BostonToker]

you dont have that shit, your all looking for a place to blame your problems. Your all just lazy potheads.

[mlleyeuxbleus]

Sigh... no, we're not. We're not even saying we *have* any problems, which is sort of the silly part of your statement, lol. Synesthesia is just a slightly different way of looking at the world, that's all.

Naturally, we all have problems, but synesthesia has nothing to do with it whatsoever, it's just the way I perceive my environment. And for the problems I do have, I am not looking for a scapegoat for them... I do my best to face them, conquer them, & go on living splendidly, fully, & blissfully.

In fact, here's a quote I have posted on my monitor, over my kitchen stove, & on my bathroom mirror: "You are responsible for your own problems, just as you are responsible for your own liberation and enlightenment." -Lama Zopa Rinpoche

The beauty & richness of life is simply astounding when one tries to think and act from a place of love and compassion. :)

[BostonToker]

oh well i appologize then, i guess im also a synesthesian

[Encatuse]

Boston, stop being a dork. You're a piece of crap on a crapstick.

I once had synaesthesia on mushrooms. It was nice. I could taste the music and feel is as it pressed on different locations of my body. What an odd experience.

And Ston3r, stubborn was the wrong word.

[ermitonto]

Indeed hmm it sounds like half of you are just trippers, I mean I am aware of this condition just didn't think it was so common.

I've never tripped in my life. The only recreational drugs I've ever done are weed, alcohol and codeine, and I've been experiencing this color-grapheme synaesthesia at least since elementary school, long before I tried anything.

[GHoSToKeR]

I once saw a documentary about a guy who claimed that numbers and such appeared to him as a kind of landscape, each number and letter forming the topography of this landscape (each with it's own colour, shape and texture). A collection of letters or numbers (such as a word or a math problem) would group together to form different shapes in the landscape. When he wanted to recall memories he would literally, in his mind, explore this landscape.

Of course people were skeptical, and he was put through a number of different tests, all of which he passed. I think their opinion was that this man was slightly autistic; not enough to effect his interpersonal skills and such, but enough to dramatically altar his brain functions.

He learned to read and speak fluently in Icelandic (or some other random, practically indecipherable language) in a less than a week.