Issue 13: Focus on Synesthesia

“My business is to paint what I see, not what I know is there.” ― J.M.W. Turner

and

Feb 11, 2024

Welcome to issue 13! The phenomenon of synesthesia highlights an interesting aspect of consciousness: it makes undeniable the fact that some otherwise apparently neurotypical people have a rather distinct way of perceiving the world. The ability to see the colors of numbers, or taste emotions (and there are a myriad of other types of synesthesia than these of course) shows us how the brain is capable of creating (or perceiving?) connections between apparently unrelated facets of experience.

Many people who have tried psychedelics will have experienced a temporary synesthesia (among the most common would probably be the ability to ‘see music’), which shows that it is possible to chemically alter consciousness such that these abilities come within reach of those not normally able to experience them.

Whether synesthesia is a genetic mutation, an evolutionary advantage, or indeed a disadvantage for the experiencer (due to the possible sensory overwhelm) needs to be looked at in more detail. It has probably been advantageous for those who know how to make the best use of it, for example artists such as Syd Barrett, Vladimir Nabokov, Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, or scientists such as Richard Feynmann and Nikola Tesla are known to have synesthesia.

The fact that each synesthete experiences the correlations between different aspects of consciousness differently (i.e. there is not a universally agreed color among experiencers for the number 3) tends to suggest that synesthesia is very much part of consciousness on an individual level, rather than being a perception of connections which are universally present in reality. Anyway, check out the links we’ve prepared for you and see what you think.

Q&A Session with Bernardo Kastrup

Tue 13th Feb 2024, 8pm – 10pm CET, Online

The philosopher and scientist Bernardo Kastrup will explore questions about consciousness, reality, and the nature of existence.

IFS and Past Lives with Bob Falconer

Friday, February 16 2024 2:00 PM — 5:00 PM EST

This online event will examine how Internal Family Systems can help with past life therapy as seen from both Western and Non-Western perspectives.

Psychedelics, Altered States and Transpersonal Psychology | Alef Trust

The Certificate in Psychedelics, Altered States, and Transpersonal Psychology, offered by Alef Trust, is a 12-month, 100% online program that explores the transpersonal nature of the psychedelic experience, altered states of consciousness, and exceptional experiences. The curriculum draws upon various disciplines such as transpersonal psychology, parapsychology, cross-cultural psychiatry, neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, anthropology, ethnobotany, and the study of religions. The program is designed for individuals interested in psychedelic and other altered states therapy and research within the context of transpersonal psychology, and it does not require a specific background in psychology or allied subjects. The tuition for the program is £3,300, and applications for the upcoming session are now open.

“Let’s talk synesthesia” is turning one! – Journey Through The Senses

Feb 24th at Metropol Cinema, Innsbruck, Austria

Celebration of the first anniversary of The Synesthesia Podcast, showing the film of Pete Carruthers’s theater play ‘The Possibility of Color', followed by a discussion panel.

Conference on Synesthesia

May 10 - 12, 2024, Somerville College, Oxford University, England.

Organized by the American Synesthesia Association, Inc. and the UK Synaesthesia Association.

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Links

As A Scientist, I Didn't Believe In Psychic Powers. Then I Experienced Something That Changed My Life

The psychologist Jeff Tarrant shares a personal experience that led to a shift in his beliefs about psychic powers: he encountered an American woman who spontaneously began speaking Amazonian tribal languages after a Holotropic Breathwork session. The encounter had a profound impact on his life and caused him to reconsider his materialist worldview and skepticism towards psi phenomena. He eventually laboratory tested many psychic mediums with EEG machines to find out what is going on in their brains, and wrote a book on his findings.

(There is a short video of Janet Mayer, the woman in question, here: American Spontaneously Speaking Amazonian Tribal Languages)

Perception, explained in 3 minutes - Big Think

Philosopher Alva Noë explains how perception can exist outside of our own nervous system.

Are You Hypnotizable?

Conor Feehly discusses the hypnotizability of individuals, suggesting a potential genetic component, based on two scientific studies. He highlights the scarcity of concrete insights into what differentiates hypnotizable individuals from others, while referencing research from the 1980s, which indicates that a person's ability to become "absorbed" in a task, such as reading or a theater performance, may make them more susceptible to hypnosis. He also touches on the public perception of hypnosis, its therapeutic uses supported by research evidence, and the work of experts in the field, such as the late Theodore Sarbin and Dr. David Spiegel, who created the Reverie app, a self-hypnosis tool.

Scientists 3D Print Functional Human Brain Tissue

A team of scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has successfully 3D-printed functional human brain tissue for the first time. This achievement is detailed in a new paper published in the journal Cell Stem Cell. The researchers used a unique method of 3D-printing, fabricating horizontal layers of brain cells encased in soft "bio-ink" gel, which allowed the neurons to grow into each other and form networks. The 3D-printed cells have the potential to advance the development of treatments for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The team's approach aims to replicate the interconnected nature of brain cells, offering a significant advantage over existing "mini-brain" tissue models used for studying the brain.

