The letter H is purple. The number 8 is female and green. A circle is always yellow (the sun?). And my memory is astonishing but my house is a mess. I remember that I have something important and I know where I put it, but “they” (Mr. Beckwall) tend to move things. Feh.
I’ve been told that I used the word “unique” in a sentence when I was three.
I can read music, but more importantly I smell it and feel it in my veins.
Cool, huh?
Tuesday and Thursday are green, but Thursday is a dark, dusty green (like eucalyptus leaves, whereas Tuesday is the verdant lime-green, like new leaves.
Sunday is red and greyish, in fact it is made from red-oxide painted box-section steel, set into a large rectangular block of concrete with chamfered edges and a thin film of pale green algae.
This is how I remember things in books, too. I can remember the position on the page, and the position of the page in the book, etc… but I can’t ever remember the characters’ names!
I also feel colors and temperatures and so on with words, numbers, sounds and such. “Gray” and “grey” are not the same color, for example (the first is more yellowy/brown, the second more blue) …
In addition, thoughts as I think them form shapes and colors. I refer to them as “mind blips” and they are sort of freeform blobs that I see in my peripheral vision as I think. A given thought will have a certain general shape, texture, and color.
I tend to associate letters and numbers not with colors or genders, but with shades of grey. I imagine the alphabet laid out against a background which shades in and out of different greys, from pure white to black. A is set on a kind of medium gray which shades off to pure white at around G or H, abruptly turns black at L, turns back to a light grey at Q, and shades back toward a darker grey as you approach Z.
The number line is similar. 1-4 are set on gray shading off to white at 5-10. 11-13 are increasingly darker grays, and 14-20 are against pure black. From there it’s a bit harder to quantify the exact shades, but whenever you go up a digit the background gets several shades lighter or darker (100 is a lot darker than 99, 1,000 is a lot brighter than 999, and so forth).
I’m coming down with a spring flu right now, so I apologize if this doesn’t make any sense.
You can’t really say “I wish I had this.” It’s not really a disorder as much as an awareness of the way one is processing information and a hint of free association. From what I remember of my friend, N’s, project (which is very little), the basics of it are related to the way your brain processes language.
For example, a voice makes a sound like “KAAAT”. Your brain conjures up the image of a small, pointy-eared, whiskered creature that likes to shit behind the couch, right?
You smell a slightly acidic citrus smell and your brain conjures up the notion “orange”, right?
It is exactly that kind of process. Just with added bits of info based on associations you map from other analogous sources. Your brains is distilling information with little “hints” so that it’s easier to find in your mental filing system. Your brain creates analogies. Helps you remember.
If someone asked you “what does green taste like?” You could probably think about it and give a good answer. The synesthete doesn’t need to stop and think about it, it’s kind of involuntary, inherent perception. “Green tastes like soap.”
I read that the difference between a synesthete and a non-synesthete is that the synesthete still has all the connections that their brain made early in life (I think that was from one of your links, Maastricht), and the non-synesthete’s brain was more discerning and reduced the number of cross-connections with more life experience and realizing all the cross-connections weren’t necessary.
So on the one hand, a synesthete is able to associate any number of things almost randomly, but a non-synesthete may be a more efficient thinker for the things they think of most often. Different kinds of brains for diffferent purposes, I think. I run things by my husband to make sure that I’m not about to embark on something completely impractical (in my head, anything will work), but I am able to almost think around corners - my problem-solving abilities are much greater than his (in my mind, anyway - he may not agree).
OK, now that is just freakin’ WEIRD. Because that is very very similar to something I said to (my aforementioned friend) Beth just the other day… and she understood exactly what I meant.
The memory thing - I want to learn more on that, because my memory has been a family legend forever, both because of what I can and what I can’t remember.
Phlosphr - I will check out your links when I have some more time on my hands, but out of quick curiosity, is there anything in there about being able to feel the temperature of a color? You know how there’s cool colors and warm colors, right, but that’s a visual temperature thing? I can SOMETIMES tell what color something is by touch, without seeing it.
Why do you people keep saying 8 is green?
It isn’t green. It’s obviously yellow. And mean, it’s the meanest number.
Six is the green one, and it’s also mean, but not as good at it yet. Four is brown, smaller, and needs to be protected.
Five is blue.
Three is red – just a baby, and gets its feelings hurt.
One was white – the true baby. And I believe nine was purple, and parent-like.
When I was in math class, I did terribly, because I’d sit there analyzing the way multi-digit numbers were interacting with each other. Simple mathematical operations would create whole families with personality conflicts.
Or I’d think about how 64 meant that the mean older brother was picking on the honest, good younger brother… while 86 meant sheer nastiness.
I’m still no good at math, but I at least I don’t get as distracted by this anymore. Is it possible to grow out of it somewhat? Or does that mean I’m not a genuine synesthete to begin with, but merely a kid with an overactive imagination or something?
I think 2 was orange. But I can’t really see her anymore.
Mrs. Furthur
I remember where on the page a quote is, too.
Does anyone else randomly anthropomorphize? I think I spelled that wrong. I’ve always thought of cars as large animals, and associated the makeup of the front grill areas with facial features. Some of them look friendly, some don’t. And ‘friendly’ means that they feel a certain colour, and have mental furryness.
