The Music Visual Intelligence Test

Post Reply New Topic

I'd be mighty interested in whether you have been diagnosed with Synesthesia or experience its symptoms? Are you a musician by any chance?

Myself I experience the forms in certain pieces of classical music as if they were very large "organisms" with a life of their own (not in a hallucinatory or sensory fashion but in an allegorical way) rather than in geometry or colors per se.

Apologies for the belated reply, No, I have not been diagnosed nor even tested...During other exams it was a very brief reference to, or off topic mention, but I never felt comfortable about talking about it. Still feels odd and strange to mention due to the cynicism and criticism it arouses in people. It is like I choose to be different and they were left out, but the truth is quite the opposite, as you probably know.

Anyway, a while back I had a light-bulb moment when a person noticed that I was starring at something and politely asked, "What do you see"? I was afraid to tell the whole scene, so I just said, "I thought I saw the lights flickering, no big deal". Well being the curious type of professional, he says, "You want me to turn it off?" That scared me enough to change the subject, which he occasionally lets me get away with. Thing is though, I went online later that same day and noticed an interesting thread that I felt I should reply too, and did. It has since been filed into the archives, it does however detail the extent of my musical Experience

I had forgotten about that post as well as this thread (off-topic) until I stumbled across your reply. Yes, you described it very well; it is a life form in itself, unlike the geometrical association that all the literature refers too. I feel it and see it simultaneously, and volumes do matter, and notes do change and they do blend. All of this would probably prevent any diagnosis, according to the literature and documentaries I have recently seen. I am getting more comfortable about mentioning it, but apparently, I still got an issue about it.

I associate my experience with trying to explain a painting of the most beautiful woman in the world. The best orator can give a crowd the same description, but everybody will draw their own conclusion of what he saw. Without ever seeing what he had seen, there will always be a sense of doubt and wonder and fear, none of which the orator is responsible for. The orator being unable to use any comparison of beauty would suffer even greater difficulties.