Why being bilingual is good for your brain | BBC Ideas

Being bilingual has been discovered to have numerous benefits for the brain, including improved concentration, problem-solving skills, memory, and creativity. Bilingual people also develop dementia later in life and recover better after a stroke. Learning a language as a child builds new neural networks, while learning a language later in life modifies existing networks and creates more connections. Early exposure to bilingualism strengthens connectivity in the brain, even when at rest. Bilingual individuals also have the ability to see different perspectives and tend to react emotionally in their first language and rationally in their second.

What Comes After The Psychedelic Renaissance? - Third Wave

Alexander Beiner discusses the transition from the psychedelic renaissance to the psychedelic enlightenment, emphasizing a shift from reintroducing psychedelics in a therapeutic context to a broader exploration of multiple practices and cosmologies. He highlights the importance of "the how" in addition to "the what" of psychedelic substances and envisions a future characterized by innovation, challenging the status quo, and personal growth.

Dr. Eben Alexander Proof of Heaven Investigation

This Esquire article investigates the claims of Dr. Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon who gained fame for his book "Proof of Heaven," in which he described his near-death experience and journey to the afterlife. The article delves into the commercial success and scrutiny surrounding Alexander's claims, questioning the implications of labeling individuals as prophets and the need for fact-checking such extraordinary assertions.

Unwanted personality changes after psychedelics

Jules Evans interviews the poet Rebecca Wolf about her personal experience of unwanted personality changes after a harrowing and isolating bad trip, and her subsequent search for coping mechanisms for the sense of derealization she was left with. The article delves into the long-term effects of the psychedelic experience on personality and the challenges faced in dealing with these changes, ultimately emphasizing the importance of finding effective ways to address and integrate such experiences.

Elon Musk says Neuralink has implanted its first brain chip in human

Neuralink has successfully implanted its first brain chip in a human, with the individual reportedly recovering well. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had granted clearance for the trial, and initial results show promising neuron spike detection. The chip, named Telepathy, is intended to enable control of devices through thought. This achievement represents a significant milestone in the development of brain-computer interface technology and has the potential to benefit individuals with paralysis and neurological conditions (we won’t mention the dystopian implications it might also have…).

Focus on Synesthesia

Google Releases Experimental AI That Simulates Synesthesia

This is fun! Google has released an experimental AI that simulates synesthesia (UK spelling synaesthesia), a condition that can make people hear sounds when looking at colors and shapes. The AI tool, developed in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou in Paris, allows users to experience the abstract paintings of Wassily Kandinsky in musical form, based on his neurological condition called synesthesia. The score is inspired by music from Kandinsky’s time and generated on Google’s Transformer neural network. This AI innovation is part of a broader trend in the development of AI technologies that aim to replicate or interact with human sensory experiences, such as hearing sounds when looking at images.

Ben Goertzel Has Taken Drugs With Artificial Intelligence

An interview with Dr. Ben Goertzel, a prominent figure in the field of artificial intelligence, covering various topics, including the potential of AI to replace humans, his synesthesia, doing drugs with algorithms, the future of music technology, the decentralized data economy, and the fusion of emotions into the human brain.

What Is It Like To Have Synesthesia?

This video gives a basic grounding in synesthesia, explaining that the brains of synesthetes are wired differently, with greater connections between areas involved in senses. Synesthesia seems to emerge early in life and persists throughout a person’s lifespan. Synthetic synesthesia-like experiences can be induced, but they quickly fade; blindness or hallucinogens can also trigger synesthetic experiences. To synesthetes, their experiences feel normal - indeed many seem to grow up believing that everyone has these abilities.

Hear the Violet, Taste the Velvet | Scientific American

Sean Day, a synesthesia researcher and president of the International Association of Synaesthetes, Artists, and Scientists, shares his experiences with synesthesia. He mentions that for him, beef tastes blue, and discusses even rarer forms of synesthesia, such as perceiving numbers as having personalities or associating different colors with swimming styles. This provides insight into the diverse and fascinating ways in which individuals with synesthesia experience the world.

Feeling All the Feels: Living With Mirror-Touch Synesthesia

This short video explains what it’s like to live with mirror-touch synesthesia; it can be both challenging and enriching. Carolyn, who has this condition, experiences physical sensations when she sees certain things, both pleasant and unpleasant. While it can make everyday activities difficult, such as watching violent shows (although she loves GoT she is unable to watch it as the onscreen violence is physically painful to her), it also allows her to connect with others on a deeper level and experience the beauty of art, for example ballet, in a unique way.

Anomalous Psychedelic Experiences: At the Neurochemical Juncture of the Humanistic and Parapsychological

This paper by David Luke explores the relationship between congenital and induced synesthesia, particularly in the context of psychedelic experiences. It discusses the challenges in determining the nature of this relationship and the differences in the features of psychedelic synesthesia compared to congenital synesthesia. The study also delves into the potential therapeutic implications of understanding the underlying neural mechanisms of congenital synesthesia and the experience of perceiving auras. Additionally, it addresses the occurrence of out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and near-death experiences (NDEs) in the context of psychedelic use, particularly with substances like ketamine and DMT.