I sound insane.
And two is clearly frilly and pink.
Well I never used to see cars as beings until one day my daughter said, “Look, Mommy, it’s a happy car!” I looked, and it was a VW Beetle, and those definitely give the impression of a dopey grin. Now I can’t see a VW without seeing the smile. But otherwise, nope, not me 
I am better about this now that I’m older, but only because I rationalize with myself… the gut instinct is still there: I will anthropomorphize ANYTHING and then I’ll start feeling guilty about not treating it appropriately. Like getting worried about hurting the toilet paper roll’s feelings if I throw it away when there are still a couple of squares left on it, or making sure that the last few Cheerios floating in the bowl float together so that they don’t get lonely and scared.
Now, see…I see “grey” as a greenish-yellow gray and “gray” as a much “bluer” gray. Both are cool, but I can use “grey” in a painting with warm colors more easily than “gray.”
Well, you’re obviously wrong.
I totally do that… all the time. And not just with cars. I’ve always done that.
Its weird- reading over this thread, I do so many of these things and ive never really thought about it being abnormal. I dont see colors in numbers or letters but I can feel the personalities, but its not really specific. Also I feel things with months but not with days. Like August is red, May is blue and white. September is lonely. So weird, I never really sat down and though about it until a few days ago when I first learned about Synethesia. I dont think I am a synethsete but I do have some of the qualities.
I totally do the reading thing too by the way. My memory is really weird. I remember in shapes and sizes and letters. Like I have filing cabinets in my head. I just figure its apart of having a photgraphic memory.
Anyway, I really like hearing about this. Its fascinating.
I definitely don’t consider my memory to be photographic - I’d probably have done a lot better on some tests if it were. But it does seem to be extremely visual. I do know that I freak many people out with it. I had a boss (best boss in the world he was) who at first could not fathom my memory. We had a great working relationship - we always said I was the Radar to his Henry. He always got a kick out of the fact that I never needed a notebook in our meetings - he’d rattle off all kinds of information, different meeting dates, project notes, reports he wanted, changes that needed to be made, and I’d nod and agree. And I never forgot. The first few times he was skeptical, but after seeing that I really did remember it all, he stopped expressing his doubts.
The great thing about our Radar/Henry relationship was the ability to completely wig out other people, as well as ourselves. We’d be sitting in a meeting with several developers, project managers, etc. At some point in the meeting, he’d stop, and just look at me, and I’d rattle off a number - 2488, for example. He’d dial it on the conference phone and have some person join the conference. All this without words - just based on the conversation up to that point, and my knowledge of him and his thought process, I’d know why he stopped, who he wanted to call, and the extension for that person. It never failed to drop jaws. Other things like me heading into his office with a report that he hadn’t asked for yet, as he was picking up the phone to call me to ask for it. Nothing psychic, just a really great synergy. Man, I miss working for him.
Well, duh. Everyone knows that. But no worries. 5 watches over 4 like an older sibling.
featherlou - Yeah, you summarized it far better than me. (About the difference between synths and non-synths). Everyone’s brains sort of works that way, but most folks learn to ignore the extra associations as they get older.
OpalCat and Kalhoun… Opal’s greys are correct. “Grey” is definitely the bluey one. If you look in a Pantone book, “grey” would be like Cool Grey 10 and “gray” is more like “Warm Gray 10.”
(Of course the Pantone book spells “grey” the same throughout. Details! Details!)
I have the freaky memory thing going. I once (ONCE!) read the cards to Trivial Pursuit when I was 16. To this day my family will not play TP with me - it’s been 20 years, people!! I also remember books by page. It was a great help in studying.
And I have the color/smell thing. In the 5th or 6th grade, when we were learning “The Miracle Worker”, our teacher gave us the question “How would you describe the color Blue to someone who’s blind?” She intended it to be some big mind-opening debate. Not for me… “Blue is cool and smooth, and smells like a new Barbie doll.” I was amazed that colors didn’t have smells and textures for everyone.
Lessee…
Blue - cool and smooth, smells like new vinyl.
Red - sharp and warm, smells like leather.
Green - nubby and warm, smells like toluene (kinda like a sweet nail polish remover).
Yellow - soft and cool, smells like orange oil.
Orange - hard and hot, smells like alcohol.
Purple - prickly and cold, smells like snow. (Whaddaya mean, snow doesn’t have a smell?)
White - furry and warm, smells like rain on a hot day.
And I’ve always been able to read music. Even changing the clef didn’t bother me, even at a young age. I don’t have perfect pitch, but I have learned pitch (or conditioned). My boss came in here earlier humming a note - he’s in training today and the teacher is using a bell. “What’s this note?” “Well, B or Bb depending.” He was actually a 1/4 step below B.
WHAT!?!? You are so totally smoking crack! Vinyl smells yellow. Duuuh! :smack:
Anyone who takes enough LSD or other psychoactive drug can experience this with very vivid intensity. I’ve had several trips where I could hear colors and see sounds. And when I say vivid I mean in-your-face-the-whole-world-moving vivid. I’ve experienced colors and sounds I never knew existed in that state.