The Other Senses

14 Responses

1. Gaaaaah listening to three of you mangle the pronunciation of “proprioception” over and over makes me want to go on a rampage.

   2. +1.

      I figured it was a Canadian thing. I assume a lot of things are Canadian things.

      😉

2. A lot of “x-to-color” synesthetic modalities are protective (as opposed to associative, which means the color is implied rather than seen)- the color is seemingly visually “seen”. I have sound-to-sight syn (among others), which sounds like it’d be awesome. It can be- sitting around listening to music is pretty nice, but mainly because I now know it’s not what happens for everybody and it seems like music would be really boring without syn. But in high-noise environments or crowds it’s hellish, sometimes to an overwhelming degree.

   It’s also worth noting that a lot of personality syns overlap others. For instance, my grapheme-to-color is overlaid with personalities, and my concept of months includes personalities. I actually personalize most objects and letters due to synesthesia.

   1. Which month is the biggest asshole?

3. Kevinsbutt.com doesn’t seem to exist, but http://www.kevinsass.com/ is apparently a PT guy’s page, in Norwegian or Danish.

4. I remember hearing a CBC radio documentary about synesthesia many years ago, and they talked about how we all have it when we are very young, before our senses are fully differentiated. I remember knowing that numbers had personalities: 2 was hardworking, 4 was reckless, and 3 was stuck between them. 7 was a good guy, very supportive. 5 was a nagging bully. 6 was a wimp. 9 was pretty much a self-absorbed prick. 8 worked with him but felt bad about it. Good thing he was strong-willed himself. 1, 2, and 5 were female.
   I remember this, but I certainly don’t feel it anymore. I used to suck at math but I don’t know if the personalities of numbers played a part.
   I liked this show, but I sure wouldn’t use it as an introduction to you guys. Way too much poop talk.

5. The mirror touch synaesthesia made me think of the artificially induced equivalent at the end of A Clockwork Orange, where

   Spoiler Inside	SelectShow

   whatshisname gets violently ill when he witnesses violence [/spoiler-alert].

6. The mirror touch synaesthesia made me think of the artificially induced equivalent at the end of A Clockwork Orange, where (spoiler-alert) whatshisname gets violently ill when he witnesses violence (/spoiler-alert).

7. I think you guys were a bit harsh on that dog study too, btw. The whole thing would have started because someone noticed their dog always seemed to face the same direction when doing its businesses, and some scientists heard the story and figured that it’d be really interesting to know if mammals had any magnetic sense like birds and bees. The dog-crap part was simply a means to an end. And the recordings would have included for each ‘event’ (for want of a better word) the dog direction and local magnetic conditions, so they would have access to how strong the magnetic field was and polarity readings, etc, rather than simply guessing them, which the impression I was left with after your discussion. IMHO.

   Other than that I reckon you guys have done an absolutely amazing job with this mini-series. It’s definitely my favourite. 🙂

   1. I think The Skeptics Guide to the Universe totally shredded the dog poop study.

      1. Okay, I’ll look it up. I just thought it deserved a bit of a defence from what was revealed in the podcast, not knowing anything else about. 🙂

8. Oh look, a synesthesia-based concert! “Just In: Synaesthesia festival brings classical music to light in Hobart
   http://abc.net.au/news/5681584“

   1. Cool. I visited the MONA when I was in Hobart, it was pretty much the first thing I did after I arrived. A big museum full of strange and wonderful things is an excellent treatment for jetlag.
      I still get emails from MONA. Good place, well worth the visit if you’re ever in Hobart.