This page contains all the readers’ comments on the “Mathematical synesthesia” article, received between 2023 and 2026.
Comment
by: cubicinfinity. March 4, 2023 at 8:18 AM
One thing I
do experience is the idea that numbers have their own personality. However,
it's not in a very anthropomorphic sense. Instead, a number like 17 is just 17.
It's this prime number that has its own way of existing. I don't automatically
know what a number's personality is; I have to get familiar with it. The 10
base system we use has an effect on how I see a number; specifically, it allows
me to view it as an addition of powers of ten (duh). But as I get to know the
number better, I think of its prime factors and stuff and that becomes central
to its identity. I don't have a perfect memory; it's just a matter of how
familiar I am with a number. I'm never going to forget that 111 is 3 times 37.
All that
being said, I consider numbers to have an intrinsic "personality"
that I can become familiar with and this seems like a logical thing to do.
That's probably not synesthesia, but are there any other opinions on this?
Numbers
also have shape to them, but these shapes are not necessarily fixed, just like
the personality. They are basically just polygons, so larger numbers aren't
really that distinct, aside from the modular arithmetic you get, but I don't
have all that memorized. I created this tool partly because I wanted to be able
to look up the shapes of various interactions:
https://cubicinfinity.com/modviz.html
Reply
by: Jim. March 4, 2023 at 8:25 AM
For
clarification, I don't only view numbers as polygons. The number 8, for example
is easy to think of as the Earth cut into octants, as it is the simplest proper
perfect cube (not the unit 1). 8 also makes me think of spiders :).
Reply
by: Jim. March 4, 2023 at 8:28 AM
Sometimes.
Not all the time. My brain doesn't have time to think about spiders while doing
math. 8 is too simple a number. But if I see 57, I'll often be like "Ah,
57. so common, yet so mysterious." but in a faster, less conscious way.
Reply
by: Pau (The Synesthesia Tree author). March 6, 2023 at 10:11 PM
Very
interesting comments. I love your modular visualiser, I will be having a go at
that and see what it turns out! Maths synesthesia isn't my speciality at all,
unfortunately, so I can't really point you in any useful direction. Numbers
having personality is certainly considered synesthesia, but you're saying your
ordinal linguistic personfication is of higher numbers too, any and all
numbers, is that right? so it's different from the vast majority (where only
single-digit numbers have personality and the bigger numbers are just
combinations of those). But it seems quite logical to me that some people could
have this, and it's perfectly logical that you would have to "get to
know" the number before you realise what its personality is. It makes me
think of Daniel Tammet's hundreds or thousands of numbers, each one with their
own specific presence, shape, colour and so on, I can't remember if his numbers
had personality exactly, but I believe they certainly had attitude! Anyhow
you're probably familiar with the literature about him. I can't remember ever
having come across or read about a case of anyone with separate personalities
for all multiple digit numbers, but if I do I will reply to your comment here.
I was thinking that Shereshevsky might have had separate personalities for all
numbers but reading what he said I think he didn't: he just had them for
numbers up to 9 and the two-digit ones would just be something like those two
people meeting each other.
When you
mentioned 111 thought of Oliver Sacks and the savant twins in the book The Man
who Mistook his Wife for a Hat who had that instant concept of "one
hundred and eleven-ness".
It would be
interesting to know more about the personalities of your numbers. But I imagine
they're a long way from the rather topical characters that ordinal linguistic
personification seems to produce sometimes, and probably more about
"attitude" and uniqueness.
Comment
by:Max. April 21, 2023 at 10:36 PM
I’m have a
math PhD with synesthesia for mathematical concepts. I don’t think it’s highly
detailed, but I instinctively associate certain theorems, objects, and entire
disciplines with colors. Complex analysis is tan, topology is green, and
differentiable manifolds are orange.
Reply
by: Pau (The Synesthesia Tree author). April 22, 2023 at 11:17 AM
Very
interesting! I’ve included your comment as a new section on this page (no. 6)
as this would fit into the Coloured sequence type of synesthesia and I only had
sections on people who have colours for numbers or mathematical symbols, not
other concepts, so it’s different. I’ve also added this category to the list on
the page on Coloured sequence synesthesia.
https://www.thesynesthesiatree.com/2021/02/coloured-sequence-synesthesia.html
Thank you
for commenting!
