Real life subtitles (1 Viewer)

Optimus Prime

Subscribing Member
VIP Subscribing Member
VIP Contributor
Joined
Jul 18, 1998
Messages
24,516
Reaction score
52,506
Online
Never heard of this

Not gonna lie, more than a few times this would have come in handy
================

Imagine having a conversation with someone and seeing each word they use appear before your eyes like subtitles in a film, or even as speech bubbles near the speaker’s mouth.

Now, picture trying to read a book on a crowded train, only to have the sentences spoken around you intrude on your vision, as if they were printed right in front of your eyes.

Or, even more intriguing, seeing your own thoughts written out in your mind’s eye. This is the everyday experience of those living with ticker-tape synaesthesia.

“When you and I talk, everything you say appears as written words in my mind,” says François Le Chevalier, 73, over Zoom. “It’s just like when I am reading – sometimes the words appear handwritten, other times typewritten, and occasionally even in bold.”

Synaesthesia refers to the blending of the senses. In the most common form, sounds are seen as colours. Ticker-tape synaesthesia – named after 19th-century machines that printed news and stock prices on thin paper strips, or “tickers” – describes a different manifestation of this trait.

The experience can vary widely. “Classically it would be a visualisation, where people see subtitles in their mind’s eye, but there is a lot of variation in how this appears,” says Mark Price, a professor in psychology at the University of Bergen who works as part of the Bergen Laboratory for the Study of Decision, Intuition, Consciousness, and Emotion.

He explains that in some, less common instances, the mind may project the subtitles as if they were appearing in the external world. The experience can differ in whether the subtitles are static or moving, whether full words or just parts of them appear, or only certain key words are highlighted.

For some, it might feel as though their mind is mimicking the physical act of writing the word, a phenomenon known as motor imagery. “Some might notice typing words on a phone or a computer keyboard,” says Price.

And it’s nots just spoken words that appear as written, but pseudowords too, according to Fabien Hauw, a neurologist and cognitive neuroscientist at the Paris Brain Institute.

Pseudowords, which although not real words are phonologically correct, can also be visualised by people experiencing ticker-tape synaesthesia,” he says. “Subtitled speech can appear for noises that can be translated in a phonological way.

For example, when someone is laughing, some may see it appear written as ‘hahaha’. For others, if they hear a cat meowing, they may see the word ‘meow’ written.”…….


 
Never heard of this

Not gonna lie, more than a few times this would have come in handy
================

Imagine having a conversation with someone and seeing each word they use appear before your eyes like subtitles in a film, or even as speech bubbles near the speaker’s mouth.

Now, picture trying to read a book on a crowded train, only to have the sentences spoken around you intrude on your vision, as if they were printed right in front of your eyes.

Or, even more intriguing, seeing your own thoughts written out in your mind’s eye. This is the everyday experience of those living with ticker-tape synaesthesia.

“When you and I talk, everything you say appears as written words in my mind,” says François Le Chevalier, 73, over Zoom. “It’s just like when I am reading – sometimes the words appear handwritten, other times typewritten, and occasionally even in bold.”

Synaesthesia refers to the blending of the senses. In the most common form, sounds are seen as colours. Ticker-tape synaesthesia – named after 19th-century machines that printed news and stock prices on thin paper strips, or “tickers” – describes a different manifestation of this trait.

The experience can vary widely. “Classically it would be a visualisation, where people see subtitles in their mind’s eye, but there is a lot of variation in how this appears,” says Mark Price, a professor in psychology at the University of Bergen who works as part of the Bergen Laboratory for the Study of Decision, Intuition, Consciousness, and Emotion.

He explains that in some, less common instances, the mind may project the subtitles as if they were appearing in the external world. The experience can differ in whether the subtitles are static or moving, whether full words or just parts of them appear, or only certain key words are highlighted.

For some, it might feel as though their mind is mimicking the physical act of writing the word, a phenomenon known as motor imagery. “Some might notice typing words on a phone or a computer keyboard,” says Price.

And it’s nots just spoken words that appear as written, but pseudowords too, according to Fabien Hauw, a neurologist and cognitive neuroscientist at the Paris Brain Institute.

Pseudowords, which although not real words are phonologically correct, can also be visualised by people experiencing ticker-tape synaesthesia,” he says. “Subtitled speech can appear for noises that can be translated in a phonological way.

For example, when someone is laughing, some may see it appear written as ‘hahaha’. For others, if they hear a cat meowing, they may see the word ‘meow’ written.”…….


Damn, that seems like overload.

I have the opposite. My memory for conversations and printed text is sketchy at best. However, my memory for events, even those of 50 years ago is sharp and vivid regarding sights, sounds, touch, etc. This is a double-edged sword because with a breath I can be outside the hospital helipad as my 7 week old daughter was medevac'd to Children's National and smell the warn scent of kerosene (jet fuel, or JP-5, is used in helicopter turbine engines) the warm night, the swish of the rotors and my hands on my son's shoulders. I can also remember too well the sheer terror of that moment.

On the good side, I can remember very well standing in the kitchen at my date's house last Saturday ( and again on her sofa this past Friday :) ) and remember how she smelled, the feel of her skin and hair, looking into her beautiful blue eyes, and how her lips felt.... It's very potent.

Sometimes it's overload :hihi:
 
Last edited:
Before movies were invented I doubt we dream cinematically

We see something and it triggers a music/lyrical memory

media and memory are swarming in our brains and presents differently bc people have different brain chemistry

That being said, I need Adam West’s Batman recognized as the real reason for this condition
 
Damn, that seems like overload.

