About synesthesia
Since you found our site, I suppose you already know what synesthesia is. We wont bother you with the general information. However, there are a few misunderstandings about synesthesia that we want to set right.
Is synesthesia a disease?
No. To call synesthesia a disease would be an act of ignorance. It's classified as "psycho-neurological condition". Scientists agree that it's nothing more or less than an alternative way of perceiving the world, which most synesthetes describe as something they would never want to get rid of. You won't find synesthesia in any pathology book, nor in any list of psychological/personality disorders.
It is true that, in some cases, synesthesia can cause an overstimulated feeling or unpleasant responses. But everyone smells something unpleasant or sees something ugly from time to time, which are not reasons to get rid of your sense of smell or sight.
Do synesthetes have supernatural powers?
On many (less informed) sites, you'll find statements like "Synesthetes are prone to experiences like deja vu, clairvoyance, precognitive dreams and portentousness."
The truth is, everyone has experiences like this once in a while. They are the product of coincidence and our imagination. Synesthesia is scientifically examined and proven. There is nothing supernatural about it.
You will also hear about seeing "auras". Again, this has nothing to do with pseudoscience. These are not auras that can show the mood of a person, or anything similar. It's a synesthesia type called "personality->color synesthesia", where localizers/projectors can see an aura/glow/mist around a person. The color is always the same, since it depend on the personality and not the person's internal feelings.
Do synesthetes see colors everywhere?
No. Well, not always. There is a huge number of colored synesthesiae, but color isn't ivolved in every synesthesia. There are synesthetes who see music, but only as shapes without colors, or people with Ordinal Linguistic Personification, who have personalities for letters, but no colors.
It is also incorrect to assume that synesthetes actually see those colors. Most synesthetes are associators (non-localizers) which means that they only see the color in their mind's eye. To understand synesthesia, take a black-and-white picture of a banana, for example. Even though the banana is grey, you know that it actually should be yellow.
On the other side, there are the projectors (localizers) who actually see the colors (or other responses) projected into the space around them. This turns music into a moving piece of abstract art, or reading a book into a colorful experience.
Note: all synesthetes can tell the difference between reality and their synesthetic responses. Sometimes, they don't realize their responses at all, unless they pay attention to them. It's like a heartbeat - you don't hear it all the time unless someone brings it up.
Is synesthesia a disease?
No. To call synesthesia a disease would be an act of ignorance. It's classified as "psycho-neurological condition". Scientists agree that it's nothing more or less than an alternative way of perceiving the world, which most synesthetes describe as something they would never want to get rid of. You won't find synesthesia in any pathology book, nor in any list of psychological/personality disorders.
It is true that, in some cases, synesthesia can cause an overstimulated feeling or unpleasant responses. But everyone smells something unpleasant or sees something ugly from time to time, which are not reasons to get rid of your sense of smell or sight.
Do synesthetes have supernatural powers?
On many (less informed) sites, you'll find statements like "Synesthetes are prone to experiences like deja vu, clairvoyance, precognitive dreams and portentousness."
The truth is, everyone has experiences like this once in a while. They are the product of coincidence and our imagination. Synesthesia is scientifically examined and proven. There is nothing supernatural about it.
You will also hear about seeing "auras". Again, this has nothing to do with pseudoscience. These are not auras that can show the mood of a person, or anything similar. It's a synesthesia type called "personality->color synesthesia", where localizers/projectors can see an aura/glow/mist around a person. The color is always the same, since it depend on the personality and not the person's internal feelings.
Do synesthetes see colors everywhere?
No. Well, not always. There is a huge number of colored synesthesiae, but color isn't ivolved in every synesthesia. There are synesthetes who see music, but only as shapes without colors, or people with Ordinal Linguistic Personification, who have personalities for letters, but no colors.
It is also incorrect to assume that synesthetes actually see those colors. Most synesthetes are associators (non-localizers) which means that they only see the color in their mind's eye. To understand synesthesia, take a black-and-white picture of a banana, for example. Even though the banana is grey, you know that it actually should be yellow.
On the other side, there are the projectors (localizers) who actually see the colors (or other responses) projected into the space around them. This turns music into a moving piece of abstract art, or reading a book into a colorful experience.
Note: all synesthetes can tell the difference between reality and their synesthetic responses. Sometimes, they don't realize their responses at all, unless they pay attention to them. It's like a heartbeat - you don't hear it all the time unless someone brings it up.
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