Comment
by: Anonymous. August 14, 2023 at 9:45 AM
I view
multiples of numbers in shades of a color and with a physical location. For
example, multiples of 3 are green and in a column above my head and to the
right, extending up into space. And number colors get influenced by the numbers
that can be multiplied to equal them... For example, my multiples of 4 are
shades of blue, so 12 is a green-blue. Prime numbers tend to be yellow because
1 is yellow to me. My colors also have an even or oddness relationship that
then gets applied to other things. For example: yellow, green, orange, and red
are odd while blue, pink, and purple are even, and, because I associate letters
with colors, H is odd, while B is even. I then associate people with colors
(and corresponding even or oddness) based on the spelling of their names.
Comment
by: Anonymous. October 3, 2024 at 4:22 AM
0 - Boy
1 - Neutral
2 - Boy
3 - Girl
4 - Boy
5 - Girl
6 - Boy
7 - Girl
8 - Boy
9 - Girl
10 - Boy
A - Girl
B - Boy
C - Girl
D is a Boy
E - Boy
F - Boy
G - Girl
H - Boy
I - Boy
J - Boy
K - Girl
L - Boy
M - Boy
N - Boy
O - Neutral
P - Girl
Q - Girl
R - Boy
S - Girl
T - Boy
U - Boy
V - Girl
W - Boy
X - Boy
Y - Girl
Z - Boy
Comment
by: Anonymous. October 3, 2024 at 4:23 AM
Jan - Boy
Feb - Boy
Mar - Boy
Apr - Girl
May - Boy
(weird)
June - Boy
(weird)
July - Boy
August -
Girl
September -
Girl
October -
IDK
November -
IDK (Probably Boy)
December -
Boy
Comment
by: Anonymous. November 30, 2024 at 2:54 AM
This might
be a stupid question, but is there a type of mathematical synesthesia for
geometry? I have always been really good at geometry, especially when it comes
to visualizing the objects and reflecting them over the origin (and the other
things you can do with that). I was a pro at it within the first 10 minutes of
class in early 6th grade, and even now can do it like my times tables.
Currently I'm in high school, and I do have other types of synesthesia, just
none so far math related (that I know of, I'm still figuring this out). It's
probably just me visualizing stuff well though.
Reply
by: Pau (The Synesthesia Tree author). December 6, 2024 at 8:19 AM
Hi! That’s
interesting! I had to look up what that process was actually, as I don’t have
much knowledge of geometry at all. But from what you say I don’t think it’s
connected with synesthesia. I think you have excellent natural skills in mental
image visualisation and manipulation.
Reply by:
Anonymous. December 7, 2024 at 7:12 PM
Ok that's
what I thought, and sorry with the confusion about geometry. Thanks for the
clarification!!!
Comment
by: Anonymous. October 20, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I've for a
long time realized I have misophonia, but this is the first time I'm realizing
I also may have a form of synesthesia—Ordinal Linguistic Personification, I
think. Ever since I can remember, I've had very visceral emotional reactions to
certain numbers. the number 4 has always caused a sense of dread, so much so
that I remember not wanting to turn 4 years old and counting down the days
until I turned 5. This has happened every decade of my life and in years that
end with 4 - 1984, 1994, 2004, etc. Some numbers remain neutral, while others
are good, and still others like talismans. Odd numbers generally feel safe
while even numbers are less trustworthy. I excelled in math, especially
advanced math, but could never calculate combinations of 6s and 8s in my head.
It was/is like they cannot exist together in my head. 6+5=11, 6+7=13, but
6+8=" " or 8x4=32, but 8x6=" ". It was only through rote
memorization that I was ever able to overcome it but I still can't visualize
them, like there's a wall blocking the answer but I've memorized what is
supposed to be behind the wall. Seeing the numbers together still causes
friction in my brain and a sense of unease.
Comment
by: Anonymous. February 20, 2026 at 6:35 AM
I don’t
have Synesthesia (diagnosed), but I have this thing where everything i see is
in mathematical concepts. Everything in itself is on a grid, almost like I see
it in 4D, not 3D. People are all numbers, and those numbers fit together.
Someone who is 2 fits together with someone who is 8 as long as they align on
the grid. It goes further and applies to actual mathematics. I can see maths in
the grid and am able to do complex math quite quickly. I have always been
incredibly good at math, I took algebra 1 in 4th grade for example (and
passed). Although I don’t believe this is synesthesia, I think it has some
similarities and I can across this page while doing late-night research to see
if how I see the world is like a documented scientific thing.
Go back to the page on Mathematical synesthesias
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