[hole_n_one]

About 20 years ago, I dropped a sliver of paper in my mouth that was of a purplish color that had the same effect on me.

The colors on the pool table danced.......

[RFP]

"The man has synesthesia" - WRONG! - the man is on LSD. John Lennon and others already discovered this back in the 60s. Listen to the Revolver album.

[Interesting Times]

Here is a good article from Discover on the subject, if anyone is interested.

[scouse]

Famous quote: "I see red people".

[wimpycat]

Maybe one of his parents was on acid when he was conceived. Seriously, though, I don't think this has anything to do with LSD. Some people are just "different".

[rebdov]

The prof. has been taking hits of LSD.

[tubebender]

It won't surprise me if this were prevalent in the population. I know several artist (2 of them were on junkyard wars) and outwardly these people are no different than I am but their brains allow them to "see" differently. I have no concept what something will look like until it's finished.

[ProudGOP]

I wonder what curse words look like.

[Robert_Paulson2]

synesthesians see colors when others see only black and white.

the difference between liberals and conservatives?

[reformed_dem]

I remember reading about this a couple years ago. It's fascinating the way some people's brains are wired. To them, this is normal and they are surprised that everyone doesn't experience the same thing.

[monkeyshine]

Makes me think of CGEB's script.

[lsee]

I wonder if this condition is related to other perception alterations, such as dyslexia or dysgraphia? I also wonder how well his clothes match or if it is only print that alters in color....

[Texas2step]

"Swallowing colors of the sounds I hear...am I such a crazy guy? You bet!"
Ozzy Osborn - Flying High Again

Man, Ozzy had this figured out decades ago!

[M. Thatcher]

My daughter, now 18, has this. When she was little she would talk about it, mentioning observations about words being this color or that color so matter-of-factly -- she really assumed everyone saw/perceived things the same way she did. She was floored when I told her at about 5 or 6 that not everyone saw words in color. Her synesthesia also causes her to "see" people as shapes; they are categorized somehow as "triangles" "ovals" "circles" etc. There are a lot of other areas where one sense blends into another (individual songs are seasons, for instance). It's really interesting. She is extremely bright and creative, and it doesn't seem to affect anything other than as a source of family joshing.

[StriperSniper]

In W.O.'s view, each numeral, except for zero and one, has a color even if printed in black and white.

So these stay black and white? Binary?

[andysandmikesmom]

This is a really interesting article...I have never heard of this before, and it only lends credence to the belief I have, that the brain is a miraculous thing, one about which we understand really very little...I think that the brain is capable of so much potentially, and that we have only begun to tap its resources...

Just seems to me, that people who experience this condition, have brains that are wired differently and are capable of different perceptions..

[RightWhale]

Just for thought:

Is this a newly evolved ability, or a remnant of an early ability from our proto-human ancestors?

[Flipyaforreal]

Cool. I have this to a very mild degree. Since I was very young I always saw numbers as certain colors, esp. 1 thru 10. It expanded to days of the week but that's about it. I never knew there was a name for it! Throw any number my way and I can tell you what color it is (to me at least). It doesn't affect the way I read though, at all, just something in the back of the mind. :)

[mommya]

Wow - this is fascinating stuff. I (like another poster) woder if our ancient ancestors could have had these traits. The article mentioned it being hereditary - could it be that entire groups - or a specific group of people in the past had this condition? Maybe something like this could explain some of things about the lost civilizations we know so little about.

I saw a show once explaining a bit of how LSD worked in the brain, and it had to do with receptors - usually we have some of the receptors or combinations of them open (or on) in our brains, but when on LSD many more receptors and combinations of them are open (or on) allowing us to percieve much more. I have never understood though - is any of it reality - that extra stuff one perceives while on LSD? (I know we could get into a deep discussion of what reality is, but you know what I mean.)

I too would love to experience what these folks are - for just a while anyway.