Do You Think in Colour?

[Ford Prefect]

Taking this a step further, how many people dream in colour, or have a sense of smell, touch or hearing in their dreams? I always dream in colour, along with a full array of my sensory perceptions. Others think I'm nuts though when I tell them I can smell things in my dreams. Actually, it astounds me how many people don't even remember dreams, let alone vivid details.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

Taking this a step further, how many people dream in colour, or have a sense of smell, touch or hearing in their dreams? I always dream in colour, along with a full array of my sensory perceptions. Others think I'm nuts though when I tell them I can smell things in my dreams. Actually, it astounds me how many people don't even remember dreams, let alone vivid details.

I always dream in color.. I can also hear, smell, feel but usually my dreams are so nuts I'd rather not remember them..

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by 4X4

The speed limit is 100. It is black to me. Probably because the prominent number is 1, and 1 is black.

For the record, "Deerfoot" is red.

For the record, the speed limit IS black, and the more I think about it, I agree that numbers have colours. I am just not sure that each and everytime it has the same colour. For example, what colour is 5? What about 2 or 3? For me, 3 is green, but maybe tomorrow it'll be blue.

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

For the record, the speed limit IS black, and the more I think about it, I agree that numbers have colours. I am just not sure that each and everytime it has the same colour. For example, what colour is 5? What about 2 or 3? For me, 3 is green, but maybe tomorrow it'll be blue.

Ya, my colour/number association can vary a little too. Some are always the same ... two is always orange for example, and five is always blue. Also, even numbers are always a warm colour, and odd numbers are always a cold colour.

Edit: Shape factors into the association too ... e.g., 8 is usually red because 8 reminds me of stop signs.

[blankall]

Going back to the OP. Do you think this happens, because the book/tv show (sesame street perhaps)/ lesson plan at pre-school you used to learn numbers actually featured large coloured numbers. Maybe you picked this up when you were 2 or 3 and used the original colours as associations to remember. You just haven't ever forgotten this.

[Weiser Wonder]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Is it odd that when I visualize events it's always in black and white?

I visualize in black and white as well. I also dream mostly in black and white. I don't have a sense of smell or feel when dreaming either.

[troutman]

I don't know if we technically dream in colour. Dream is pure thought/imagination. Are the optic parts of our brain firing when we dream, like when our eyes perceive color?

Ex. close your eyes and imagine a color. Is imagining a color, the same as seeing a color?

[4X4]

(re: blankall)
I don't know. But if that were the case, why wouldn't more people see it the way I see it? Everybody watched sesame street as a kid. It's got to be something chemical or nerve related in my brain. That link talking about synesthesia sounds pretty credible. I guess its just something that certain, random people have.

I really never gave it any thought until the other day. And now that I've been thinking about it all week, I'm starting to realize that almost any word that I picture spelled out in my head, has a colour.

TV is yellow
Rome is orange
Piano is black
Road is grey
Hockey is brown
Venus is green


I'm going to look this thread up in a year and see if the colours are the same.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by 4X4

(re: blankall)
I don't know. But if that were the case, why wouldn't more people see it the way I see it? Everybody watched sesame street as a kid. It's got to be something chemical or nerve related in my brain. That link talking about synesthesia sounds pretty credible. I guess its just something that certain, random people have.

I really never gave it any thought until the other day. And now that I've been thinking about it all week, I'm starting to realize that almost any word that I picture spelled out in my head, has a colour.

TV is yellow
Rome is orange
Piano is black
Road is grey
Hockey is brown
Venus is green


I'm going to look this thread up in a year and see if the colours are the same.

What color should we paint the softball so you can hit it better?

[atb]

It's definately Synesthesia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapheme-color_synesthesia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4375977.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

A bunch of musicians, artists, and writers have Synesthesia. I remember reading a study saying that these types of people had a higher rate of Synesthesia than the general population. Pharrel Williams is a pretty famous person who hears sounds as colours.

[4X4]

You stumped me there. 'Softball' doesn't really have a colour. White, I suppose.

[4X4]

The '00' on my jersey had better be either white or silver..!

[4X4]

This continues to get stranger. I just turned on the radio to listen to Jim Rome and I realized that the name 'Rome' is actually blue, but the city of Rome is orange.

[Claeren]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I did dinner with the family tonight and I brought this up. Again, everybody at the table sees numbers and letters in black, all the time.

