[blind-democracy] Synesthesia and the Synesthetic Experience

  • From: "S. Kashdan" <skashdan@xxxxxxx>
  • To: "Blind Democracy List" <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2015 23:52:24 -0800

Hi Miriam,

When people who have been blind since birth or early childhood have asked me
about colors, I have generally told them that the closest I could come to
explaining colors is to tell them what smells and tastes I link with
particular colors. For example, I link bright green with mowed grass, bright
red with tomato, pink with strawberry, pastel purple with lilacs, deep
purple with some hard candies, brown with chocolate, white with milk or
creamcheese, black with burned food or black beans, gray with smoke, blue
with blueberries, etc. I could explain tweed as white rice mixed with black
beans or white rice with specks of burned food in it. For me, this comes
relatively close to describing these colors because I associate them with
these smells and tastes.

Also, we should remembr that other animals, and even some people see in the
infrared or ultraviolet range, in which colors are experienced as somewhat
different from what they look like in the usual human perceived light range,
while most of us do not.

Also, it is possible, although I don't know of any studies of it, that at
least some people who have been blind since birth or a very young age have
re-purposed the part of the brain that usually deals with vision to be
stimulated by other senses in a way that gives them actual internal visual
experiences that they don't necessarily know how to interpret but do
experience, in the same way that someone with Synesthesia experiences visual
stimulation when they taste, smell or hear, etc. If they enjoy what they are
perceiving, no matter how different it is from the sensations that the
majority of people experience, I am not sure it matters.

Synesthesia and the Synesthetic Experience



Accessed January 11, 2007 from



http://web.mit.edu/synesthesia/www/synesthesia.html





syn-es-the-sia n. Physiol. Sensation produced at a point other than

or remote from the point of stimulation, as of a color from hearing a

certain sound (fr. Gk, syn = together + aisthesis = to perceive).



Synesthesia is an involuntary joining in which the real information of one
sense is accompanied by a perception in another sense. In addition to being
involuntary, this additional perception is regarded by the synesthete as
real, often outside the body, instead of imagined in the mind's eye. It also
has some other interesting features that clearly separate it from artistic
fancy or purple prose. Its reality and vividness are what make synesthesia
so interesting in its violation of conventional perception. Synesthesia is
also fascinating because logically it should not be a product of the human
brain, where the evolutionary trend has been for increasing separation of
function anatomically.

R. Cytowic, "Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses" Springer-Verlag, NY (p.1)

This site provides information about the neurological condition called
synesthesia. We hope to give viewers a sense of different synesthetes'
personal perceptual abilities. Equally important, however, is the idea that
a creative person can also use his/her unique synesthetic abilities to make
a living and bring significant contributions to the world. Such talents as
utilized by artists and other creative individuals are highlighted within.
Because there are different forms of synesthesia, many links between the
senses, we have also linked this page to others which communicate the
synesthetic experience in different ways.

* Synesthete Perspectives

Firsthand accounts, audio and text, from selected synesthetes.



http://web.mit.edu/synesthesia/www/perspectives.html



* Virtual Synesthesia

Demos and examples of phenomena like synesthesia.

*

* http://web.mit.edu/synesthesia/www/virtual.html

*

* References and Readings

Books, periodicals, people, and on-line info relating to synesthesia.



http://web.mit.edu/synesthesia/www/syn_refs.html



Please let us know what you think about this site.



http://web.mit.edu/synesthesia/www/feedback.html



This site was made possible by a donation from the Council for the Arts at
MIT. Production and Programming by Oakbog Studios. Thanks to Carol Steen,
Karen Chenausky and Roz Picard for valuable support and opinions throughout
the process.

Last update 7 October 1997 v1.3


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