Thursday 28 March 2013

Synaesthesia

Beige, stripes and a bow-tie! These are some amazingly cool new stockings from my sponsor Oasap. Though pricey, I'm happy to recommend these ones because they are thick and don't seem like they'll ladder easily (I've also worn them for a few days, and they're all good so far!) There's also a black & white version instead of the so-called "nude" version for anyone with darker skin - I've always though it's pretty unfair that standard "nude" colour always actually means "nude white person" colour, because there's a heck of a lot more skin types out there than this so called "nude". Anyway. They're still cool tights.
blouse - c/o Choies
skirt - Wholesale
tights - c/o Oasap
shoes - Chicory (Japan)
hat - c/o Wholesale
bag - Vintage

After talking about colour perception in my last few posts, a number of people brought up synaesthesia.  Synaesthesia is one of the first things to get me interested in neuroscience and the study of human perception, and it's an incredibly wonderful and weird phenomenon!
Synaesthesia is a rare neurological trait, leading to the crossing over of perceptual information: that means people with it can "see colours" in numbers or letters, "taste" words, "smell" days of the week, or "feel" that certain words or numbers have distinct personalities. It can involve any of the senses. Someone talking, for example, can simultaneously be perceived as sounds and as a taste on the tongue by someone with synaesthesia. The most common form is what is called "grapheme colour synaesthesia", where individual letters and numbers are associated strongly with different colours. This type can often help synesthetes with memory tasks where long strings of words, letters or numbers need to be remembered.

It's unclear which parts of the brain are involved in synaesthesia, although a leading theory is that it's due to "cross-wiring" in the brain: neurons (brain cells that can conduct electricity) that are meant to be in sensory system cross over into another sensory system. There is also a theory that all babies are born with "cross-wired" brains, which as we grow, are "pruned back", and that synaesthesia is a failure of the brain to do this properly. (Though the word "failure" puts synaesthesia in a negative light, which I don't think it should be at all. I think it would be a pretty cool thing to have - although experiencing the taste of  mouldy detergent every time you heard a particular person's voice wouldn't be so awesome).

The wikipedia page on Synesthesia provides some pretty sweet reading.

Hoping you're all feelin' fine,








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27 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh this outfit is perfect<3 *_*

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  2. These tights really are cool! I always wondered about the definition of nude too. These look like a perfect shade for you though! I really love the colors in this outfit. The mix of brown and black is wonderful. I'm particularly liking your striped blouse. Adorable, as always!

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  3. i'm in love with your outfit!!! :))))
    and your science fact is interesting! :D

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  4. Love the colour combination!
    I always thought it was normal to associate colours to things, for me some words and numbers would have one colour.
    For example: Sunday and Monday are orange, Tuesday is light blue/green, Wednesday is sometimes orange, sometimes green, Thursday is dark blue, Friday is red and Saturday is blue and white.
    1/11 are turquoise blue, 5/9 are red, 7 is very dark green, 4/8 are blue, 3 is purple, 10 is very yellow.
    My name, Georgina is orange and yellow, Pineneedle is light blue. Most of the time I just visualise words with their actual colour, e.g. the word spoon is grey, milk is white, cereal is brown and red, strawberry is red (I'm eating breakfast right now, can you tell? :P)
    I think this is the same as synaethesia? Seeing words in colours definitely has it's perks when you're an art student ;)
    xxx

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    1. I think synaesthesia is when you actually see the colour, as opposed to just associating it with the word.
      I wouldn't really know though, since I don't have it, but I think pretty much everyone associates colours with words, numbers, shapes etc.

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    2. That kind of "association" without actually "seeing" the colours projected onto the letters or words can be called "Ideasthesia", I think. You have a very strong semantic (meaningful) association with particular colours and letters, but you don't physically see it projected onto the letter, word or number itself.

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    3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideasthesia :)

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  5. My post didn't go through to so I'm typing it again. Ignore if 2 posts by me appear on the page :P I see colours in music. Every piece of music has a colour or colours. For example, the Beegees song 'more than a woman' is midnight blue with a splash of silver and dots of peach

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  6. Ahh Synaesthesia is one of my favourite words, and I think it would be a (mostly) fun and interesting trait!
    You look lovely as usual, love the stripes :)

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  7. Aw, it makes me really happy that you called attention to the 'nude' thing. Glad you're looking out for everyon! <3 <3

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  8. I absolutely adore your outfit, and I definitely agree with you on the 'nude' naming thing - it's so horrendously exclusionary, and yet I still see virtually everything beige described as 'nude'! It's awful, and I really hope retailers etc stop using it soon. Also, concerning synaesthesia, I find it fascinating too; I remember reading an article about a guy whose girlfriend's name tasted sweet to him (although he did have to give a former girlfriend a nickname because her name tasted terrible!)

    Emily Wears Things
    xx

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  9. Ever since I was little I have associated numbers with personalities and letters with genders, and both also with colors.

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  10. so cute ugh that blouse is truly perfect!! also synaesthesia....so interesting -- we discussed it in one of my university classes but i actually just learned far more from your blog post. ;)

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  11. I seriously love those tights.
    On the subject of synaesthesia, have you heard of Anne Salz? She's a synesthete artist who paints gorgeous abstract pieces inspired by the colours she sees when listening to sounds.

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    Replies
    1. Wow! That is so cool! I'm really interested to know what particular songs "feel" like to her.

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  12. Lovely outfit as always, the tights are SUPER cook :) Love it!
    You are so pretty :)


    Dress To Cook Blog

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  13. I have a weird form of synaesthesia: When I hear certain words, I see a very specific (and unrelated) view.

    It's hard to explain, but, as an example, whenever I see or hear a reference to Gina shoes, I see a view of a patch of ground near my dad's old house, as if I'm looking down from my eye level. Yeah, it's pretty odd!

    Becky
    xx

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  14. Everytime I just keep on looking at your pictures and say kawaii..haha
    I'm addicted to your blog now ^_^

    lamodeeternelleetc.blogpsot.com

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  15. Wow!!! I knew about the word Synaesthesia but I never knew what it was, that is so cool! I always associate "things" with colours, but I don't think I ever saw the colour for real...

    I'm in love with this look even if I normally hate vertical stripes.

    Girls that glitter love the dark
    xoxo

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  16. I know someone with synaesthesia and he associates words with colours. He's Korean and also speaks fluent English and Japanese. He says it helps him remember words easier.

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  17. I love this outfit! that skirt is just so adorable. Also, I agree with you abut the tights and calling it 'nude.' Not nude for everyone - but those are just so adorable!

    xoxo,
    Laura
    http://lauraisthriftingthroughlife.blogspot.com/

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  18. saw you on modcloth's style gallery and am super inspired by your eclectic/girly style! looking forward to seeing more outfits. ^_^

    erica | sweets + hearts

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