Of Two Minds

The taste of the Star Wars Imperial March – if you had synaesthesia

Posted by The Omnibrain on August 18, 2008
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i-75fa6f7cebb4145668724f37f5a52b36-steve_icon_medium.jpg Thanks to a reader, Daniel Keogh, we have a wonderful video detailing what the Imperial March from Star Wars would taste like to one particular synaesthete who has some particularly odd sensation pairings.

Check it out:

The Professor Funk also has a whole bunch of other entertaining looking videos about other aspects of science. We give them 4 thumbs up. I never did understand why Ebert, et. al. could only ever give a single thumbs up. After all there were two people with four total thumbs. Meh whatever, not everyone can be as awesome as Shelley and I.

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Comments

  1. #1 Nasikabatrachus
    August 18, 2008

    I used to taste cherry flavored juicy-juice whenever I heard country music. I suppose that’s more of a basic formation of associations, though.

    Star Wars must taste awful for that woman. I wonder if she eats with noise canceling headphones on, or if that’s not necessary because only intervals trigger a taste.

  2. #2 jge
    August 19, 2008

    They say the video is “no longer available” :-(

  3. #3 Marto
    August 19, 2008

    I’ve got some sort of malformation in my head, that causes epilepsy and synesthesia too. It’s very similar to the lady’s: I feel sounds. May sound so cool at first, but it’s awful… You go down the street, hear the screech of a car, and it’s like getting stabbed in the middle of your lower back. And it’s all too often.
    But then you come home, you hear beethoven and you love it.

  4. #4 Charlie (Colorado)
    August 19, 2008

    “… as Shelley and me.”

    Sincerely,

    Grammar Pedants R Us.

    (Hi, Shelley!)

  5. #5 dhumaigobae
    August 20, 2008

    Marto- I experience something similar. Certain sounds I can feel ever time in the same part of the body (screeching makes te back of my neck itchy,etc) but when listen to music I like, its so…euphoric and I see colours and shapes and the physical response then is just so comforting. Its like I feel nothing could make me feel better or worse than the particular sound. I often wear headphones and my ipod though to drow out outer sounds that bother me so much. Some big sounds like symphonies, etc are just too overwhelming. I don’t do concerts!

  6. #6 themadlolscientist, FCD (AKA Witch Tyler, Leader of the Pedants' Revolt)
    August 20, 2008

    When I was a kid, I had a couple of very specific crossovers. The feel of a feather tasted salty (but not the other way around), and bitter things tasted black (not just bleccchhh), but only if the bitter taste was really strong. When I tried to explain that to other people, they looked at me as if I’d just come from the moon.

    @ #4 Charlie (Colorado): Actually, he had it right. “Meh whatever, not everyone can be as awesome as Shelley and I [are].” “I” is the subject of the dependent clause.

    OTOH, every time I hear “between you and I,” I want to strangle someone. It should be “between you and me.” It’s a prepositional phrase, and “me” is one of the objects of the preposition, not a subject.

    Of course, language evolves. Spoken (informal) usage evolves much faster than (formal) written usage. I suspect that eventually “between you and I” and “as awesome as…me” will become proper written usage.

    My pedantry can beat up your pedantry, nyaah nyah nyah nyaah nyaaaaaaah. :-)

  7. #7 Ton
    August 21, 2008

    Sweet video. Where did you find it? I bookmarked your blog for later.

    You may be interested in John Assaraf’s new book “The Answer.” It talks about the science behind rewiring your brain for success in life and business. You may want to check it out for a blog post… http://www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2

    Best,

    Tom