Ο βάτραχος που κόαζε μπλε: Η συναισθησία και η ανάμειξη των αισθήσεων

by Jamie Ward, Αργυρώ Βατάκη (Editor), Σταυρούλα Σαμαρτζή (Editor)

"Ο Βάτραχος που Κόαζε Μπλε" είναι μια σύγχρονη και προκλητική εργασία που εξερευνά το θέμα της συναισθησίας με ζωντανό και ευχάριστο τρόπο. Για πολλά χρόνια η συναισθησία αποτελούσε ένα άγνωστο αντικείμενο. Και όμως είναι σχεδόν βέβαιο ότι όλοι μας γνωρίζουμε καλά τουλάχιστον έξι ή επτά ανθρώπους που έχουν συναισθησία, απλώς δεν ξέρουμε ποιοι είναι. Σήμερα η επιστήμη αποκαλύπτει τα μυστικά της, και τα ευρήματα μας οδηγούν να αναθεωρήσουμε ριζικά τον τρόπο με τον οποίο είναι οργανωμένες οι αισθήσεις μας. Όπως λέει ο Jamie Ward, η ανάμειξη των αισθήσεων αποτελεί τον κανόνα. Όλοι βιώνουμε πολυαισθητηριακά ερεθίσματα, αν και μόνο μερικοί από εμάς μπορούν να υπερβούν τα εμπόδια για να εισέλθουν στο βασίλειο της συναισθησίας.

Περιεχόμενα
Πρόλογος για την ελληνική έκδοση
Πρόλογος
Εισαγωγή: ο βάτραχος που κόαζε μπλε
1. Ο έγχρωμος αλμπίνο
Ξένοι στην ίδια οικογένεια
Η άνοδος και η πτώση της συναισθησίας
Μπορεί ένας τυφλός να ακούσει πορφυρό;
Όχι αρκετές προεξοχές στο κοτόπουλο
2. Αισθήσεις: πόσες και πόσο αξιόπιστες είναι;
Ο πολύβουος κόσμος των βρεφών
Όταν η ακοή και η όραση συγκρούονται
Από τα τυφλά δείπνα στην "παχιά πάπια"
3. Μια τροποποιημένη πραγματικότητα
Διαβαίνοντας τον ρουβίκωνα: από την πολυαισθητηριακή αντίληψη στη συναισθησία
Γιατί το "ο" είναι άσπρο και ο σοπέν κίτρινος;
Μπορεί η συναισθησία να απενεργοποιηθεί;
4. Η οθόνη στο μέτωπο μου
Το άγγιγμα-φάντασμα
Διαφορετικά είδη χώρου
Ένας χώρος για σκέψη
Ο άνθρωπος "π"
5. Πέρα από τις αισθήσεις
Μια απτική / συγκινητική εικόνα
Γιατί υπάρχει η συναισθησία;
Το επιχείρημα για τη δημιουργικότητα
Το επιχείρημα για την εξελιξη της γλωσσας
Το επιχείρημα για την ανώτερη μνήμη
Ζήτω η διαφορετικότητα
Σημειώσεις
Βιβλιογραφίαα
Ευρετήριο ονομάτων, όρων και θεμάτων

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Science, Neuroscience, Popular Science, Biology

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Dr Jamie Ward is one of the world's leading experts on synesthesia. He has contributed to the understanding of science through numerous talks and media coverage in newspapers, radio and television including documentaries produced by the Discovery Channel and BBC Horizon"

Reviews

[LeAnn L Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Jamie Ward is one of the world’s leading experts on synesthesia. His in-depth passion and research on the topic clearly shows through in this book. Being a synesthete myself, I found the information to be especially interesting.
Here is an excerpt in the book by a synesthete: ‘Family members are baffled by my synesthesia and I am equally baffled as to how their inner mental world works. Are their thought processes monochrome? Do they not even have a mental picture of words and sentences spelt out as they talk or listen to speech?’ Sound odd? Certainly not to a synesthete.
In the final sentence I wrote years ago in a published article, I simply stated, ‘synesthesia isn’t particularly a good thing or bad, it just is.’

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to read something that blows about 2000 years of western epistemology and ontology apart? Do you want it to be written by a scientist? Did you need it to be easy to follow? Then read this book!

Synesthesia is not just the mixing of senses so that one, for example, sees music or tastes letters. It can also involve the ways in which people conceptualize time, space, and numeracy. My partner has synesthesia so reading this gave me a better insight into how she perceives the world. She also said that reading the book revealed to her aspects of her synesthesia that she hadn't realized were there. Pretty cool stuff all around then.

[Almeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

In T. Jefferson Parker's The Fallen, the detective sees the emotion in people’s speech as shapes and colors, which comes in handy when interviewing liars!. You may recall that Death also saw emotional states as color in The Book Thief. So when I had a Challenge Task of "Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction", I was interested enough to investigate further, by reading The Frog Who Croaked Blue: Synesthesia and the Mixing of the Senses by Ward Jamie.

Although the book's intent is to explain Synesthesia, it can't be done without explaining the perception of senses of all humans. This means that if you are a Synesthete (and lots of people are), you might be interested to find out how that is so. AND if you are not, you will be fascinated by both those who are and by your own innards.

[Grumpus · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was OK. It is everything you've ever wanted to know about synesthesia and probably more. Very detailed but not written in a compelling style, for me anyway. I like science and can deal with fact-based writing styles but this one I found a little dry for my tastes. However, if you are looking to learn about synesthesia in detail, then this is the book for you.

[Amy Allred · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's obvious that much research went into this book regarding synesthesia in general. It reports historical citings, interesting studies and anecdotes covering many forms of synesthesia.
I had hopes that it would cover synesthesia as I personally experience it, but it didn't. It is not a comprehensive list of the different types of synesthesia, nor does it claim to be.
Written by a scientist and reads as such.

[Dona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πρόκειται για ένα βιβλίο που αναφέρεται στο φαινόμενο της συναισθησίας.
Βοηθάει πράγματι πολύ στην μελέτη του εν λόγω φαινομένου, ενώ ταυτόχρονα είναι γραμμένο με τέτοιο τρόπο που ελκύει οποιονδήποτε αναγνώστη, ακόμη και χωρίς ειδικό ενδιαφέρον επί του φαινομένου.
Προσωπικά, και έχοντας διαβάσει αρκετά βιβλία για τη συναισθησία, κατατάσσω το συγκεκριμένο μεταξύ των πλέον αγαπημένων μου!

[Eva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Be aware of the fact that this is a project-research-book.. it's highly scientific oriented, thus unfamiliar and unpleasant for those who don't have a clue about neurology.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just what I was expecting. Very informative and detailed.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synesthesia is such a fascinating topic. Unfortunately this book was very dry and academic for my taste. I read this for a book club, and learning about the many types of synesthesia was so interesting, but I found the writing kind of dry.

[Jukka Häkkinen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kiinnostavaati kirjoitettu ja vaikeita tieteellisiä kysymyksiä pelkäämätön moderni katsaus synestesiasta

[Sula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this fascinating read. I was worried it might be heavy, technical reading after seeing some of the reviews, but it was fine. This doesn't list and describe all the various types of synethesia, but the common types are mentioned as well as looking at acquired synethesia. Some of the things it looks at include: how we all mix our senses to some extent, the history of research on synesthesia and the effects of synethesia on creativity, memory and language.

[Dimitris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introductory book to synesthesia, I learned a lot. It is easy and fun to read, does not feel like a textbook at all even though it can be used as one in introductory classes

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating how our brains can be different and allow us to experience life in so many different ways.

[Dan Domanski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a good introduction into synesthesia and its many different varieties. I found it very invigorating reading for non-fiction, although some think it's too dry. I think there are enough anecdotes to balance the research parts of the book. And the research itself is quite interesting! A good book to read and discuss with your friends--you may find yourself debating how many senses humans have!

[Julian Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written more in the style of an educational paper, despite its attention grabbing title, this is an interesting look at the subject of synesthesia.

As a recently discovered synesthete I would have liked more on my area of colourful taste.

[Stefanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not well written but SYNESTHESIA IS SO COOL.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

fascinating topic, uninspiring writing

[Bowdoin]

Jonas Calderon–This book is an account about a fascinating condition, synesthesia, in which music can have color, words can have taste, and time and numbers float through space. Ward takes the most recent research and uses it to develop theories of why it is certain people's experiences with the world is extremely different from the normal experience. Many people who have this condition don't realize that they are experiencing the world differently from anyone else and it isn't until they say something that someone finds odd that they become aware of the uniqueness of their reality. An example of something a synesthete would say is "I don't like my name because it is gray and olive green, although the red-orange 'e' at the end makes it a little better" or "What is that little white noise?"