on tickertape synesthesia aka. mental subtitles
I see what you're saying.
No, I mean, I literally SEE what you're saying.
Well, not actually physically SEE it, but everything you say to me in a conversation is spelled out in mental subtitles in my mind's eye. I don't have to try very hard to do this, it just naturally happens. In fact, I can't turn it off.
My brain has an odd little quirk called Tickertape Synesthesia. This phenomenon was first reported in 1883 by Darwin's cousin, Francis Galton. He said that, "some few persons see mentally in print every word that is uttered (...) and they read them off usually as from a long imaginary strip of paper, such as is unwound from telegraphic instruments."
I only recently realized that this is a thing, because naturally I thought EVERYONE visualised a written dictation of what they are hearing. But, apparently not. (That's what happens when you only have one brain your entire life and the little things you think are normal, are really quite odd.)
I visualise the words people say to me, and I'll also visualise the words I'm speaking when I say them. In fact, I'll often "compose" what I'm going to say before I say it by visualising the sentence in my head before I speak.
It meant that I was freakishly good at spelling from a very young age. My teachers were baffled at how I could spell words like "antidisestablishmentarianism" when I was in grade three, but I was equally baffled by how people could NOT spell. Like, you just say the word in your head and then copy it down?
I'm also pretty quick at dictation too. I can hold a couple of sentences I've just heard in my working memory and copy them down from my mental image of the words.
It also means that I simply CANNOT write if I am listening to music with lyrics, and it takes significant concentration to pay attention to a conversation if I can hear another conversation near me. It's like the competing subtitles overlap and it's so damn distracting.
It also goes the other way too. When I read, I hear the words vocalised in my head. (Although, maybe this is more normal?)
The way I figured it out? I started learning languages. I'm currently trying to learn Georgian, and I noticed something was odd. Right now, I can confidently read and understand simple texts - probably about a grade 2-3 reading level I'd say. But if the SAME words are spoken to me, they just don't compute.
Why? Because the subtitles aren't there. I'm desperately scanning for them, to try to "read" what the person is saying so I can reply. (This explains why, hilariously, I will squint at someone when I can't hear them well.) But my brain doesn't reliably produce subtitles for Georgian yet, so it's sooo hard for me to comprehend it when it's spoken to me.
Every now and then, I'll "see" the odd word pop through. It's a word I know well and I know how to spell, so I can "link" it to the sound I'm hearing and I can understand.
But otherwise it's illegible and therefore unintelligible. I'd describe it as looking at a piece of paper that once had something written on it, but it has been crumpled up, forgotten in a pocket and put through the wash. You could MAYBE make out a word or two, or see the rough shape of a word and guess at what it was, but you can't read it quickly and confidently.
It also doesn't help that Georgian has it's own alphabet. I'm pretty sure I'll need to learn to read proficiently in Georgian script before my brain can quickly subtitle what I'm hearing. Right now, I see a transliteration from the Georgian script into the Latin script: "Gamarjoba" instead of "გამარჯობა." This somewhat works for the time being, but it's definitely not full comprehension.
French is a little easier since at least we use the same alphabet. I'm starting to get weak subtitles in French, and listening to French podcasts has been a great way to strengthen them.
Some Questions I've Been Asked About My Tickertape Synesthesia
Do you literally "see" the words in your field of vision?
No, although I know some people with Tickertape Synesthesia do. It's not like I'm hallucinating words floating in the air, I simply see them in my "mind's eye" - in my imagination.
What happens when you hear a word that you don't know how to spell?
This happens rarely, because I know how to spell 99% of the words most people use on a day to day basis. But when it does, my brain will make a "best guess" phonetically or logically. This usually works well, unless something has a very strange spelling or it is a homophone.
For example, when I was younger and I first heard of the Peace Corps, I assumed it was the "Peace Core." Then, I saw it written down and I understood that it was "corps" and not "core". Now, when I hear about the Peace Corps, I will see it spelled properly in my head.
Do you also see an image of the thing being spoken of?
Sometimes, but it's fainter and requires slightly more conscious cognitive effort. For example, if you said the word, "elephant" I'd see the word "elephant" in my imagination and MAYBE a faint image of an actual elephant. But I'd have to choose to bring the "picture" of the elephant into focus, whereas the word "elephant" is there automatically.
When the words I'm hearing are abstract concepts that are difficult to immediately attach images too, such as, "democracy" or "inspiration," I don't see any images. Just the words, spelled out in my brain.
Does it happen when you're listening to music?
Absolutely. Any lyrics in any language that I hear clearly and understand will end up getting subtitled. Like I said, I can't turn it off.
Can you hear colours, taste words, or experience any other type of Synesthesia?
Nope, so far this is the only thing I've noticed.
I suppose I just have an abnormally strong connection between phonemes and graphemes - aka sounds and letters. It's so strong that the reading mechanism in my brain is "forced" as soon as I am exposed to any vocal sounds. After all, Synesthesia is simply when two or more of the senses interact in a way that is unusual.
So, if anyone else is reading this who experiences Tickertape Synesthesia in any form, I'd love to hear from you. Please leave a message in my guestbook and I'll email you back.
I've never met anyone else who has this, and I've only been able to piece it together from the small amount of information and a handful of studies online. I'd love to meet someone else who has this, so we can compare notes!