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)
Links to Synesthesia
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The
infinite mind:Synesthesia
Dictionary
of types of synesthesia
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http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues01/feb01/synesthesia.html
http://www.ncu.edu.tw/~daysa/syn-arch/syn-arch.html
I propose to create new test methods for "ordinary" people to uncover the synesthetic experience in them.The tests would feature the most common synesthetic experiences such as colored and shapelike hearing, colored letters and numbers, and emotion towards letters and numbers.
The purpose of the test methods would be primarily educational.
The tests for the synesthetic experience could lead individuals to the appreciation of uncommon sensual possibilities outside of our fixed sensual perception of reality.
The tests would consist of sound, letter and number samples which would be given to individuals prior to the presentation of synesthesia in order to gain unbiased results.