Re: [microsound] synethesia?

[Brendan Moran <dizfactor@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 7/4/05, Mike Hallenbeck <junior@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Yes, a stimulus activates a sense other than that for which it was
> intended. I think I have it, at least mildly-- all my life certain pitches
> and timbres have had color associations for me, and I finally realized
> that not everyone saw a D as yellow, C as red, etc.
> 

when you look at the letter D, does it actually physically look
yellow? when the letter D is written on a piece of yellow paper, can
you see it at all? if not, you are not a synaesthesiac.

having strong *associations* between letters and numbers or sounds and
specific colors is *not* synaethesia. it's not an association - it's
quite literally the only way you can see or hear something. also,
there's no way to have it "mildly" or to be "a little synaesthesiac."
either you are or you aren't. there are no degrees of synaesthesia.

sorry, i don't mean to be bashing on you. it's just that the overuse
of the word and the misuse of the concept really bugs me, too. a
friend of mine is a synaesthesiac, and he spends a good deal of time
getting tested by perceptual psychologists in labs because he's one of
a relative handful of actual synaesthesiacs.

- b

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