Any Fellow Synesthetes?

[museofdoom]

I have a mental condition (although the word condition has kind of a negative connotation)called Synesthesia. So to me, every letter and number appears to be a specific color, sounds also have colors, and I find that I see people's voices as shapes as well as colors. Also, in my mind, days of the week have very specific personalities. I don't really like calling it a condition because I feel like that makes it a bad thing, when it really isn't. It doesn't affect how I function at all, I just see things in odd ways.

It's a funny thing to have because I wasn't even aware it wasn't normal until like 2nd grade when I was talking to my mom about how I remembered how to spell "create" on a spelling test because the colors of the letters reminded me of a sunset, which obviously didn't make much sense to her..

I don't really know where I was going with this little ramble, I just kind of thought it was an interesting subject. So feel free to post thoughts, or experiences

 

[Adellebella]

I have a mental condition (although the word condition has kind of a negative connotation)called Synesthesia. So to me, every letter and number appears to be a specific color, sounds also have colors, and I find that I see people's voices as shapes as well as colors. Also, in my mind, days of the week have very specific personalities. I don't really like calling it a condition because I feel like that makes it a bad thing, when it really isn't. It doesn't affect how I function at all, I just see things in odd ways.

It's a funny thing to have because I wasn't even aware it wasn't normal until like 2nd grade when I was talking to my mom about how I remembered how to spell "create" on a spelling test because the colors of the letters reminded me of a sunset, which obviously didn't make much sense to her..

I don't really know where I was going with this little ramble, I just kind of thought it was an interesting subject. So feel free to post thoughts, or experiences

That's really interesting. I'm curious what the personalities are?

 

[museofdoom]

That's really interesting. I'm curious what the personalities are?

Sunday: Prim and proper young lady who carries herself in an aristocratic manner. She is secretly very lonely and sad.

Monday: Shy and awkward boy who avoids social situations and hates parties but he's observant of other people.

Tuesday: An energetic man with a passion for learning new things. He spends a lot of time reading non-fiction books. Some people find him to be rather odd.

Wednesday: The type of person who likes to hear himself talk. He's the businessman you see at the airport talking on a bluetooth headset. Also, the type of person that says "knock knock" after they have already entered your room or office. He is very irritating.

Thursday: A brooding and cynical man. He is very intelligent and is very stuck up about it. He has the "I am holier than thou" air about him.

Friday: Overly bubbly, and a bit on the stupid side. She is also very clumsy. She's nice enough but most people can only take her in small doses.

Saturday: Very catty teenage girl. She lashes out at people for no real reason. She is actually covering the fact that she is very weak and vulnerable and has a looming self hatred.

 

[Pimppeter2]

My girlfriend has this, I find it really interesting. I love hearing her talk about what colors or shapes she sees in voices, food, or even me.

 

[Vault101]

well...when I was younger I kind of assigned genders to numbers (but I dont hink I have what you have)

1,2,4,5, are guys

3,6,7,8,9, are girls

why? no fucking Idea

 

[philosophicalbastard]

I was just watching an anime called Canaan in which the main character had synesthesia. That anime being the first I've heard of it, I wasn't sure whether it was real or not, thanks to this thread I now know the truth.

Giving the days of the week personalities reminds me of this thing I used to do with the numbers 1-10 when i was first learning them. I constructed this little narrative filled with betrayal, sacrifice, war, and friendship to explain how the numbers added and subtracted from each other.

 

[museofdoom]

well...when I was younger I kind of assigned genders to numbers (but I dont hink I have what you have)

1,2,4,5, are guys

3,6,7,8,9, are girls

why? no fucking Idea

That's kind of funny, because to me 1, 2, 4, and 5 have more masculine colors while 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9 have more feminine colors. So perhaps your genders are right!

 

[StriderShinryu]

I have heard about this before, but can't say I experience it beyond the sort of obvious type associations that everyone makes. I think it would actually be quite an interesting "condition" to have.

 

[Vault101]

well...when I was younger I kind of assigned genders to numbers (but I dont hink I have what you have)

1,2,4,5, are guys

3,6,7,8,9, are girls

why? no fucking Idea

That's kind of funny, because to me 1, 2, 4, and 5 have more masculine colors while 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9 have more feminine colors. So perhaps your genders are right!

I do also vaugly remember colurs and even personalities...not just for numbers but mabye other things

but thats the only thing I really remeber lcearly

 

[LightspeedJack]

That's really interesting. I'm curious what the personalities are?

Sunday: Prim and proper young lady who carries herself in an aristocratic manner. She is secretly very lonely and sad.

Monday: Shy and awkward boy who avoids social situations and hates parties but he's observant of other people.

Tuesday: An energetic man with a passion for learning new things. He spends a lot of time reading non-fiction books. Some people find him to be rather odd.

