#112 - How Synesthesia Secretly Shapes Your Reality

In this episode of the podcast, Matt explores the phenomenon of synesthesia, arguing that it's not a rare neurological condition but a common aspect of human perception. He begins with an anecdote about someone who perceives Wednesdays as sky blue, then introduces the Bouba-Kiki experiment to demonstrate how our brains create connections between unrelated sensory experiences. Matt discusses the history of synesthesia research, including the discovery of shared color associations due to Fisher-Price magnets, and highlights the enhanced memory abilities of synesthetes. He delves into the cross-activation and disinhibited feedback models to explain the neurological basis of synesthesia, and shares examples of how synesthesia manifests in music and everyday language. The episode concludes by suggesting that synesthesia underlies our ability to use metaphor and connect seemingly disparate concepts, shaping our individual realities through sensory associations.