Synesthesia - Show me your numbers & alphabet, you freaks!

[Anew Leaf]

I associate names, letters, and numbers with colors.

My first name is a dark forest green, my middle name is fresh spring green.

When I (briefly) learned to play guitar I began associating the chords with the colors of what the name was. A is always shades of blue for me, E is always shades of green, C is always some kind of yellow, etc.

 

[OrangeAppled]

I used to have color synesthesia when I was younger, but don't anymore. I have always had number form synesthesia, though. I see the numbers 1-100 on a specific "path" in my head that winds around and climbs as the numbers get higher.

My uncle, whom I've typed as INTP, has described a similar way of viewing numbers. He sees rows of them going by in a path, and in the context of say, solving a math problem, he feels like he's picking a number out these rows.

I considered INTJ for him at one point because these "visions" seemed like some kind of Ni thing, but increasingly I hear INTPs speak of similar things.

 

[Nomenclature]

It's 10 minutes. If you don't have the patience to watch the whole thing, start at 6:30.

Anyway, yeah, we were talking about this on another forum...
5 is like hay and flax
6 is like crumbling dust... age and rust in general
7 is patent leather in a deep blue-violet color. Almost like those "glossy" icons

etc. I'm not synesthetic strictly in terms of senses, but I do have some odd associations and mental imagery, and I do physically feel certain images.

 

[entropie]

I dont see numbers nor letters

 

[Valiant]

I dont see numbers nor letters

+1, we're both too drunk I suppose...

 

[entropie]

+1, we're both too drunk I suppose...

The sad thing is I am really drunk, but I got the message

 

[Valiant]

No, actually... I am a synaesthete. Much in the line with Kyuuei, but I don't get the pattern thing easily. Mine is more associated with sound/words/feelings/visualizing and people.
Like a person can be a maelstrom of blackness that devours the whole room. I don't "see" see it, I just feel it and see it for my inner eye. It does not obscure my vision or anything.
Similarly, some people can shine like the sun, or anything in between. I also associate personalities with texture, somehow. Like some people are clearly polished/reflective, while others are dull/matte.
Words definitely have colors, feelings and (obviously) sounds. Some are just... "out there"... But others are indeed logical choices, like the fact that I associate the word "grenadier" with red, white and blue. French uniform.
Had a bunch of napoleonic wars toy soldiers as a kid. They couldn't find any english soldiers to fight, so they often participated in pitched battles against indians or knights... "Indians" as in native americans have the color of a moonlit sky night dark blue and arizona rock red.
More instinctive and not learned colors is the unhealthy variant of ESTJ 8w7, they appear yellow to me, and not in a shiny way. More in a feverish way. I really avoid those people like the plague.

"White" (don't quote me out of context) people are pretty damn irritating as well. Boring-conservative, cold-eyed and they drain my energy just by being close.
"Red" people are those over-enthusiastic people who can't interpret me properly and can't give up in trying to convince me to do something that I don't want to do. Unhealthy ESFP/ESTP, I think.
"Gray" people... Well, guess. They're boring, small-minded, sort of kind but it doesn't have any depth... It's more out of tradition and such. Can't place a single type to that, but some sort of dysfunctional SJ.
"maelstrom-black" are just plain unhealthy people. Those who are so apparent that it hurts. They're actually pretty common. I think it's more a state of mind than a personality.
"Green" people... I hardly ever meet those, but I like the ones I find. I am one myself. Green has nothing to do with peace, just naturalistic. It has an earthen tone. More blue-green people like Amargith/Satine/Vala Faye/etc are more peaceful, but akin to "my" type.
"Orange" people, normally ENFJs, are awesome and energetic. Gotta love that intensity! Some ESFJs have this too, but they can also be of the boring gray or white variety.

I could go on all day trying to explain this crap. I thought everyone did this just a couple of years ago. It's just natural for me and I don't even think about the fact that i'm doing it.
It probably makes stuff easier to remember for me. Helps my intuition along. Stuff. You know?