So, You Want to Be a Synesthete? | Scientific American

Marta Zaraska discusses the potential for individuals to acquire synesthetic experiences through various methods, such as sensory deprivation or psychedelic drugs. She explores the link between synesthesia and creativity, as well as the genetic and learned components of the condition. She also references studies that suggest people can be trained to develop synesthetic experiences.

The Synesthesia Finder

Discover what type of synesthesia you have.

Sean Day's Synesthesia Bibliography

(scientific studies and reliable articles, recent and historic)

Nuggets From The Archive

Meeting the Other Within — Awaken in the Dream

Paul Levy discusses the concept of "Meeting the Other Within" and the idea that recognizing and integrating the dark aspects of our own psyche can lead to personal and collective evolution. He draws on the teachings of Carl Jung and his colleagues to emphasize the importance of acknowledging and understanding the "other" within ourselves, which is often projected onto external sources, one example being the UFO phenomenon (see previous issue for a lot more details on UFOs!). Levy suggests that this process of inner work can lead to a greater state of being and serve as a catalyst for collective evolution. He also goes into the symbolic and sacred nature of this inner journey, highlighting the potential for transformation and the emergence of a "new light" from the darkness.

Our brains exist in a state of “controlled hallucination” | MIT Technology Review

This review of three neuroscience books discusses the concept of "controlled hallucination" as proposed by Anil Seth and philosopher Andy Clark in the book Being You, referring to the brain's continuous construction of models to explain and predict incoming information. It also covers Susan Barry’s Coming to Our Senses, which tells the stories of two people who acquired new senses later in life than is usual and the implications of the discoveries resulting in that for neuroscience, alongside the very human stories themselves. Finally, it covers the book What Makes Us Smart by Samuel Gershman, a more technical work on what intelligence is from a neuroscientific perspective.

I made a stable diffusion film about AI and consciousness : r/woahdude

This very impressive home-made AI film by the aptly-named I_DID_LSD_ON_A_PLANE starts with a donut and goes into the nature of consciousness.

Palmström: No, the universe is not a brain.

This is a rebuttal of Ethan Siegel’s article in Forbes suggesting that the universe itself may be alive and conscious, forming a giant information processing architecture through the structure given by its stars, galaxies, and galaxy clusters. The article compares the field of cognitive science to early biology in terms of defining its object of study, suggesting that the universe could be a motivated information processing system that makes sense of its environment. However, it argues that the universe does not harbor any natural intelligent structures larger than a planet, and the most interesting minds are likely to be in the service of lifeforms, as there are no known mechanisms for mind-supporting information processing structures to evolve in planets or larger cosmic bodies.

Melt Divine Feminine into Divine Animacy - Creatrix magazine

Sophie Strand discusses the concept of animacy as a broader and more inclusive term than the Divine Feminine. She explores the idea that everything in the world is alive and interconnected, going beyond traditional classifications and gender associations, expressing a desire to integrate the Divine Feminine into this more expansive animacy, which encompasses all relationships and connections, not just those related to human or gender-specific experiences. Her claim is that animacy may be a more comprehensive and interconnected concept than the Divine Feminine, aiming to embrace a wider range of relationships and connections in the world.

Bigelow Essays

Another runner-up in the Bigelow Essay competition, aiming to prove the survival of consciousness after physical death.

This paper, ‘Mediumship as the Best Evidence for the Afterlife: Francisco Candido Xavier, a White Crow’, by Alexandre Caroli Rocha, Ph.D., Marina Weiler, Ph.D., Raphael Fernandes Casseb, Ph.D. is a comprehensive exploration of mediumship, particularly focusing on Francisco Cândido Xavier, a renowned Brazilian medium.

The authors discuss the scientific and historical perspectives on mediumship, detailing Xavier's background, his alleged communication with the deceased, and the extensive body of work he produced through psychography. They also scrutinize the validity of Xavier's mediumistic communications, dividing his work into categories based on the nature of authorship and the content's verifiability.

The paper critically examines hypotheses regarding Xavier's ability to access information, including fraud, super-psi, and the survival of the mind, ultimately suggesting that his work may provide credible evidence for the latter. The analysis includes detailed examples of Xavier's work, comparisons with historical facts, and discussions on the implications of his mediumship for understanding consciousness and the afterlife.

A guest post by

Guy James

Has worked with FairCoop, SEEDS, Pandorahub, P2PFoundation. Recently came back from co-managing a meditation centre in the Pyrenees. Currently researcher and editor at The Elevator. Links: https://hello.guyjames.com

Charlotte Dune

Charlotte Dune's Lagoon

Feb 11Liked by Elevator

So much to dig into here, and timely! I've been reading and watching a lot on synesthesia lately, triggered by seeing a TikTok where the girl talked about how she saw the year as like a 3D loop around her and I was like wow, that's weird, I see it like that too. I then learned that there is something called "Conceptual Synesthesia" where you see concepts and abstract ideas as shapes and physical or geographical formations, which, I guess I have and never realized it had a name.

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