Re: OFFTOPIC: Re: Sounds like...

On Wed, 18 Nov 1998, Eric Christopherson wrote:

> That's fascinating! I am kinda the same way, in that I unconciously
> assigned colors, genders, even to an extent personalities to letters
> *and* numerals when I was very little. I have always wondered if
> anyone else was like that (except for my cousin, who is also like
> that). The values seem to be arbitrary. For example, A and I are
> female; E, O, and U male. 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9 are male, and 2, 4, and
> 8 female. Who knows why? :D As for colors, 8 is burgundy, 9 is black,
> 6 is yellow, 3 is green, 4 is orange, 1 is white, 7 is purple
> (obviously in no particular order!) Not sure about the others right
> now...
This is a very common, very human response.  It's called "synaesthesia,"
to assign non-visual or abstract concepts with visual or other sensory
attributes.  I had always done this, especially with numbers.  One is
black, trim, single, and facing towards two with no compromise.  Two is a
nun, dressed in light blue, kneeling towards one in supplication.  Three
is yellow, loud, female, sexually enticing, interested in four.  Four is
male, purple, straight-laced, looks down on or is listening to three,
whose mouth is open.  Five is orange, of indeterminate sex, with a cap on,
and facing towards seven (this always baffled my mother, who saw five as
shouting at four, the lower loop representing five's mouth.  I saw that
loop as part of five's round cheek, the mouth being above.  Six is red,
docile, slightly dejected, female, and succumbing to the violences of
five.  Seven is magenta, tall, willowy, kind, aristocratic, female, and
patiently trying to give advice to six.  Eight is not looking at anyone;
she is curvacious, yellow like three, but independent.  Nine is green, a
gangster, dressed in a suit and pointing a gun at eight.  Ten is a fat
businessman in a tan suit carrying a briefcase.  Eleven is stepped down on
a platform below ten and is slim, mysterious, silent, and my favorite
number.  Twelve is on the same platform as eleven and is mystical.
Thirteen starts a platform even lower than eleven and twelve and is a
teenager (for obvious reasons!).  After that, the numbers become
combinations of the single digit attributes.

I was quite surprised to learn that my father didn't see numbers as colors
at all.  They're all black, he said.  Which is admitting to a color.

Sally
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Sally Caves
scaves@frontiernet.net
http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/teonaht.html
http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/contents.html


Li fetil'aiba, dam hoja-le uen.
volwin ly, vul inua aiba bronib.

This leaf, the wind takes her.
She's old, and born this year.
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