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Can Visualize, but Foggy On Colors?

I'm not aphantasic, I'm hypophantasic and it's been really hard to explain it. I can visualize patterns well, but really foggy. Better than colors though. Whenever I imagine something that I haven't defined the colors yet, I can see the colors but I don't know what the color is. Not that I don't know what the name is (which is my parents' assumption) but I don't know HOW that color is.

If we don't know a color name we can still describe it with basic color names, like bluish green or pinkish purple, but in my case I can't, but I still can SEE it.

I also can't imagine colors unless I've seen them before, just like sounds and scents. And I don't remember the colors of things at all unless I intentionally try to remember it, but even though in one case I don't remember them and I can't describe it, I can SEE it. And it's not descriptions.

I don't know if this is related to VVI but can anyone relate? I've been trying so hard to explain this to my family.

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Андрей Андреевич
on April 9, 2025

My previous response was somehow deleted. Apparently, it was because I wrote it in my native language. I hope this is not discrimination, but merely a misconfigured anti-spam filter. Nevertheless, it is sad that in the age of neural networks, one has to switch to a non-native language.

I want to reiterate that, similar to you, I do not suffer from aphantasia, and my visualization abilities are around the lower boundary of the norm, slightly below or slightly above. When I am in silence and close my eyes, I see colorful and fairly structured images, even if their realism is not as high as that of hyperphantasists. Details are challenging. For example, while I can see my father’s jacket and jeans in all their glory, I only perceive facial features like his nose and eyes schematically. I can see his hairstyle, glasses, and hair color.

However, when I find myself in a situation where it’s hard to concentrate, I see colorful but rather blurry images with minimal details. These images are quite fleeting. I was able to visualize my father for just a fraction of a second before he began to blur, as if a veil of rain had covered the window through which I was looking at him.