We've been hearing a lot about synesthesia recently. For those of you who don't have this condition and are curious to know what it's actually like, this new video provides a welcome introduction to the experience, according to Gizmodo.
In synesthesia, the body mixes up the signals of our senses and ends up processing a few of them at the same time. On its own, this isn't super weird. After all, if you're reading this in a noisy cafe, you're using both sight, hearing, and maybe even smell all at the same time. But, in synesthesia, the senses involved are brought together in unrelated ways.
For instance, in this video, audio gets combined with color — there are tinny high notes that are pointy and yellow and a deep, round purple bass in the background. Pasquale D'Silva, the video's creator, actually experiences this form of synesthesia. Previously, he has talked about how his sound-seeing ability inspired his music app, Keezy, an ultra-simple soundboard that's sorted by color.
D'Silva isn't alone: A few other people who have some form of synesthesia showed up in the video's comment section, sharing color-and-music video projects of their own. The number of people who report having the condition seems to be increasing, especially over the past few years. But, it's hard to get an accurate count, especially since people with synesthesia don't always have a feeling that anything is abnormal about the way they perceive things.
While we're sure there are times when synesthesia gets in the way, this short-but-sweet clip shows it can also be beautiful.
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