The noetic connection: synaesthesia, psychedelics, and language
Digital Creativity January 1, 2005 DOI: 10.1080/14626260500173146 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractSynaesthesias are understood and interpreted differently across scientific, art-historical, literary, phenomenological, ethnographic, and psychedelic literatures, reflecting varying comfort with first-person experiential reports. This paper examines connections between synaesthesias, psychedelic experience, and language, focusing on Terence McKenna's synaesthetic language experiences on DMT and magic mushrooms. It also describes the challenges of creating and performing with the Synestheater, a system that enables live, multi-mapped weaving of visual, aural, and linguistic systems in performance.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Magic telescope Experiential learning Ethnography Psychology Aesthetics |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key finding | Argues that synaesthesias, psychedelic experience, and language are interrelated, and that the Synestheater system enables complex live performances integrating multiple sensory and linguistic mappings. |
Abstract
Abstract The literatures that touch on synaesthesias-scientific, art-historical, literary, phenomenological, ethnographic, psychodelic-vary widely in their definitions, their interpretations, and their degree of comfort with the first-person, subjective nature of experiential reports. The significances given to synaesthetic experiences are similarly wide-ranging. This paper explores the relationships among synaesthesias, psychedelic experience, and language, highlighting Terence McKenna's synaesthetic language experiences on DMT and magic mushrooms. We describe the complexities of creating and performing with the Synestheater, a system that provides the means to weave together, in multiple mappings, two or more complex visual, aural, and linguistic systems in live performance.