David Eagleman

There are dozens and dozens of forms of synesthesia, but what they all have to do with is a cross blending of things that are normally separate in the rest of the population. And what share of the population has these patterns? So it's about 3% of the population that has colored letters or colored weekdays or months or numbers. It's big. It's interesting. I wouldn't have thought it was so big.

There are dozens and dozens of forms of synesthesia, but what they all have to do with is a cross blending of things that are normally separate in the rest of the population. And what share of the population has these patterns? So it's about 3% of the population that has colored letters or colored weekdays or months or numbers. It's big. It's interesting. I wouldn't have thought it was so big.

There are dozens and dozens of forms of synesthesia, but what they all have to do with is a cross blending of things that are normally separate in the rest of the population. And what share of the population has these patterns? So it's about 3% of the population that has colored letters or colored weekdays or months or numbers. It's big. It's interesting. I wouldn't have thought it was so big.

The crazy part is that if you have synesthesia, it probably has never struck you that 97% of the population does not see the world the way that you see it. Everyone's got their own story going on inside, and it's rare that we stop to consider the possibility that other people do not have the same reality that we do. And what's going on in the brain?

The crazy part is that if you have synesthesia, it probably has never struck you that 97% of the population does not see the world the way that you see it. Everyone's got their own story going on inside, and it's rare that we stop to consider the possibility that other people do not have the same reality that we do. And what's going on in the brain?

The crazy part is that if you have synesthesia, it probably has never struck you that 97% of the population does not see the world the way that you see it. Everyone's got their own story going on inside, and it's rare that we stop to consider the possibility that other people do not have the same reality that we do. And what's going on in the brain?

In the case of synesthesia, it's just a little bit of crosstalk between two areas that in the rest of the population tend to be separate but neighboring. So it's like porous borders between two countries. They just get a little bit of data leakage, and that's what causes them to have a joint sensation of something.

In the case of synesthesia, it's just a little bit of crosstalk between two areas that in the rest of the population tend to be separate but neighboring. So it's like porous borders between two countries. They just get a little bit of data leakage, and that's what causes them to have a joint sensation of something.

In the case of synesthesia, it's just a little bit of crosstalk between two areas that in the rest of the population tend to be separate but neighboring. So it's like porous borders between two countries. They just get a little bit of data leakage, and that's what causes them to have a joint sensation of something.

I suspect it's the latter, which is to say everyone loves pointing out synesthetic musicians, but no one has done a study on how many deep sea divers have synesthesia or how many accountants have synesthesia. And so we don't really know if it's disproportionate among musicians.

I suspect it's the latter, which is to say everyone loves pointing out synesthetic musicians, but no one has done a study on how many deep sea divers have synesthesia or how many accountants have synesthesia. And so we don't really know if it's disproportionate among musicians.

I suspect it's the latter, which is to say everyone loves pointing out synesthetic musicians, but no one has done a study on how many deep sea divers have synesthesia or how many accountants have synesthesia. And so we don't really know if it's disproportionate among musicians.

So typically, as you said, it's totally idiosyncratic. Each synesthete has... his or her own colors for letters. So my A might be yellow, your A is purple, and so on. And then what happened is, with two colleagues of mine at Stanford, we found in this database of tens of thousands of synesthetes that I've collected over the years, we found that starting in the late 60s,

So typically, as you said, it's totally idiosyncratic. Each synesthete has... his or her own colors for letters. So my A might be yellow, your A is purple, and so on. And then what happened is, with two colleagues of mine at Stanford, we found in this database of tens of thousands of synesthetes that I've collected over the years, we found that starting in the late 60s,

So typically, as you said, it's totally idiosyncratic. Each synesthete has... his or her own colors for letters. So my A might be yellow, your A is purple, and so on. And then what happened is, with two colleagues of mine at Stanford, we found in this database of tens of thousands of synesthetes that I've collected over the years, we found that starting in the late 60s,

there was some percentage of synesthetes who happened to share exactly the same colors. These synesthetes were in different locations, but they all had the same thing. And then that percentage rose to about 15% in the mid-70s.

there was some percentage of synesthetes who happened to share exactly the same colors. These synesthetes were in different locations, but they all had the same thing. And then that percentage rose to about 15% in the mid-70s.

there was some percentage of synesthetes who happened to share exactly the same colors. These synesthetes were in different locations, but they all had the same thing. And then that percentage rose to about 15% in the mid-70s.

What we had always suspected is that maybe there was some imprinting that happens, which is to say, there's a quilt in your grandmother's house that has a red A and a yellow B and a purple C and so on. But, you know, everyone has different things that they grew up with as little kids. And so it was strange that this was going on.

What we had always suspected is that maybe there was some imprinting that happens, which is to say, there's a quilt in your grandmother's house that has a red A and a yellow B and a purple C and so on. But, you know, everyone has different things that they grew up with as little kids. And so it was strange that this was going on.