My weblog ELECTRON BLUE, which concentrated on science and mathematics, ran from 2004-2008. It is no longer being updated. My current blog, which is more art-related, is here.
Sun, 06 Mar, 2005
More Synesthesia
One of my Friendly Mathematicians has referred me to an article which appeared recently in the ECONOMIST Magazine. The article describes a rare form of synesthesia. Synesthesia is the perception of two usually unconnected sensory perceptions simultaneously, such as hearing colors or seeing notes. In the case cited in the article, a professional musician perceives notes as tastes. She also perceives notes as colors, but the association of musical notes with tastes is rarely observed.
Earlier in this Weblog, I described my own synaesthetic perceptions of numbers as colors. Interestingly, the more math that I do, the less this happens. Or perhaps I pay less attention to it. But I have never experienced a synesthesia of taste.
Fascinating, then, how musical notes can turn into flavors. But can it run the other way? Could every gourmet goodie at Trader Joe's translate into mathematics? That way I could have the algebra of salad mixes, the solid geometry of cheese, the trigonometry of triangular tortilla chips, and the calculus of chocolate!
Posted at 1:49 am | link