By SOGGYMOGGY
Added: Sun, 17 Jul 2011 01:28:46 UTC

I should state up front that this is pretty trivial in comparison with much that's under discussion on this forum, but it's been puzzling me for a while and I'd like to ask for people's input on the subject if anyone's inclined to help me out.

When I was in sixth form, my biology teacher read out a short article on synaesthesia that she thought would interest us. That was my first inkling that my perception of sounds being coloured wasn't normal (and if that sounds weird to you - as experience has now taught me it probably does - I promise you that your failure to hear the silvery-lilac colour of the number five is just as incomprehensible to me). It doesn't cause me any problems, except that I can't help thinking - presumably unfairly - that music and poetry must be extremely dull without it.

Anyway, I read recently that as many as one in twenty people may have one form or another of synaesthesia, and also that there's a strong genetic link (in my case, it seems to come from my father - my mother thinks we're both nuts). I was wondering if anyone can think of an evolutionary advantage it might confer; the only "advantage" I'm aware of (and it's a pretty insignificant one) is that it helps me remember phone numbers, registration plates, post codes and random numbers in an involuntary way that sometimes makes me appear a bit Rain Man/stalkerish if I'm not careful, and it's difficult to imagine a way in which this could ensure the survival of my genes.

I've learned from other questions I've posted to this forum that there may be a very obvious answer to this one that just hasn't occurred to me; if so, please be gentle - I'm still learning!

TAGGED: PSYCHOLOGY