Imagine you are studying an alien civilisation. You fly to their planet and hover over a group of 4 aliens walking on what appears to be a street. You turn on your Babel Fish to translate from the Alienese and hear this:
Little Alien 1 (to Little Alien 2): I like even numbers a lot better than odd numbers. Do you?
Little Alien 2: I do
Big Alien 1: Not me. I’ve always liked odd numbers better.
Big Alien 2: Me too. My whole life I’ve respected them more.
What an odd, alien way of thinking, you might think. I mean, liking odd over even numbers is weird enough but respecting one over another?!
Of course as you’d probably have realised (especially if you hover over hyperlinks), the example is a bit closer to home. Little Alien 2 is me as a kid. Little Alien 1 is my friend Shly. Also as a kid. Big Alien 1 is my mother. Big Alien 2 is Shly’s mother. And we appear to have caught a wonderful human affliction called synesthesia.
Synesthesia is when several senses or ways of looking at things are conflated by the human brain. This includes seeing numbers as colours, being able to taste people’s names, seing musical notes as colours, smelling shapes etc. It’s a condition that varies a lot from person to person and is apparently much higher in creative people. A very fascinating intro on this is Ramachandran’s TED talk.
So here’s the spoiler: to an extent it’s part of human experience. We all have at least a little bit of it in us. Some questions that you should have no trouble answering*:
- On the example at the top: some might prefer odds, some evens, some neither. However, the latest episode of the Geologic Podcast featured some funny political ads between two parties: the odd numbers and the even numbers. Which numbers were described as dependable, precise and reliable? Which were the voice of creativity and intuition?
- What weighs more, the note on the right end of the piano or the left?
- I made this one up so it could be just me: what’s higher, the taste of a sweet apple or the taste of a sour apple? I’d be interested to hear about this one especially in the comments.
- Finally, my favourite example from the Ramachandran talk. Look at the images below. One is named KIKI and one is named BUBA. Can you decide which one?
So what does this mean? Two things, I reckon. Firstly, it shows that we’re clearly animals, with some reflexes hard-wired into us by evolution. There is no logical reason to connect Kiki with the angular figure — it’s like the knee jerk reflex. Secondly, it shows how great it is to be a person for the very same reason. Not only are we not purely rational, but there is a non-rational** element that underpins our most basic sensory perceptions like sight and sound. This is where our sense of metaphor comes from. It’s why I can feel that there is some reason the angular figure should be called Kiki even though I can’t verbalise it in a way that doesn’t sound silly.
If you want a [non-supernatural] reason why it might be meaningful to be a human, it’s all here: the beauty of the highly fragile and special perception us humans have of the world, and the evolved sense of metaphor that even the coldest human being cannot escape from.
*May well vary with culture. If you are unable to experience one of the senses (eg. you are deaf), I’d be especially interested to hear your experience.
**Not the same as irrational!
16 comments ↓
For me, the even numbers are dependable, precise, and reliable. Though this then leaves the odd numbers as the voice of creativity and intuition, I don’t get that sense of association.
But, what I do experience is a feeling of smoothness for even numbers and bumpyness for odd numbers.
The note on the right end of the piano weighs less than the note on the left end of the piano. Even so, the word ‘right’ feels much heavier than the word ‘left’.
The taste of a sweet apple is definately higher than the taste of a sour apple; a sweet apple flies through the air, whereas a sour apple is much more grounded.
The angular shape is Kiki, the more rounded figure is Buba.
For me, the sour apple is higher. I will add lemon juice to a beverage to give it what I describe as a “high note.” Surprises me to hear the opposite!
Flynn — I agree with you which is why I was surprised too. However, all the other examples are quite known — the sweet/sour one I just made up based on my own association between:
sourness
high pitch
high energy
high position
Wow! Is this something you remembered or had written down? It’s a nice blast from the past!
I wonder if the meanings of the words “odd” and “even” play a role here. Why did the word “odd” become descriptive of something out of the ordinary? And the meanings of the word “even”… do they influence our feel for those numbers?
Would they feel different if they were called “rod” and “steven”?
Well odd and even don’t have the same connotation in Russian — although they might have other connotations that might influence our feel for the numbers.
Very quick side comment: I work with Russians and have learned a lot about the structure of the language simply by listening to the way they speak English:
“What means teaching?”
“I bought book”
“Do you have the idea?”
And so on. Actually, sometimes I do “alienate” my English in order that I be understood or I use simple Russian phrases to make them stop chatting while attending a conference: “tykho pozhaluysta!”
