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I've been wondering about the relationship between the Objectivist epistemology and synesthesia. I have a pretty interesting case of synesthesia, where I can almost always match a particular sound, piece of music, or compositional form, with a particular type of texture. For example, whenever I hear a B-flat, I feel a granite counter top in my hands - similar to how Liszt would hear a D and see the color blue. I can't explain this phenomenon that well, but my hands feel this sensation that I can quantify and describe, even though my hands are not touching the object I'm feeling. My form of synesthesia is closest to the personification type, but as far as I know, my condition is rather rare.

Anyway, I'm wondering what type of characterization the seasoned Objectivist would attach to my particular case of synesthesia. My condition, I suppose, hinders my ability to pursue an absolute reality. I know, rationally, that I'm not touching the object I feel when I hear music, and frankly, I find it beautiful that my mind is able to achieve this strange feat. On the other hand, my perceptions are considerably less accurate, at the surface, than the average human being. With this condition, although, I can quantify better music and better sounds with a better textural feeling going across my hands, and my fascination with texture has resulted in a very personal and intriguing relationship with sound. To me, it's an integral part of my sense of life. My question is: Is my sense of life defective, as would be the case with a mentally retarded individual? Or is it something not as alarming? Is it something to embrace, according to the Objectivist epistemology and ethic, or is it something to avoid and ignore?

Edited by Andrew Grathwohl
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Anyway, I'm wondering what type of characterization the seasoned Objectivist would attach to my particular case of synesthesia.
A bit bizarre and hopefully non-communicable. If your perceptions are actually decreased in quality like a deaf person's or a colorblind person's, then it limits your ability to match other people's perceptions. Presumably, you know how to distinguish the sensation of actually touching cold stone from the phantom effect of a sound, at least visually. Is it actually the same sensation, or just similar. I assume the latter.
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My condition, I suppose, hinders my ability to pursue an absolute reality.

I don't think so. This seems akin to the case where a stick going into water appears to be bent, but is not. Senses convey perceptual information, not knowledge of reality.

To me, it's an integral part of my sense of life.

Do you mean, an integral part of your experience of life? I don't see how synesthesia would relate to sense of life as the term was used by Ayn Rand. Perhaps you can elaborate.

On the other hand, my perceptions are considerably less accurate, at the surface, than the average human being.

This is confusing. What do you mean? As far as I understand, you associate textures with sounds, which does not equate to this sentence; I'm not sure what perceptions you're referring to here.

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I don't think it is something positive or negative, necessarily. I would view it like any other perceptive idiosyncrasy (ie colorblindness, a stick bending in water, a shade of gray that looks more black or more white depending on its surroundings, etc) You subjective sensory experience can, but does not necessarily have to interfere with your objective perceptive or conceptual analysis. Awareness of your bias will help you compensate for it when it is a problem.

So with color blindness, for example, some things might look different, but if you are able to distinguish it and know what others are referencing, then there is little potential harm. Functionally, it doesn't matter a great deal whether or not you would see green or red at a traffic light as everyone else does; it only matters that you know that one means "stop" and another "go." If you wished to go into painting or interior design, because it is different from most everyone else(your customer base), it may hold you back, but no more than being 5'2" holds you back from playing basketball.

With your particular issue, it could very well be a benefit in the sense that automatic application of multi dimensional characteristics probably aid in memorization and certain other mental tasks. It's possible(likely even)that you have some other shortcoming as a result of increased usage of that part of your brain, but that's the nature of a finite container. So, like everyone else, somethings will be easier for you and somethings more difficult. I wouldn't lose much sleep over it.

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First, 'sense of life' is emotional evaluation of an metaphysical conclusion about life in the broadest terms. If you have an explicit or implicit conviction that "life's a bitch and then you die" that would naturally lead to a certain fatalism. If life is an unpredictable, unknowable chaos to you that can lead to an incurious, defensive mindset. I don't see how there is a straight line from synthesia to any particular metaphysical conclusions, especially from the seemingly mild version you described.

Synthesia often enables a finer discrimination among similar percepts (sounds in your case) than is normally the case. This can just as easily be an advantage as a disadvantage and so is neutral. If you can actually put it to use in your career it should be an advantage. But if you compose some clever piece based solely on the textures that you alone can feel, you ought to expect incomprehension from listeners who lack your private vocabulary.

Just accept your synthesia as your own personal metaphysical given. Unless some doctor comes up with a method of altering your condition, you don't have choice in the matter anyway. Use it and exploit it to the extent possible to further your life, the same as anybody uses their senses.

