Atlantica - 01.09.2007, Page 19

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can’t communicate with people in numbers what I can
communicate with them in words.
JM: This condition of yours, synesthesia, is where
stimulation of one cognitive pathway, like math, produces
involuntary responses in another sensory pathway, like
colors or emotions. But does it ever work in reverse? Do
you ever see something in the world or have an emotion
and associate it with a number?
DT: When I first came to Iceland it’s such a beautifully
visual country, and there were places where I thought
it does look a little bit like pi, which is such a vast
number. I set a European record memorizing it to
20,514 places. When you see all these numbers pulling
together color and textures they make a landscape in
my mind. When I see a distinctive landscape, stark and
beautiful standing out on the horizon, I see pi.
JM: What about your boyfriend, Neil? Are there any
numbers you associate with him?
DT: Probably nine because he’s tall. It’s a tall
number. And dark blue. Sometimes people ask me if
I associate love with any number, but I can’t. It’s just
too complex to associate with any one number.
JM: Is there any number that sets you on edge or
gives you some kind of solace?
DT: Six I don’t like so much. It’s a small number—
tiny, in fact. So it’s the converse of nine, which is big
and blue. Six is tiny and black. It’s a cold number and
hollow. I get very few feelings from it, so I don’t like
it. When I was younger and I couldn’t understand a
concept like sadness, I would imagine myself inside
a number six.
JM: There are some numbers that already have
certain associations determined by superstition, like
the link between 13 and misfortune or 666 with the
devil. Do these popular notions have any effect on
how you feel about a number?
DT: No. I really like 13. It’s a prime number. It’s
blue-green, the color of the sea. Superstitions have
no exercise over me whatsoever. 666 is 18 times
37, which is a lucky number. It’s like porridge, or
oatmeal as you say in America.
JM: Oh, I see you speak American as well. There’s
another feather in your cap.
DT: I also know “kick ass” and so on. a