 

[Jade Curtiss]

I generally have a stronger association with numbers as opposed to letters, to the point where they bring vivid, sometimes multiple images to mind. As for colors, they generally look like this at first thought:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

1 is loosely connected to gold.
2 appears red on top and blue on the bottom, and brings to mind an image of two shadowy figures in the distance on a reddened, rocky mesa at sunset.
3 is purely yellow, and brings to mind an image of a stereotypical magician on a red curtained stage doing tricks.
4 is ocean blue, and brings to mind an image of the ocean surface seen from underwater with the ripples refracting sunlight above. It also occasionally brings to mind a long, ancient valley with four ancient statues forming the corners of the valley.
5 is yellow.
6 is deep green, yet brings to mind an image of a coat of arms consisting of a red/silver shield and longsword crossed and hung on an icy wall in a frozen cave with braziers among the tunnels.
7 is yellow-gold and sometimes brings to mind an image of golden gates in the clouds.
8 is black, or very dark wine red at times.
9 doesn't have any color, but brings to mind the image of the 9 members of the fellowship outlined as shadows against the evening sky traveling to the left in a line.

As for letters, I only see a handful as having certain colors:
B
C
E
F
H (probably because of hay)
I Reminds me of a cutting edge technology corporation building.
J
L
M Reminds me of a stereotypical wizard (starry pointed hat and all) on a rock in the ocean controlling the waves with a wand.
P
V
Y

I never realized until now how many of my color associations were yellow…

 

[Jessica]

I experience music as varying visual phenomena. Something along the lines of, entire albums have their own 'color'. Someone can say the title of the album and the album is in my mind assigned a color automatically. The colors represent progression, aggression, early material, late material, and so on. Individual songs are also assigned their own colors automatically, based on different elements they have in their music: if a song is jazzy and dark, yet silly, it will have a different color than one that is jazzy and dark, but satanic or something. I also experience individual instruments as being colored, but they're more represented by lines moving in different ways and distortion to go along with the music, sometimes converging, sometimes not... the lines have different colors and change colors through songs.

 

[redcheerio]

I don't know if this is synesthesia, but to me letters and numbers have personalities based on their shapes reminding me of facial expressions or body positions. Like, 2 and 4 are wimpy, but 1, 9, M and Z are badass cool. 6 is sunny but naive; 8, R and Y are stoic and dignified.

OK, so like I said before, this is similar to mine except I have different interpretations, which I'll expand on now.

2 - shy

3 - giggling in a bit of a sly way, more sly for the 3's with the flat bar on top (like [MENTION=9602]YWIR[/MENTION] 's avatar!)

4 - devilish

5 - shy and smiling over the shoulder

6 - playful, excited, beckoning over the shoulder to come and join for some mischief, a bit like this but with twitching eyebrows and a closed-mouth smile

7 - standing proper, dignified, like a soldier

8 - cute, bouncy, looking straight on with a smile

9 - also smiling and playful, similar to [MENTION=227]ThatsWhatHeSaid[/MENTION] 's avatar

a - laughing
e - sly smile
o - like when you make an "o" with your mouth

I could go on, but I don't want to bore you, and I'm

 

[Catharsis]

This is really interesting. I don't think I'm a synaesthete, but there are sounds and numbers which are intimately associated with certain shapes and colors. The numbers of the enneagram for example:

1: White
2: Lighter shade of red
3: Light blue
4: Deep purple
5: A sort of brown, reminiscent of rust
6: Silver
7: Pink
8: Crimson
9: Green

And combinations:

1w9: White/green
1w2: White/red
2w1: Red/white
2w3: Red/blue
3w2: Blue/red
3w4: Blue/yellow
4w3: Deep blue
4w5: Purple/yellow
5w4: Pale and matte shade of yellow
5w6: "Rusty" brown
6w5: Brown
6w7: Gray/pink
7w6: Pink
7w8: Red
8w7: Crimson with gold linings
8w9: Red/green
9w8: Green/red
9w1: Green/white

