Week #1 The Magic of Synesthesia
J Burns -
Imagine that, with every spoken word, you could see written transcripts of what was spoken, kind of like live captions that you can’t turn off. This is a common form of synesthesia. For many, this, and countless other sensory phenomena, are real.
Hello. My name is J Burns, and I’m researching different types of synesthesia, how they’re produced on a physiological level, and how those types alter self perception. I will also be studying how synesthetes are perceived by the rest of the world.
This topic is interesting to me because of how unique it is to each person. Even within groups of people that have similar types, there are distinct differences. For example, in the frequent color grapheme type, people will share the experience, yet they will have different associations and different impacted characters of the alphabet.
It is fairly difficult to conclusively say that any person has synesthesia because there isn’t a diagnostic process. Some studies have gauged how likely a person is to have synesthesia by how consistently they respond to stimuli and report how they perceive it.
It is also a literary strategy. Many classics employ this strategy because of how profound it is.
Another reason for which I chose this topic is because I have often wondered if I have synesthesia. Certain noises produce painful sensations to me and, more recently, I began to experience aromas when I felt particular emotions. Both of these kinds are less frequent among synesthetes so it prompted more research.
I’m hoping for more engagement among the community of synesthetes including interviews and, eventually, some answers for why these things occur.
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