Sign in
Join

My imagination vs my sons

I have never had much of an imagination. I can bring up an image in my mind, but only briefly. I think I need to have my eyes open, but un focused.  If I really try I can change parts of the image but seemingly at the cost of detail.  If I close my eyes […]

Thinking in moving shapes/fields, non-verbally

I read a post by Ian Miller that describes the way I think.  He said: “I build mental models of almost everything that I work on, they are often spatial models, but they don’t involve visual images.  Frequently the models involve equations, but again in an abstract way: just wordless mental models of mathematical relationships.  […]

This is all new to me, am I or aren’t I aphantasic

Having just watched a short video about someone with aphantasia it got me thinking about myself. I am 68 and up until now have never heard of this condition but I think that I may be aphantasic. When I close my eyes, nothing, a black, blank canvas, and if I try really hard I may […]

The genetic basis of aphantasia

It strikes me that the amazing/wonderful variety of cognitive processes that we seem to experience are of enormous value.  If a group of early humans had that sort of variety of cognition its prospects for survival would have been greatly enhanced: whatever the challenge, some of them would have the solution.  I’ll go so far […]

Searching for a term for “person with aphantasia”

Hey guys, I’m writing a literature review on visual imagery and I’m looking for a term for those of us who have aphantasia. Basically, the APA 7e manual suggests using person-first language or identity-first language, depending on the preferences of the group. However, there isn’t a well-defined aphantasia community since the general public only recently […]

Have you ever been hypnotized?

They say that aphantasics can’t achieve a state of hypnosis because we can’t visualize. Invariably, the hypnotherapist begins with an instruction that involves visual imagery. I’m curious if there are any aphants who have had successful hypnotherapy. 

Inability to Imagine Colors

A friend who was moving to a new apartment was looking for a black TV/storage unit for his living room.  I accompanied him to Ikea, where we saw a white one on display that fitted his requirements perfectly, and I said “Here’s exactly what you’re looking for.”  He replied, “No, you know I want a […]

What realizations have you had since learning about aphantasia?

My girlfriend has hyperphantasia for all mental senses. It blew my mind when I learned some time ago she can accurately taste in her mind what a dish will taste like prior to adding a new ingredient (very useful for cooking). But her mental tastebuds just blew my mind again. Get this: When reading a […]

Visual Capacity with One Eye at a Time

More than 50 percent of the brain is devoted to visual processing visual information. “The Mind’s Eye,” Rochester Review, Susan Hagen, March-April 2012, https://www.rochester.edu/pr/Review/V74N4/0402_brainscience.html I’m aphantasia. Some see out of one eye at a time from birth. Does that affect the weight or how much the brain is devoted to visual processing? Nice to find […]