 

[21%]

I only have strong associations for some letters:

A -- bright red or reddish purple
B -- dark blue or violet
C -- yellow
D -- purple or pink
E -- MUST be green
F -- MUST be light-ish blue
G -- pink or orange
H -- brown
I -- white or silver
J -- red or purple
K -- orange
L -- very pale green or yellow
M -- any color that belongs in the night sky
N -- murky pastel pink or purple or blue
O -- (no impression)
P -- orange
Q -- orange or brown
R -- white or purple
S -- red and sharp
T -- boring metal color
U -- grey
V -- 'bright and shiny'
W -- brown or orange
X -- metallic silver
Y -- some sort of green or grey
Z -- patterned


My culture color-codes days of the week (according to the corresponding planets and star), so I was shocked when I learned that the rest of the world didn't think the same way
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

 

[CuriousFeeling]

Here's Mine:

 

[Critical Hit]

It interesting that A is always red.

 

[Critical Hit]

Also could any Music synesthesiacs tell me what this song does for you:

[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIAWzF5sJcM"]Bungle[/YOUTUBE]

Just curious.

 

[Alea_iacta_est]

Synesthesia

So, last night, I was thinking about how I had different color associations to each number and letter, and I remembered something called synesthesia. I posted about it on the random thought thread and found out that I probably have it. I have one of the more common forms, which is grapheme-color synesthesia. This form of synesthesia means that when I think of numbers, letters, or words in my head (I don't see the colors imprinted on the external world though, that's for more prominent cases), I have a color associated with each of them. If you have involuntary associations of colors with numbers, such as when you think of the number 3, you automatically see the figure of 3 in green, then you might have synesthesia. I like to think of the colors as instinctual knowledge.

I thought this thread would be a cool place for some other synesthetes (if any of you are out there) and myself to share what our alphabet, numbers, and other things are associated with.

My alphabet: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

My Numbers: 0 1 (light grey represents white) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

My days of the week (some synesthetes have colors associated with days of the week, I do): Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday (Saturday is actually a much, much darker version than Thursday, this is the only color that comes close to it though) Sunday

Fun Fact: Somewhere between 2.2 to 4.4 percent of the population have some form of synesthesia.

 

[beyondaurora]

I had this more when I was younger. I still have some associations that persist: 1 is white, 2 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. No color association for me with the days of the week, but I label public toilet stalls days of the week (in order of Monday - Sunday, left to right). (I prefer the Thursday stall).

 

[Alea_iacta_est]

I had this more when I was younger. I still have some associations that persist: 1 is white, 2 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. No color association for me with the days of the week, but I label public toilet stalls days of the week (in order of Monday - Sunday, left to right). (I prefer the Thursday stall).

That's hilarious about the stalls XD.

I've realized I have more associations than I thought. Like if I think of a word in my head, if it is a concrete noun, I see the word in the same color as the actual object appears in front of me, e.g. water. If it is an abstract noun, I see the word's color in accordance with the first letter, e.g. belligerence.

Do you have any color associations with the 12 months?

 

[beyondaurora]

I do have a few color associations for certain months, but they seem to be quite related to the holidays within the month or the month's birthstone. In fact, I contemplate that my "synesthesia" is simply a result of the learning tools I was exposed to as a child. Perhaps I had a set of magnetic numbers that were in the colors for which I now hold an association. I haven't explored it much. Just a thought.

 

[Alea_iacta_est]

I do have a few color associations for certain months, but they seem to be quite related to the holidays within the month or the month's birthstone. In fact, I contemplate that my "synesthesia" is simply a result of the learning tools I was exposed to as a child. Perhaps I had a set of magnetic numbers that were in the colors for which I now hold an association. I haven't explored it much. Just a thought.

I think that's where my associations came from too.