Does VFF Have Synesthesia and Does it Explain her Claims?

[Uncayimmy]

I am starting a new thread on this that we can have a narrow focus about whether VFF has synesthesia and whether that in any way explains her claims. I will start with this quote from Ashles.

I understand your frustration with the Synesthesia claim.

But Anita has now brought it up too many times as the only other explanation she is prepared to consider.

So surely at this point every single claim she makes that is paranormal has to be considered secondary to the alternative mundane possibility she herself keeps suggesting.

As the genuine investigator of her own perceived 'abilities' that Anita keeps claming she is, surely the only logical first step now is to take a test for Synesthesia?
Any genuine person honestly attempting to get to the root of such 'perceptions' would willingly take such a test.

There is no gain for Anita to fake success in such a test as it would render her paranormal claim ended.

If she takes such a test and does not have Synesthesia then we can rule it out and Anita can stop offering it as an alternative explanation. Then Anta can move on to attempting to generate a real paranormal protocol.

If she takes such a test and is found to actually have Synesthesia then the 'perceptions' are explained and there is no further need for testing.

Surely Anita can agree this would be the logical and scientific next step in her claim?

Of course if Anita refuses such a simple and logical test then everyone could draw certain conclusions from that refusal.

I eagerly await Anita's explanation for why she will not take a test for Synesthesia...

 

[Skeptical Greg]

Does VFF Have Synesthesia and Does it Explain her Claims?

It could account for some of her perceptions, but it doesn't account for her refusal to be tested in any meaningful way ..

 

[Apology]

I predict that her excuse is that she is a poor, poor college student and can't afford a test to rule out synesthesia.

Second excuse will be that she can't work such a test into her busy, busy college schedule.

It's beside the point that she offered to fly out to California and pay for an ultrasound for the kidney detection test---the synesthesia test is still going to be too expensive and time-consuming.

 

[Audible Click]

I think she thinks she has it but knows if she is professionally tested for it that it will destroy her claims, one way or another.

 

[Uncayimmy]

I'll address the second question first. Synesthesia does not explain her claims in any way, shape or form. In my research I have found no form of synesthesia that even remotely resembles what she describes in her claims. The simple fact that her perceptions can be called up at will directly contradicts the fact that synesthesia is supposed to be involuntary and automatic. Her claims range from being able to rotate images in three dimensions and zoom down to the molecular level to looking at a food and using Vibrational Algebra to determine what possible medical effects it might have.

A synesthete might always see the letter A tinged in red or taste something salty when they see an octagon. VFF claimed to be able to detect a chemical inside a steel container. That would be like a synesthete seeing a tinge of red when looking at an opaque envelope that contains the letter A or tasting salt when an octagon is displayed behind an opaque screen. That's not how synesthesia works.

So, even if she has synesthesia, so what? The fact that she uses this as a possible explanation for her claims is misguied at best and deceitful and evasive at worst.

 

[Uncayimmy]

It could account for some of her perceptions, but it doesn't account for her refusal to be tested in any meaningful way ..

Specifically, which perceptions would it explain? Are you referring to her super powers or her mundane claims about seeing colors based on letters?

She did attempt a screening test and failed all but one of those tests.

 

[Akhenaten]

This is from Vision from Feeling's website:

©Anita Ikonen​

Surely this a form of synesthesia which has never before been encountered (on Earth).

 

[FramerDave]

I'm going out on a limb here and saying no, and no.

 

[Kariboo]

As I mentioned in the other other other other thread.

Her description of seeing the abbreviations for elements in color may be synesthesia.

All her medical claim etc are not and cannot be (for the reason UY described above). Also synesthetes seem to see things in very basic form (red, square etc) not in 3d and detail nor do they see something different in similar circumstances as Vff seems to do. They have automatic perceptions every time and don't need to tune in or something.

The odds of her medical claim being synesthesia are smaller than they being paranormal.

She does have an uncanny ability to make new threads appear though. Maybe we can test that.

