Do you see numbers in colours? What about letters?
If you're reading that and you haven't figured out what I mean, then I'm guessing you don't. What I asked didn't make sense to you, right?
Well, to me it made a lot of sense. If someone asked me that I would know exactly what they were talking about. You see, I see numbers and letters in colours. I think it's something I've always done, and up until a couple of mouse years ago I never questioned this, assuming everyone else did the same. Then I discovered that not many people actually do. Most people I asked would stare at me blankly and get confused while I struggled to explain it. Then they would think about it. Then they would answer, "Err... no." I have only ever met one other person who can do it- Rebecca- but she's a special case in that she taught herself to see the colours while at uni.
By now you're thinking, "Desperado has lost the plot." I never had the plot. Anyway, let me explain what normally happens to me. Let's say we examine the word mouse.
You probably see it as:
I see it kind of like:
I don't consciously make the letters and numbers change colour. They just have colour. And the colours are consistent. For example, my favourite number 8 is always green. B is always red. How nice I find a word depends on its colours.
Kallie is awful. Too much yellow and pink. The background is black so you can see the white i.
Rebecca also has too much yellow and pink.
Samantha looks better. I like green.
There is a neurological phenomenon called synesthaesia, where the stimulation of one sensory pathway causes an involuntary experience in another. For instance, some people hear a sound which causes them to see a particular colour. More strangely, some people hear a certain word or phoneme and it causes them to taste things, like the sound f tastes like sherbert. There are many types of synesthaesia. One of the most common is grapheme->colour synesthaesia, where letters and numbers are shaded or tinged with different colours. It is involuntary and the colours are consistent.
I'm not sure, but I don't think I have grapheme->colour synesthaesia. Yes, I don't voluntarily make myself see letters as colours, and yes, the colours are always consistent for particular letters or numbers.
I did a lengthy online test to find out if I had synesthaesia. My score suggested that I have grapheme->colour synesthaesia.
Score:
Synesthaesia: < 1.0
Normal memory/association: around 2
Desperado: 0.54
Accuracy:
Synesthetic: 85-100%
Non-synesthetic: < 85%
Desperado: 98.61%
I'm still not convinced. It still might have been a memory thing. If I do have synesthaesia I must not have it strongly. It doesn't affect my life in any way, and unless I'm paying attention most of the time I don't even notice that the black letters are coloured. Possibly I just associate letters with colours. Maybe Sesame Street's letter of the week had a big impact on me as a kid.
Regardless, it's still pretty cool and interesting. So, what colour is the letter A to you? =)
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