All my life, I have found even numbers boring, not able to be on their own, afraid to be alone and needing company, agglomerated, gregarious.
Odd numbers are for me independent, special, interesting, aventurous, with a personality, irreductible, resistant (to the first decivise division), making the difference.
Being divided by 2 denotes stability and also to be reduced into something smaller.
Of course, I have more balanced views now but still a strong preference for odd numbers.
The “+1 or -1″ preventing the odd numbers to be divided by 2 may be viewed as something missing (by
those who prefer the even numbers) or someting in addition (by those who prefer the odd numbers).
I have three suggestions about what may influence our perception:
- the language (as Shly said) “Odd” is not really a neutral adjective. (in French, even=pair and odd=impair= “not/even” – so the word “impair” may be perceived with a negative connotation).
- our way of thinking the human relationships (extravert/introvert, …) ? for social harmony or being
rebellious ?
- preference for the numbers you’re familiar with like our birthday date ? (articles on implicit egotism: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-social-thinker/200907/would-you-marry-
yourself
and http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/07/are-your-initials-holding-you-back.php)
What do you think about this ?
For me, the note on the right end of the piano weighs less than the note on the left end of the piano.
More than probably because of the musical notation and the notion “hight pitch” is linked to this note.
In other hand, I guess that high pitches are usually associated to a child or a small animal (small weight)
and a low register to a big man or a elephant.
I imagine the taste of a sour apple highter than the sweet apple’s one.
Angular figure, kiki ; round figure, buba.
Have you ever spontaneously attribute a specific gender to the colors ?
# What weighs more, the note on the right end of the piano or the left?
The left – it’s deeper, bassier, therefore implies weight.
# I made this one up so it could be just me: what’s higher, the taste of a sweet apple or the taste of a sour apple? I’d be interested to hear about this one especially in the comments.
Sweet – no idea why. Maybe because it’s cleaner, sharper, uplifting. Sour is often a downer.
# Finally, my favourite example from the Ramachandran talk. Look at the images below. One is named KIKI and one is named BUBA. Can you decide which one?
The sharp image is obviously KIKI as the name implies spiky. BUBA implies roundness and softness. Even the shape of the mouth when saying KIKI or BUBA shares the attributes.
Sorry about that – the above comment is from me. That’ll teach Michael to use my computer!
How about colors?
Like, my name is red.
Alan is orange.
The word ‘above’ is red/blue.
The number 8 is purple.
T is dark green and 3 is light green.
Sour things are also light green,
whereas sweet things are dark green.
etc, etc…
I’ve tried explaining this to many people but they either think I’m making it up or don’t understand how things can be colored but not necessarily look like their color.
I think this topic is fascinating, especially sound synesthesia. For me sounds are blends of colors dependent more on the key than the notes or chords, but I think it’s incredible that some people can use this to learn or remember music.
Actually synesthesia in general is quite a fascinating subject.
Btw, I’m not the Michael from a few posts ago. I forgot the name was in use.
“I’ve tried explaining this to many people but they either think I’m making it up or don’t understand how things can be colored but not necessarily look like their color.”
The trouble is that things like that are different for everybody. The spiky shape compared to the rounded shape is an easy association, but your own perceptions of synethesia will rarely gel with other people’s.
Yeah, I understand that. I just mean that if someone’s asking you about your unique perception, it can be surprisingly difficult to explain.
Alan — so that’s basically 2:2 on my sweet/sour one. The Kiki/Buba thing is almost completely universal (over 90% I think) — but I don’t think it’s obvious in terms of logical (try explain it to an alien!). It may have something to do with the shape of the mouth but you can make up different pairs where the mouth is shaped in a lot more of a similar way where it’s still quite clear (eg. KIKI/LALA)
Michael Two — I’ve updated your name in past comments. In terms of whether you’re making things up, the easiest way to convince someone (whether you want to do this is another thing) might be to let them record a few of your colour/name associations and then ask you again in a few weeks. Consistency in answers suggest you really are having the experience.
The best one I remember is a podcast host whose wife associated numbers with very specific tastes (ie. first name and I think last name translated to something like “smoky cheese” or “fresh car scent” etc)
Alan — not sure if such things are different. Whilst Michael Two has the stronger version of synesthesia, it need not be private — it’s possible that when people do associate say numbers and colours that 8 tends to be purple etc. This is something to look up — I’ll do it later.
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