Kaitlin the Synesthetic

Besides learning more about neurology then I ever thought I would, I also learned some fun things while in the lab: Kaitlin is synesthetic.

Specifically she has some sort of grapheme-color synesthesia. But she doesn’t see numbers or letters in colors. Well not really. She says she sees “specs” in numbers. As she scans the specifications of hardware, its emf frequency, fcc rating, input requirements, etc; it becomes colored.

Adit and I would quiz her on the fcc rating of a equipment and she’d look up at the spec sheet and give the right answer instantly. It seems the darker the blue the higher the rating. Who knew? Well, okay Kaitlin – but no one else, because we can’t see the colors.

It was wild looking at Kaitlin stand back from the spec sheets and have us rearrange them as if she’s matching color swatches. But it works, so I don’t mess with it. She could tell what was compatible with what by seeing if the colors flowed well together or if they clashed. Hardware configuration as interior design.

Adit is hardware and software conflict free.