 

[bookitty]

Because I'm newish, I've been catching up on older threads like VFF's first. In that thread she describes her talent. Someone postulates that it might be synesthesia. Next thing you know, she is a synesthete. Currently on her website, she mentions many, many synesthesia traits. Not a single one of these traits was mentioned prior to her learning the word. All of them are very traditional and follow the pattern of case studies.

Although synesthesia has some commonalities, it varies from person to person. How odd that she only has those symptoms that are most strongly documented.

 

[Akhenaten]

As I mentioned in the other other other other thread.

Her description of seeing the abbreviations for elements in color may be synesthesia.

Acknowledged. I think being able to see DNA at molecular level begs another explanation though.

All her medical claims etc are not and cannot be (for the reason UY described above). Also synesthetes seem to see things in very basic form (red, square etc) not in 3d and detail nor do they see something different in similar circumstances as Vff seems to do. They have automatic perceptions every time and don't need to tune in or something.

That's how it works on Earth, yes.

The odds of her medical claim being synesthesia are smaller than they being paranormal.

/0

She does have an uncanny ability to make new threads appear though. Maybe we can test that.

We have. The test result was that any new claim had to be dealt with in a new thread or risk being deemed off-topic for whatever thread it appeared in. Testing continues.

 

[Akhenaten]

Because I'm newish, I've been catching up on older threads like VFF's first. In that thread she describes her talent. Someone postulates that it might be synesthesia. Next thing you know, she is a synesthete. Currently on her website, she mentions many, many synesthesia traits. Not a single one of these traits was mentioned prior to her learning the word. All of them are very traditional and follow the pattern of case studies.

Although synesthesia has some commonalities, it varies from person to person. How odd that she only has those symptoms that are most strongly documented.

There are many examples of this and it has been informally tested.

Try this at home:

In any VfF-readable forum, suggest a real-world phenomenon that may result in a person having altered perceptions about things and watch how it morphs into a Claim™.

 

[skeen]

No, she doesn't.

 

[shuttlt]

If this was an episode of House, we'd just burgle her home looking for household chemicals, moulds etc that could be responsible.

 

[Ashles]

To a certain extent I don't think it is even necessarily relevent whether we think what she has described has any meaningful correlation to what Synesthesia actually is.

Anita herself keeps mentioning Synesthesia over and over and over again (despite the fact it has been explained to her at least as many times that what she describes does not resemble any accepted form of Synesthesia).

So my question is to Anita - if she is so fixated that Synesthesia is one the two possibilities she appears prepared to accept, why not test for this first?

There are known tests for Synesthesia that can be caried out by experts with little room for doubt either way.
Therefore it makes much more sense to test this first, rather than any of her many other 'paranormal' caims, for which there are no accepted tests, (and Anita has demonstrated a complete inabilty to develop new ones).

A genuine claimant would have no issue at least approaching a doctor or specialist to find out if they could be tested. It would be how a real scientist would approach such a situation.

Thing is, and I am being totally honest here, I don't think Anita will carry out even a test for Synesthesia.
I think this is because either result is unacceptable to Anita.

If Anita takes the test and does not have Synesthesia (which I don't actually think she even genuinely believes she might have) then Synesthesia is off the table for good.
That would leaves only the possibilties of genuine paranormal ability (unlikely to the point of vanishing probability) or very mundane imagination/hallucinations/pure invention. And none of those mundane options sound anywhere near as exciting as 'Synesthesia'. Anita would turn out to have nothing more interesting or remarkable than anyone else.

If she takes the test and does turn out to have Synesthesia... the paanormal claim is over there and then.

The talking about tests and generating new ones is what excites Anita, not actually getting results.
Specuating "Do I have a unique paranormal superpower, or am I a Synesthete?" is so much more exciting than actually carryng out tests which would probably definitively answer 'No' to both.

So, although a genuine scientifically interested clamant would have no hesitation in agreeing to have themselves tested for Synesthesia... I guarantee Anita will refuse, or avoid such testing.

Which will be very telling in itself.

Ball's in your court Anita. Prove me wrong.

Demonstrate you are even a tiny bit interested in honestly and genuinely finding out the truth behind your 'Perceptions'.

Take a test for Synesthesia.