Wednesday: The type of person who likes to hear himself talk. He's the businessman you see at the airport talking on a bluetooth headset. Also, the type of person that says "knock knock" after they have already entered your room or office. He is very irritating.

Thursday: A brooding and cynical man. He is very intelligent and is very stuck up about it. He has the "I am holier than thou" air about him.

Friday: Overly bubbly, and a bit on the stupid side. She is also very clumsy. She's nice enough but most people can only take her in small doses.

Saturday: Very catty teenage girl. She lashes out at people for no real reason. She is actually covering the fact that she is very weak and vulnerable and has a looming self hatred.

The funny thing is I can't say I view the world in the same way you do but if the days had personalities this is totally what they would be. I guess the personality is derived from the type of mood most people feel on this day of the week. Interesting stuff indeed.

 

[Oirish_Martin]

The composer Liszt was a synaesthete, iirc.

There's an apocryphal story that he once instructed an orchestra: "Please, gentlemen, a little bluer if you please. This key demands it."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_with_synesthesia

 

[HardkorSB]

I have a mental condition (although the word condition has kind of a negative connotation)called Synesthesia. So to me, every letter and number appears to be a specific color, sounds also have colors, and I find that I see people's voices as shapes as well as colors. Also, in my mind, days of the week have very specific personalities. I don't really like calling it a condition because I feel like that makes it a bad thing, when it really isn't. It doesn't affect how I function at all, I just see things in odd ways.

It's a funny thing to have because I wasn't even aware it wasn't normal until like 2nd grade when I was talking to my mom about how I remembered how to spell "create" on a spelling test because the colors of the letters reminded me of a sunset, which obviously didn't make much sense to her..

I don't really know where I was going with this little ramble, I just kind of thought it was an interesting subject. So feel free to post thoughts, or experiences

I don't know if it's the same thing (probably not and this is just some stupid thing that I do) but I associate certain music with certain colors in my head.
For example:

This is silver :

This is orange with occasional red popping up:

This is purple:

Also, when I think of certain people (usually people I know personally), the images in my head are color-themed as well.

Since we're talking about mental conditions, I have/had a few strange ones.
In primary school (and to an extent in high school) I've had this "problem" where I couldn't step on the spaces between paving stones. It was really irritating. I sometimes had to take a longer road somewhere because the stones on some sidewalk were too small and I couldn't avoid the cracks Stupid, right? I sometimes get this "voice in my head" that still tells me to do that but I've learned to ignore it.
I've also had this thing where if, for example, I brushed my shoulder against something, I had to brush my opposite shoulder in the same spot.
Last one I'll mention, whenever I meet someone I know on the street, after we go our separate ways, I have to sing or hum something. Not that I like to, I HAVE TO.
No real relation between the color thing and the others (I think) but I thought I'll share it with the rest of the class.
There are more but I'll stop there (not that I'm ashamed of them, I just have to go to sleep).

So in short, I'm pretty messed up
Then again,

Anyone else would like to share their... weird stuff?

 

[Chemical Alia]

I am. I've met a few other people online with this, but unfortunately never in person. I see colors with letters, Arabic numbers, and Chinese numbers, the same as you. I also see colors with musical pitches, and because of this, I have perfect pitch. I can pick out individual notes, notes in a chord or song, and determine key signatures without a reference. The only thing that occasionally screws me up is with certain instrument combinations, because instrument sounds themselves also carry colors.

I don't see it as a good or bad thing, either. It's never been particularly useful, but if anything it's gotten in the way of my enjoyment of music because I can't keep my brain from constantly analyzing the notes I hear. I don't listen to much music. :C

 

[museofdoom]

Snip!

When I hear songs, I see a wide range of colors, not just one. For instance, anything by Mumford & Sons will appear in earthy colors with tinges of yellow. It kind of looks like a watercolor painting in my head. I also see shapes when I hear people talk. Like, I heard a Welsh person speak once, and I immediately thought that he had a very "round" voice. Whereas a Scottish accent tends to appear in square or rhombus shapes. haha it's really odd.

As for those other quirks you described, those are common in people with obsessive compulsive disorder. (not to say you have it or anything) I was just learning about this in my psychology class the other day. I have quirks like, I have to keep my closet doors closed when I sleep, or the blinds on the windows in my room have to be closed during the day no matter what haha

haha "We're all quite mad here, you'll fit right in!" - Relevant Alice in Wonderland quote.

 

[JaceArveduin]

That's really interesting. I'm curious what the personalities are?

Sunday: Prim and proper young lady who carries herself in an aristocratic manner. She is secretly very lonely and sad.

Monday: Shy and awkward boy who avoids social situations and hates parties but he's observant of other people.

