@caledonian · Joined June 2021
On “Thinking in moving shapes/fields, non-verbally”
The notion of spatial models which do not involve visual images corresponds quite closely to my own experience. And explains perhaps why it took me 68 years to realise that I did not in fact have a mind's eye. At least not a conscious one. Unconscious images can be quite startlingly vivid, but I have no conscious control over them. If I try to control them, they just fade away.
On “This is all new to me, am I or aren't I aphantasic”
Well, I'm 68, too, and have only just discovered the concept of aphantasia. And some of the rest of your experience sounds much like mine, too. I had always assumed that everyone, including myself, could summon up images from the vasty deep. When I saw the expression "mind's eye", I assumed that I could see things with it. In a sense, I could, and can. If I try to visualise a place or person I know, something comes up on the mental screen. But it's not an image. It seems to be more like a computer programme for producing an image. I know what the image should look like, but I can't see it. And this surprises me immensely. I'm not sure that moving on from death or other losses is really linked to aphantasia but, like you, I have no difficulty whilst still feeling deep empathy with living people, and emotional links even with the departed. My dreams too are vivid and visual, and I find that some of my most vivid images are those that occur in a half-waking state, when I'm either falling asleep or waking up. But we seem to have differences, too. I am fine with long descriptive passages in literature. I can sense them, but not visualise them as an image, only as a set of instructions for an image. And, when it comes to art (I make no claim to talent), I find it relatively easy to draw an image from memory or imagination. It's just that I don't see it until I start drawing. And one thing is certain. I do have an almost constant internal monologue/dialogue which takes the form of words that I hear and, even though I am incapable of singing in tune, I can hear music in my head until it drives me crazy. This is a fascinating subject!