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The Man Who Tasted Colors and Shapes?

by MaskedMarketer
11 replies
Solomon Veniaminovich Shereshevskii was able to taste colors and shapes. His senses were blended together and had an uncommon disorder called synesthesia.

Although IQ wise, he was not too intelligent, he was able to memorize mathematical formulas in minutes and recall them years later- using nothing other than imagination.

http://cbc.ucsd.edu/pdf/SciAm_2003.pdf

Solomon Shereshevskii - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Synesthesia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interesting stuff to see how the mind and memory works together...
#colors #man #shapes #tasted
  • Profile picture of the author kazakhan
    I have this* form of synesthesia, i used to tell people when i was young that i could "hear the changes in colour" but i don't think anyone believed me...
    *sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-sound-of-sight
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    • Profile picture of the author MaskedMarketer
      Originally Posted by kazakhan View Post

      I have this* form of synesthesia, i used to tell people when i was young that i could "hear the changes in colour" but i don't think anyone believed me...
      *sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-sound-of-sight
      Hey Kazakhan,

      that's amazing. does this disorder effect your daily living? How is it?
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      • Profile picture of the author kazakhan
        Originally Posted by MaskedMarketer View Post

        Hey Kazakhan,

        that's amazing. does this disorder effect your daily living? How is it?
        Fortunately it doesn't cause any real problems. It is hard to describe but one thing that is strange is i generally hear my peripheral vision, if there is a sudden or large change in contrast i'll hear it before getting any visual information. Sometimes it's a lot like being in a room full of poker\slot machines and when it gets like that i'll eventually get a headache but closing my eyes tunes it all out
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        • Profile picture of the author Fil-Links
          This thread leads me to a question...

          Are those who can taste and feel color, shapes and other seemingly impossible feats the one's with a disorder, or is everyone else abnormal for not being able to?

          Those who are able to do things out of the ordinary are truly blessed as they are able to use more of inherent human talents than most of us can. The fact that some or a few can do it, means all of us can but are conditioned not to.
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          • Profile picture of the author Jonathan 2.0
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            Sometimes those who seem handicapped can be blessed. Many autistic people have unique abilities including exceptional memory. The movie "Rain Man" was partly based on a man named Kim Peek who's been called "The Human Google" because of his phenonimal ability to memorize and recall information.
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          • Profile picture of the author kazakhan
            Originally Posted by Fil-Links View Post

            Are those who can taste and feel color, shapes and other seemingly impossible feats the one's with a disorder, or is everyone else abnormal for not being able to?
            My wife reckons i'm abnormal
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          • Profile picture of the author Jonathan 2.0
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            Originally Posted by Fil-Links View Post

            This thread leads me to a question...

            Are those who can taste and feel color, shapes and other seemingly impossible feats the one's with a disorder, or is everyone else abnormal for not being able to?

            Those who are able to do things out of the ordinary are truly blessed as they are able to use more of inherent human talents than most of us can. The fact that some or a few can do it, means all of us can but are conditioned not to.
            I think that's probably a good thing. Personally I wouldn't want to able to taste shapes and feel colour. There's a guy who used to work for the U.S. government who believed that his subconscious contained the information for "everything" (I think that's how he put it) and he helped to solve a lot a crimes. Interesting stuff. Perhaps we can all do that. However I think there's more important things in life than "brain power."
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            • Profile picture of the author spressnell
              Very interesting. That is definitely a new topic that I had not heard of. It sounds a little like ESP but in a different form.

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          • Profile picture of the author Norma Holt
            Originally Posted by Fil-Links View Post

            This thread leads me to a question...

            Are those who can taste and feel color, shapes and other seemingly impossible feats the one's with a disorder, or is everyone else abnormal for not being able to?

            Those who are able to do things out of the ordinary are truly blessed as they are able to use more of inherent human talents than most of us can. The fact that some or a few can do it, means all of us can but are conditioned not to.
            I can feel color. My fingers can tell the color of something that is hidden from my sight although I don't exercise the skill enough. It is not surprising, however, as my research shows that every cell in the body is generated from the same original cell and can be transformed into any organ. Or skin is very close to being the same composition as our other sense organs and that includes the eyes.

            That being said all the sense organs must be interlinked in some way as they work together to determine everything we see, touch, feel, hear and smell.

            Interesting topic.

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  • Profile picture of the author John Henderson
    I read that synesthesia is common in young children, before they are conditioned to treat their senses as separate and unconnected.
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