Tuesday: An energetic man with a passion for learning new things. He spends a lot of time reading non-fiction books. Some people find him to be rather odd.

Wednesday: The type of person who likes to hear himself talk. He's the businessman you see at the airport talking on a bluetooth headset. Also, the type of person that says "knock knock" after they have already entered your room or office. He is very irritating.

Thursday: A brooding and cynical man. He is very intelligent and is very stuck up about it. He has the "I am holier than thou" air about him.

Friday: Overly bubbly, and a bit on the stupid side. She is also very clumsy. She's nice enough but most people can only take her in small doses.

Saturday: Very catty teenage girl. She lashes out at people for no real reason. She is actually covering the fact that she is very weak and vulnerable and has a looming self hatred.

That's rather awesome, I'm a mix of Monday and Thursday. Shy'ish time guy who's obvservant and dislikes social activities while also rather cynical at times. I like to think I'm intelligent, but it all depends on who's scale you're using.

 

[Logiclul]

Weird stuff.. okay well here's what I got:

I think about everything. Often times just for the briefest of moments, but it is still there. This is annoying because I notice many things. I see stupid pointless attirbutes, like some mud on someones' shoe, a few pieces of hair on someones' hood that looks too short/long for their hair, and then go through a series of thought processes to determine what I've learned from that.

This results in me knowing a lot of useless facts, often about people I care about and know, and I have a couple times figured that I've just accidentally realized some pretty personal stuff about people.

But back to the hearing, I end up picking up on small inconsistencies with what I normally hear walking down a hallway, or more frequently what people are saying. Even when I'm engaged in a conversation or problem, I am consciously aware of it.

I don't tell any of my friends since it is a pointless thing to do, and if anything just makes them feel like they have less privacy around me when I'm very reliable and honest.

I mean, it has helped me in basketball a bit, but for the most part it is a distraction. I make a very big point of trying to not miss a beat because of it, and even trying to use it to some sort of social advantage, but the former is still effort, and the latter is pointless.

Glad to have told that to someone, even if they're anonymous.

 

[Wushu Panda]

I have a mental condition (although the word condition has kind of a negative connotation)called Synesthesia. So to me, every letter and number appears to be a specific color, sounds also have colors, and I find that I see people's voices as shapes as well as colors. Also, in my mind, days of the week have very specific personalities. I don't really like calling it a condition because I feel like that makes it a bad thing, when it really isn't. It doesn't affect how I function at all, I just see things in odd ways.

It's a funny thing to have because I wasn't even aware it wasn't normal until like 2nd grade when I was talking to my mom about how I remembered how to spell "create" on a spelling test because the colors of the letters reminded me of a sunset, which obviously didn't make much sense to her..

I don't really know where I was going with this little ramble, I just kind of thought it was an interesting subject. So feel free to post thoughts, or experiences

Thats probably the most badass "condition" that has ever existed. Ive heard of it before, seeing a few things on TV of people whose mind associates each letter with a specific color. Honestly, youre lucky. You get to see the world differently in a natural way.

I wish I had this. Instead I have a number of other psychoses and problems. Least being my mild dyslexia. Words and paragraphs dont always stay still on the page, i tend to read number sequences backwards, and my brain fabricates one word into a similar looking other word every now and then.

They say reality is all about how you perceive it. Have you ever recorded what you see? A journal of some kind?

 

[Dango]

No, I do have a very strong sense of mental association though, so I'll say things taste, smell, feel and hear like certain colors, shades, or shapes.

 

[Chefodeath]

That's really interesting. I'm curious what the personalities are?

Sunday: Prim and proper young lady who carries herself in an aristocratic manner. She is secretly very lonely and sad.

Monday: Shy and awkward boy who avoids social situations and hates parties but he's observant of other people.

Tuesday: An energetic man with a passion for learning new things. He spends a lot of time reading non-fiction books. Some people find him to be rather odd.

Wednesday: The type of person who likes to hear himself talk. He's the businessman you see at the airport talking on a bluetooth headset. Also, the type of person that says "knock knock" after they have already entered your room or office. He is very irritating.

Thursday: A brooding and cynical man. He is very intelligent and is very stuck up about it. He has the "I am holier than thou" air about him.

Friday: Overly bubbly, and a bit on the stupid side. She is also very clumsy. She's nice enough but most people can only take her in small doses.

Saturday: Very catty teenage girl. She lashes out at people for no real reason. She is actually covering the fact that she is very weak and vulnerable and has a looming self hatred.

I always knew there was a reason I liked Thursdays.

 

[craftomega]

Yay for random brain stuff!

Do you wanna know what cold feels like? It feels Red and White. How about Smooth silk, yay for Purple, Blue, and everything in-between.

Yay for Synesthesia. The gift that keeps on being annoying.