synesthesia

getting high

taste (flavor)

wood

1990s

ice cream

1980s

coffee

sound

vision

Star Wars

sharpness

water

hotness

coldness

roundness

drinking water

mathematics

Friday

multiplication

smell

Play-Doh

is the iconic qualities of touch and sense interplay.

s 'synesthesia,' which McLuhan defines as 'the iconic qualities of touch and sense interplay' (249

is the idea that there is no such thing as 'just looking'. Rather, each of our senses is a modality of perception, not distinct, but cooperating and implicated with one another. Thus our sight sees what our hands can touch, our nose can smell, and our tongue can taste.

My point in all of this is not that anthropologist should simply 'look' at the world, ignoring the other modalities, as a means of understanding others. The doctrine of 'synesthcsia', one of Merleau-Ponty's (1998: 228-29) longstanding tenets, prohibits us from regarding the various senses as altogether discrete or isolated from one another. All our senses are modalities of perception, and are as such cooperative and commutable. Our sight is, consequently, never just sight it sees what our hands can touch, our nose can smell, and our tongue can taste. Indeed, all of our non-visual senses are implicated in our vision, and there is no such activity as 'just' looking (Sobchack 1992: 78). (Willerslev, Rene in Skilled Visions: Between Apprenticeship and Standards edited by Cristina Grasseni)

is a common phenomenon in the world --- Perfumes, colors, and sounds echo one another.

Perfumes, colors, and sounds echo one another.

synesthesia, n.Memes

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