See, that is almost more strange to me then seeing colours.

I get that some people see colours when they think, but I know i don't think of any colour when i think and i am surprised that every other person said they did.


For me it is totally audio. I hear the word but it has no colour or form.

In fact it took me a long time to learn to read and know my numbers by shape (grade 6 - eek!). But i had a stellar vocabulary and could/can do fairly high level math verbally - which is also why teachers/parents took so long to figure out i couldn't read off of a page. The entire concept of a word being the same every time (because in type it is the same obviously) was totally foreign in my head, for me it had everything to do with how you said the word, it was different with the nuances and emotions behind the word, dynamic not static, etc.

But yeah, anyone else like that?

I actually find posting on the internet quite difficult because i don't see words as black or white but as many shades of grey, even the same word (and not just in the academic sense of various meanings for the same word). So i think i am often misunderstood... I have to translate the dynamic audio in my head into words on a page...




Claeren.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by 4X4

(re: blankall)
I don't know. But if that were the case, why wouldn't more people see it the way I see it? Everybody watched sesame street as a kid. It's got to be something chemical or nerve related in my brain. That link talking about synesthesia sounds pretty credible. I guess its just something that certain, random people have.

According to that Discovery documentary I saw, it's an elevated brain function where words can trigger the visual and olfactory parts of the brain. The lady on the show actually saw words floating in front of her. And apparently, her name tasted like strawberries lol.

They had another case where a man who was totally blind, and has been his whole life was able to draw in perfect perspective i.e. drawing in a manners such that a road will disappear to a point on a piece of paper. Most of us have been taught that. This man could picture it in his head and draw it. It was because the part of the brain that processes visual images was more active than most, despite the fact that he was totally blind.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by 4X4

This continues to get stranger. I just turned on the radio to listen to Jim Rome and I realized that the name 'Rome' is actually blue, but the city of Rome is orange.

I'm sure CBS can develop a show around your unique crime-solving skills.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by 4X4

(re: blankall)
I don't know. But if that were the case, why wouldn't more people see it the way I see it? Everybody watched sesame street as a kid. It's got to be something chemical or nerve related in my brain. That link talking about synesthesia sounds pretty credible. I guess its just something that certain, random people have.

I really never gave it any thought until the other day. And now that I've been thinking about it all week, I'm starting to realize that almost any word that I picture spelled out in my head, has a colour.

TV is yellow
Rome is orange
Piano is black
Road is grey
Hockey is brown
Venus is green


I'm going to look this thread up in a year and see if the colours are the same.

Perhaps most people don't learn the numbers using the colours. Maybe they focus on the shapes.

You at some point in your life chose to focus on the colours. Seems like kind of an arbitrary choice since numbers to a baby are more or less meaningless and abstract.

Could also be caused by variation in the way you were taught. Maybe you focused exclusively on one book, while most people end up using more than one book.

I'm totally just speculating here, but it makes for some interesting psychology.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Claeren

Quote:
Originally Posted by 4X4
I did dinner with the family tonight and I brought this up. Again, everybody at the table sees numbers and letters in black, all the time.

See, that is almost more strange to me then seeing colours. Claeren.

To clarify, I think I tainted their response a bit by asking them what colour they saw and when they sat and pondered, I suggested black (which, what I really meant was, no colour).

[Flamesguy_SJ]

Thinking about this thread, I've realized that when I read music (which i can't really do that well), the notes on the page turn different colors as I sing them. Low notes are usually blue or purple, and high notes are red/orange/yellow.

[Cube Inmate]

Originally Posted by troutman

Ex. close your eyes and imagine a color. Is imagining a color, the same as seeing a color?

That's a fantastic question. When I imagine a colour, I don't see it of course, but two other things happen: For one, I can imagine images of things in that colour...e.g., green=grass. Secondly, I can "feel" the same way as if I were actually looking at it.

So, in effect, it seems to me that colour is not necessarily only the stimulation of our eyes at certain wavelengths, but is the differing reaction of our brain to the varied signals, which can be intentionally or unintentionally simulated by imagination or dreams.

That wasn't very clear, but I think it's fair to say we can "think" in colour, even without the stimulation of the eyes. They're related, but the end result is that the thought is what counts.

The mind is an amazing, confusing thing.