I am interested in the complex inner workings of the mind and the ways in which we, as humans, interpret emotion. I believe we are all connected by innate attractions toward common emotions and sensations, yet are simultaneously shaped by our individual experiences.
Psychologist Wolfgang Köhler’s bouba/kiki effect reported that the majority of people share certain synesthesia-esque characteristics (crossing of the sensory neurons; e.g., hearing colors, seeing sounds). In his study, participants were presented with the words “bouba” and “kiki” and were asked to pair each with either a soft blue blob or a sharp orange shape. The majority of participants paired “kiki” with the sharp orange shape and “bouba” with the soft blue blob.
I always found the bouba/kiki effect interesting because I live with a severe form of synesthesia, which has had a profound effect on my creativity and the way I perceive the world. The idea that we all have a somewhat connected form of human synesthesia is perplexing since we all have separate brains and neural networks; but this idea is made comprehensible when we think of the different ways individuals learns to acquire knowledge similar to that of their peers. Auditory, visual, and tactile learners may all hold different sensory stimuli associated with the same emotion. One’s environment also has a large influence on our perceptions of certain stimuli. For example, a person who grew up with pets may associate purring and soft fur with happiness and love, while a person who was previously attacked by an animal may associate soft fur with fear.
I believe emotion is the aggregate of universal connectivity and individual experiences, which I have chosen to explore in greater detail through Boxes of Emotion.