I have the opposite. My memory for conversations and printed text is sketchy at best. However, my memory for events, even those of 50 years ago is sharp and vivid regarding sights, sounds, touch, etc. This is a double-edged sword because with a breath I can be outside the hospital helipad as my 7 week old daughter was medevac'd to Children's National and smell the warn scent of kerosene (jet fuel, or JP-5, is used in helicopter turbine engines) the warm night, the swish of the rotors and my hands on my son's shoulders. I can also remember too well the sheer terror of that moment.

On the good side, I can remember very well standing in the kitchen at my date's house last Saturday ( and again on her sofa this past Friday :) ) and remember how she smelled, the feel of her skin and hair, looking into her beautiful blue eyes, and how her lips felt.... It's very potent.

Sometimes it's overload :hihi:

I've read stories about people with total recall (I think Marilu Henner is one of them) and people think that being able to remember every single detail about every single moment of your life, with perfect clarity like it happened yesterday is some sort of super power

I think all of said some version of overload and it's not all it's cracked up to be and most said they wished they didn't have it
 
Last edited:
Even though I haven't heard about this particular condition I've read about similar ones

People who can see music or smell colors

It's thought that people who claim to see people's auras have something similar

I do wonder if it's a brain defect or brain upgrade, like if some people could see a little bit more of the light spectrum, or hear a bit higher and/or lower frequencies, than they are supposed to

Did something switch on in their brains that wasn't supposed to switch on for a hundred thousand years?
 
Last edited:
Damn, that seems like overload.

I have the opposite. My memory for conversations and printed text is sketchy at best. However, my memory for events, even those of 50 years ago is sharp and vivid regarding sights, sounds, touch, etc. This is a double-edged sword because with a breath I can be outside the hospital helipad as my 7 week old daughter was medevac'd to Children's National and smell the warn scent of kerosene (jet fuel, or JP-5, is used in helicopter turbine engines) the warm night, the swish of the rotors and my hands on my son's shoulders. I can also remember too well the sheer terror of that moment.

On the good side, I can remember very well standing in the kitchen at my date's house last Saturday ( and again on her sofa this past Friday :) ) and remember how she smelled, the feel of her skin and hair, looking into her beautiful blue eyes, and how her lips felt.... It's very potent.

Sometimes it's overload :hihi:
If you don't mind my asking

Is everything you remember that vivid or just certain ones?

and are you remembering the moment or more reliving the moment?

Do you remember the sheer terror or are you feeling the sheer terror as if you don't know what happens later?
 
I've ready stories about people with total recall (I think Marilu Henner is one of them) and people think that being able to remember every single detail about every single moment of your life, with perfect clarity like it happened yesterday is some sort of super power

I think all of said some version of overload and it's not all it's cracked up to be and most said they wished they didn't have it
Yes, if I could dump the bad memories and keep the good ones I’d be all set. That said I’d be unwilling to drop the good memories along with the bad. Reliving some of those positive memories has carried me through the bad times. Lately I’ve been adding to the positive side :)
 
Last edited:
If you don't mind my asking

Is everything you remember that vivid or just certain ones?

and are you remembering the moment or more reliving the moment?

Do you remember the sheer terror or are you feeling the sheer terror as if you don't know what happens later?
Good questions. I can pull up many memories from my 63 years. Generally it’s the memories infused with emotion that remain the most powerful. The emotion can be the fear from being chased by yellow jackets 50+ years ago with 2 friends, the excitement of surfing, drag racing, or skiing, and of course the heady rush of sexual encounters.

Many times I am indeed reliving the moment. My counselor has helped with coping strategies to cut off the painful memories. She says reliving the positive events is helpful in times of stress. She also said most people have great difficulty describing events with the same level of detail I seem to be able to muster.

It’s almost as though I don’t know what happens later. When my mother died in 1988 from a burst Aorta it happened right in front of me and my sisters. They hardly remember the event, but recall every detail.

I’m sure I’m going to drift into la-la land tomorrow at work. I spent Friday evening and today with my lady friend, and those memories are fresh indeed. She’s wonderful :). It’s not just the sensual/sexual physical, we took a long walk in a local park, and I can vividly remember the sun shining on her face, her laugh, and the feel of her hand in mine.

Yes, I’m smitten 😊
 
Last edited:
Ok, last time. I am an idiot. I need plain English and go slowly. What in the hades are you all talking about?
 
Ok, last time. I am an idiot. I need plain English and go slowly. What in the hades are you all talking about?
How some folks experience the world around them, and then how some remember those experiences. Memories of past events for some seem to be almost a wall of text, which appears to be true for those with total recall. For others like me, memories are much more visceral and are composed of a sometimes confusing and sometimes exhilarating mix of sight, sound, and touch. I do remember conversations, but am more likely to remember with greater accuracy the environment in which they took place.
 
How some folks experience the world around them, and then how some remember those experiences. Memories of past events for some seem to be almost a wall of text, which appears to be true for those with total recall. For others like me, memories are much more visceral and are composed of a sometimes confusing and sometimes exhilarating mix of sight, sound, and touch. I do remember conversations, but am more likely to remember with greater accuracy the environment in which they took place.
Thanks Doc. I relate to you as well - I can even remember smells from 30 plus years ago.
Walls of text - no, not me, but I think that’s incredible as wells
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread

    Back
    Top Bottom