This isn't alarming, and if your sense of life is defective it isn't from the synthesia.

p.s. All I know about synthesia I learned from reading Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia, which has a chapter on it.

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I can't help but think of V. S. Ramachandran. His wiki entry has a short paragraph about his studies on synesthesia.

I'm curious. Does it work the other way? When you actually feel a granite counter top is there a corresponding audio sensation? Could you set up a line of different textures, run your hand over it, and interpret a tune?

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I've been wondering about the relationship between the Objectivist epistemology and synesthesia. I have a pretty interesting case of synesthesia, where I can almost always match a particular sound, piece of music, or compositional form, with a particular type of texture.

As far as scientists can tell at this point in neurological studies, synesthesia comes about because two or more areas of the brain are not as isolated as they normally are, so that sensations from one area bleed over into another area, giving complex multi-sensory experiences from one input. When it comes to the philosophical significance, it really just means that your perceptual form of being aware of existence is different than most people. There isn't a sound associated with texture, you actually experience a sound with certain textures, and that is just the way you experience the world. I'm assuming it is rather consistent, in which case you had to learn to live with it as a malfunction of your senses, just as a blind man must learn how to adjust to being blind. I wouldn't say you perceive the world incorrectly, but rather that your particular form of being aware of the world differs from most people.

I don't think there is a cure for it at this point, but so long as you can distinguish actual sounds from your textual sounds, you can distinguish the texture of something in a different way. It will effect your epistemology only in the sense that you have sounds connected to textures, and so you might say rough is B flat, and smooth is A minor, or something like that; and very few people will comprehend what you are saying except on a very abstract level the way a blind man can understand color. Most people don't experience the world that way, so try to differentiate you sensation of tones from your sensations of texture if you want to communicate if something is rough or smooth.

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  • 1 month later...
I can't help but think of V. S. Ramachandran. His wiki entry has a short paragraph about his studies on synesthesia.

I'm curious. Does it work the other way? When you actually feel a granite counter top is there a corresponding audio sensation? Could you set up a line of different textures, run your hand over it, and interpret a tune?

Sorry to answer you so late. No, I do not experience this effect the other way around. I could tell you what a texture sounds like, but only by extrapolating my experiences with what sounds "feel" like to me. So, in other words, if the two effects were parallel one another, I could tell you what a texture would sound like, but only from extrapolating past experiences. The actual phenomenon doesn't occur with textures as it does with sounds.

As far as scientists can tell at this point in neurological studies, synesthesia comes about because two or more areas of the brain are not as isolated as they normally are, so that sensations from one area bleed over into another area, giving complex multi-sensory experiences from one input. When it comes to the philosophical significance, it really just means that your perceptual form of being aware of existence is different than most people. There isn't a sound associated with texture, you actually experience a sound with certain textures, and that is just the way you experience the world. I'm assuming it is rather consistent, in which case you had to learn to live with it as a malfunction of your senses, just as a blind man must learn how to adjust to being blind. I wouldn't say you perceive the world incorrectly, but rather that your particular form of being aware of the world differs from most people.

I don't think there is a cure for it at this point, but so long as you can distinguish actual sounds from your textual sounds, you can distinguish the texture of something in a different way. It will effect your epistemology only in the sense that you have sounds connected to textures, and so you might say rough is B flat, and smooth is A minor, or something like that; and very few people will comprehend what you are saying except on a very abstract level the way a blind man can understand color. Most people don't experience the world that way, so try to differentiate you sensation of tones from your sensations of texture if you want to communicate if something is rough or smooth.

This is an intriguing post. To be honest, I'm not sure that I want a cure for this condition. I suffer from Tourette Syndrome in addition to my experiences with synesthesia, and could not imagine living my life without either of them. Neither have a noticeable (to another person) affect on my person appearance or interactivity, but both have profoundly affected my life experiences and my perceptions. It's what I'm used to experiencing, from my earliest remembrances of life.

I was not attempting to complain or demonstrate a lower quality of life through my original post, and I agree with the general suggestions presented here: make use of it effectively in my career. Because my intent is to establish my career in digital signal processing for new media (sound and speech analysis being my focus) I think this is a great suggestion, and something I definitely intend to do.

Edited by Andrew Grathwohl
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I read about this once. There's various types of synaesthesia, including one that makes you see random colors in response to hearing sounds. It basically means your brain's got some wires crossed and stimuli of one sense makes you think you're receiving stimuli from another sense.

I found this out while googling around about a game of the same name. Synaesthete. (Really fun.)

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