Skittles
Which of your senses would you least like to lose? We've all probably gotten that question before, and it's a tough one. But, I'd like to instead think about a happier scenario, inspired by a cool word I ran across the other day: synaesthesia. Synaesthesia is a condition in which a person experiences a mixing of the senses. For example, in one of the most common cases of synaesthesia, people will associate certain letters of the alphabet with certain colors (so maybe R is orange and T is green). Another (very strange) instance is that some people can "taste" different tactile sensations (for example, a smooth surface might generate a sweeter taste sensation than a jagged surface does). Yes, it's all very weird...but I think that it's very, very cool.
I was thinking about which forms of synaesthesia might be most appealing to me. I think that I'd like to see colors for musical chords. Those colors can be based on either: the root of the chord (yay for a way to develop perfect pitch), the chord's name in relation to the key of the piece (this one is most preferable to me), or the type of chord (diminished, first inversion major, etc.).
Imagine how the world might be if we could combine some of our senses. Maybe we could use the ability in some practical, non-geeky ways. We might be able to hear upset facial expressions. Or we might see red when we hear a bit of stress in a friend's voice, but see yellow when we hear our same friend speak with conviction. Or something. But, then again, do we really need extra senses to be attuned to the people around us in the world? Or are the senses we have sufficient?
Wikipedia has a good description of synaesthesia here. And the article even includes lots of fun tidbits, such as the relation of synaesthesia to written language (for you linguistics nerds), how synaesthesia has influenced the music of various composers, and some first-person accounts of this strange condition.
posted by Katie @ 1:36 AM
6 Comments:
Skittles... taste the rainbow :) Would that be the sense you would be afraid to lose the most? the ability to taste dark chocolate and skittles and the likes... I guess that wasn't a fair question, very interesting though :)
I've heard of that before... I've always wondered about the logistics of it. I mean, does someone who sees red for the letter "A" also see the letter A when they see the color red? Does someone who sees smells do so by seeing a colored wave or mark, or do they just think it? (Perfume, for example--does someone see a pink splash on a woman's wrist, see a pink cloud, or just smell it and think, "That smells pink"?)
Yi, in response to your question...I have to say that it would be tragic to lose the ability to taste chocolate. :) But, perhaps surprisingly, I think that I'd rather lose that than say, my sight or hearing. Hmm...I wonder if anyone can hear chocolate? Now there's a deep thought to ponder late at night. :)
LOL, isn't the brain fascinating!? I think if I had to lose a sense I would lose my sense of taste (part of "taste" is from scent and texture anyways).
Your entry made me think of aphasia (there's lots of different types: Broca, Wernicke, anomic, conduction, global, etc.), and unilateral neglect (where after a stroke in the non-dominant side of the brain, the patient neglects half of his/her body - i.e. put on a sweater but only put 1 of the arms through the sleeve, only comb half of his/her hair, etc.)
FYI Onelook is a neat little online dictionary site that searchs nearly 1000 different online dictionaries. ^_^
I wish I could augment the greatest sense of them all - taste. Whether it is tasting colours, music, or paintings... it would be wonderful.
If you don't possess the synaesthesia trait, I guess you could just imagine a trombone solo played in orange or your friend's face turning yellow and laugh at the oddity. All it takes is a beautiful mind.
Okay, turn about is fair play. Time for you to update. :)
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