Someone you know may see the word differently than you. I don’t mean how a colorblind person would see red as grey, or how someone without sight would experience the world through sound. No, I mean, someone will see the world differently because they’re hearing it, or smelling it, as they’re seeing it.
Synesthesia occurs in approximately 1 in 23 people. Sometimes referred to as a “neurological based condition”, synesthesia is basically sensing something in conjunction with another sense. As you know, the five senses are touch, sight, hearing, taste, and smell. The wiring of someone with this condition allows them to see a letter as a color. Or, hear a sound as a flavor. Most common is seeing something like the letter A as the color Red.
The trouble of seeing words as colors is, sometimes words or even math problems end up not being a natural color, and can be confusing. Most people know 1 + 2 = 3. But, let’s say someone with this condition sees 1 as the color blue, 2 as yellow, and 3 as purple. If 1 and 2 mix, they should be green, the mixture of blue and yellow. If 3 isn’t perceived as green, the basic math becomes difficult to wrap your head around.
Just like a blind person may wish they had sight, I sometimes wish I had this ability to experience the world with what I imagine is enhanced sensory perception. As our genetic code is forming us into human beings from birth, one piece of code or environmental impact may cause us to form something that isn’t considered a normal human condition. While some may become a sociopath, others develop useful abilities like child prodigies who can play the violin at the age of nine. It’s my belief that Synesthesia is one such evolutionary improvement on the previous generation. While this ability is considered genetically passed, we have to expect that somewhere down the line it will increase its function. At least, I really hope we’re still evolving.
Tyler Durden wants us to think we are not unique snowflakes, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Each of us may share something with another, and shared that with our ancestors, but when you learn someone has an ability like seeing letters as colors, it really makes you reconsider where human beings are going and where we’ve been.
