A member’s story
You Are Not Furniture: What A Viral Post Got Wrong About Aphantasia
A viral post called people who can't visualize 'furniture.' I was one of the first 21 people ever documented with aphantasia. Here's what that post gets wrong.
Tom Ebeyer · March 2026
A member’s story
Vision Without Seeing (Part II): Did Ronald Reagan Have Aphantasia?
In Part 2 of her review, Hollis Robbins explores what Zeman's book means for those who imagine without images. Drawing on her own experiences with chess, psychedelics, and poetry, she argues that aphantasia is not a deficit but a different cognitive architecture—one that models the world through language. She then turns to presidential rhetoric to ask a provocative question: did Ronald Reagan have aphantasia? And what does it mean when the rhetorical patterns of 'the great communicator' look strikingly like those of an LLM?
Hollis Robbins · February 2026
A member’s story
Alexander of Aphrodisias: The Ancient Philosopher Who Mapped Mental Imagery
This piece explores recently published philosophical research on Alexander of Aphrodisias (c. 200 AD) and its relevance to understanding aphantasia. While ancient philosophers couldn't have known about cognitive diversity as we understand it today, their assumptions about universal mental processes help us appreciate how differently minds can work.
Tom Ebeyer · January 2026
A member’s story
Discovering Aphantasia in History
Many assume that everyone can picture scenes in the mind’s eye—but history reveals otherwise. This article explores nineteenth-century writers and scientists who recognized readers without mental imagery—what we now call aphantasia. From George du Maurier to Francis Galton, it traces the surprising origins of today’s understanding of aphantasic readers.
Julia Thomas · October 2025
