Bob Buchan

I didn't discover I had aphantasia until I was 65. I was reading a piece online by Blake Ross, who's the co-creating the Mozilla Firefox, where he was describing a condition he has called aphantasia. I had never heard of it but as he described it I realized that's me! For the first time I was able to start connecting the dots as to why I felt different from others. Why for example when I meet a familiar face out of context, I'm scrambling to come up with their name or where I know them from, something others seem to do so easily. My autobiographical memory is terrible, and I always wondered why others like my wife could recall the past in vivid detail as if they could go back in time and "see" a memory. I started researching aphantasia further and feel I finally have some answers as to why I think differently. With this better understanding, I'm now on a journey of experimentation with tools to support my memory and learning, including developing a Personal Knowledge and Information Management (PKIM) application customized to my needs.