Well, from the colors my computer screen is generating for me, it actually looks like we perceive a few alphanumeric characters in a similar way...

I made a ripoff version of your image with my colors. Not 100% for me either, but close enough. Looks like there are a few vague similarities, but definitely some striking differences. What a world it would be if I saw black R's and purple 7's!
http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/...esthesia-1.png

A bit off topic, but I just find this kind of thing so interesting.

This is getting very interesting! Geekoid, I found your striped '1' very cool! When I see letters and numbers, they're only coloured and are masculine/feminine.
I'll post my alphabet very soon.

Yup, music gives me strong visual sensations. Too complicated to be explained, you guys would need to get into my head for a while but I don't recommend it - it's weird up there. Often I see little stories, kinda like music videos when I listen to some songs. I actually would really like to make music videos. I've made few for fun, but they're not exactly music videos, more or less just videos where I use music.

Human mind is a curious thing. Considering that people like so different kind of music, we must sense things very differently. Same must go with colours and images since people tend to have favourite colours. Also, have you people ever wondered if someone sees colours completely differently than you do? (not talking about colour blind people) I mean, we all agree that grass is green, but what if someone sees green as I see blue? Then when I show them something else green, they agree with me that it's green, though they see it as I would see something blue. How could we ever know how other people see this world. It might look completely different with your eyes compared to mine. Ok, I'm not sure if I'm making myself clear here :D Just curious, curious things.

Oh, one more thing. I definitely think all people should become blind for a while. Just for a week or two in order to be able to appreciate seeing. I lost my sight due to an illness when I was 15 (no worries, everything went ok, I can see again, as you might already have guessed :D ) and it made a great impact on me. When the bandages were removed and I was able too see again, wow, it was amazing! Ever since I've paid much more attention to all kinds of little details and colours - world seems a lot more beautiful place than it was before. In fact, it was after that when I became more interested in all kinds of art - music, photographing, painting, drawing...

I had a heated argument with an ex once about whether something was blue, as I said, or purple, as he claimed. Perception is a unique and curious thing.

My mom and I always get into arguments like that. I have a much broader term for "black" than she does. For me, there's neutral [grey] black, green-black, red-black, and blue-black. But she often likes to lump together what I see as the green and grey-blacks, and considers any blue-black (no matter how dark) to be navy blue.

One frequent debate that I've noticed has to do with violets. Some people like to agree with the poem that says "violets are blue," while other people insist that, like their name, violets are decidedly violet (purple). I usually try to get people to meet in the middle and just agree on "indigo," if they'll go for it. But a lot of it depends on the lighting:

as for perception, color blindness would certainly be a factor, too. I wonder if there are color blind synesthetes?

appleghost The striped "1" is kind of symbolic. I see it as a red-black. If you've ever seen something colored in black pen ink, and then tilt it into the light, there's usually a metallic red sheen that appears. That's how 1 shows up to me (which is why I could never decide if it should be black or red).

It'll be cool to see your perception of the alphabet!

mervi Good points as usual. The idea that people see colors completely differently was one of my favorite "philosophical discoveries" when I was younger. Interestingly enough, it seems to be an idea that many people come to understand on their own, as opposed to being introduced to it.

I should really try being blind for a week. I have degenerative retinas, which I recently got laser eye surgery to correct (by fixing the holes in my retina). My chances of going blind are much higher than most peoples' (probably won't be until I'm in my 60s), so I should really make the most of my sight while I have it.

If you've never experienced synesthesia, it might be baffling.
Seeing music is something that has created some of the greatest musical prodigies and music videos. Could be an interesting topic if you're open to learning something new...

Pretty sure he be trollin', based on a few of his other posts.

This is an amazing thread with some great insight into how people react to music. The connection of the senses is a very important part of the music listening experience (both live and recorded.)

Hey, sorry for being away for so long. Here's my alphabet plus some numbers:

http://i49.tinypic.com/1t6f0w.jpg
I notice that the colour blue (in different shades) is one of the recurring colours.
All the letters of the alphabet (excluding 'X') also appears as masculine/feminine. I find this interesting.
Feminine: B, D, N, P, Q, R, Y,
Masculine: A, C, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, O, S, T, U, V, W, Z

Some of the numbers from 1-10 have (and yes, this might sound insane) different personalities that they have developed through years of math homework. If someone really wants it, I can go a little more in depth.

Anyways, I hope this discussion keeps going. It's extremely interesting. People's heads, people's heads.

Also, please ignore my poorly drawn 'O'. I copied the template you've used, but something went wrong with the 'O', so I had to draw it. That's mad photoshop skillz right there yo

Perhaps the mental visualizations that we perceive while listening to music have something to do with the sound waves from the music vibrating our retinas or the vitreous fluids in our eyeballs, thus sending back signals to our visual cortex that our brain then interprets as mental images?