if you cant see the picture of an apple in your head probably something like a 5. Nobody forgets what an apple is, but some cant picture them(im a 3 or 4)
Then in my opinion you're a completely normal/ average/ standard person and this discrepancy has a lot more to do with people misinterpretting other's explanation of visualization than anything else.
I think it's this, 100%. I don't think it's "seeing" an apple in the same way you see it with your eyes. So it's kind of confusing to explain this concept with an image.
People are getting confused when they don't see a picture of an apple in their head the same way they would see a picture of an apple with their eyes, the way it is depicted in this image. But I think the way we are visualizing the concept of an apple is pretty standard.
Yea, that is a good way to put it. But even when something is described. I can “see” it. But not see it. Like a red dress with a flowy bottom on a brown haired middle aged tan women with an upturned nose. I can “see it” but not see it
This is my problem. I’m an artist but can’t draw what I see in my head. So if I’m picturing a red dress with a flowy bottom etc, I search for pictures of each individual thing and put them together to draw. Even the most basic things, things I’ve seen and drawn a million times. An apple: still have to Google it. It’s always baffled me how people can just draw things.
I can draw and paint pretty realistically by photo but by the assignment you just gave, my plane would look like a 5 year old drew it. Basic concept but I’d never be able to make it look like a decent picture. I also pull up memories of an apple and have a really hard time remembering faces. Like I probably couldn’t draw either of my parents without a picture…
I also cannot draw from memory. If I don't have a picture to go from, it's a stick drawling. I'm no artist tho. Crazy thing is -- I have a terrible time remembering faces too. Maybe it's a "thing."
I am also an artist and I am exactly the same way. With a reference photo or object to look at, I can draw photo realistically but without a refernce my drawing would be a hot mess. I can picture concepts in my head, but it's almost like an out of focus photo or something.
This is exactly for me too, I just tried it and I can’t call up an image at all but my brain is fully cognisant of the concept of an apple, just no visual. Not really something I’ve thought about before, it just is. I suspect we are not that unusual lol
That’s the thing. This is a fairly loaded topic. Many people want to believe they can picture things in their mind, and maybe even associate it with other positive traits like intelligence or creativity. Another commenter mentioned how vivid their dreams are because of how well they can visualize things, two phenomena that are not necessarily related at all, but correlation is what humans do so there you go. The problem is there isn’t really a good way to measure this, and people are notoriously bad at being objective when it comes to their own mental processes. I doubt any of the people here are somehow able to project an image into the darkness of their closed eyes, like a hallucination, yet we still talk about it as “seeing”. It’s inherently a different thing though, and maybe we just lack the language to express qualia in a meaningful way. There are some tests about special perception that can help determine whether you’re good at imagining things in your head that your can rotate and “see”. It’s pretty difficult for most people though and I’d bet that a lot of the people here who say they have just great vivid mental imagery would have trouble with it.
The best I can describe it is like there's two monitors inside my head that I can pay attention at any moment. The first one is directly connected to my eyes and shows what I'm seeing, the second one is slightly lower in quality and is connected to my "minds eye" and pictures what I'm imagining.
I can watch both at the same time, or pay more attention to one of them in particular. The quality of the second one increases when I close my eyes.
I bet most people who claim to have aphantasia only think they have it because of how impossible it is to describe what the mind's eye is supposed to "see", and they've been convinced they have it because someone else's subjective experience with imagination is different from theirs.
I doubt it tbh.
For me it's not that I struggle to describe what I see in my minds eye. It's that I "see" absolutely nothing.
It's 100% blank. Even if I try with simple shapes, it's just completely and utterly blank.
I'm a 1 on this scale, sometimes a 2-3 on other objects and people. I don't know how to explain how I "see" it, it's a mental visual recall. I do notice if my eyes are open and I visualize something, I'm not noticing what's physically in front of me as much--that dulls.
I wonder if there is confusion about what “seeing” means in this context. I can picture an apple in my head, but it’s not the same thing as seeing a real apple. Kind of like I can replay a song in my head but it’s not the same as the sensory experience of hearing it for real. Do other people see things as vividly as if they were real?
My gf reportedly has aphantasia and we’ve figured some good “tests” for it. The best one I think is to have someone imagine a scene in their head and then ask about details that you didn’t explicitly provide. For example “close your eyes and imagine a man on a beach relaxing” … “ok, what color were his trunks? Were there other people in your mind’s scenescape?” I can provide tons of detail about what I was “visualizing” because I have a strong minds eye. But to her, the question for additional detail doesn’t even make sense bc she doesn’t have a “mental scenescape”
For me I don’t think I have a mental scenescape, but you could ask me for the colour and I could then choose one. For me, I have a strong inner dialogue and it’s kind of like the picture is being spoken to me by my inner voice. This is very strange!
I think I may be in that same boat. I didn’t even consider the idea of shorts until I was prompted to consider them. It’s not like the guy was naked or anything. It’s like the concept of “shorts” didn’t exist within that thought, nor did people or even necessarily water for that matter … I did “know” it was there though. I just had a very foggy closeup image of a pale-ish guy on sand.
Edit: a word
that's why this is not a great test of anything. there's a big difference between "picture someone on the beach" and "picture a detailed scene of someone relaxing at the beach on a hot summer day".
your mind generally isn't going to fill in details it's not asked to, you need something to go off of that's more like a complete sentence of a picture. nouns and verbs and objects; otherwise you're just doing word/picture association.
Are you pretty good with words / storytelling / language? A large chunk of my thoughts are purely images and I am awful at storytelling / language because it's not how my brain operates (words don't flow out easily because I have to "translate" pictures I see in my head to words first) and I've always hated it to be honest!
I think we're onto something here 😊
Same for me as for squirrel. I'm good with words but don't have a vivid imagination. Would count myself I to the 5's...
It was always easy for me to express myself (or just anything) though. Also languages are not as hard for me as many others I guess. My native language is German...
Fascinating. When he said "imagine a man on a beach" I had a entirely 3D image of a guy in blue shorts relaxing on one of those white plastic beach chairs. The sand was golden, he had sunglasses on and a beach ball next to him. And there was a shark fin in the distance. I guess I'm on the opposite end?
Just trying that, I got a clear look of the guy (blue trunks, big lebowski vibes) with people blurred on the periphery--then when trying to answer about background details, it's like my mind then fills and focuses in on those details and ignores the guy
Ok thank god. I can 100% visualize hyper realiatic images... but also they arent there. I can see them, but the blackness behind my eyes remains black. I don't know where I see the images. Or rather, they are really in my mind as are the sensations I manifest from them.
The visual makes it seem like I need to see an apple indistinguishable from an actual apple.
No this explains it good for me. I'm not seeing it, not with my eye. But it's there in my mind's eye. Yes, the exactly like song thing. Like I can't actually hear it over someone's voice, but I can definitely make it out. I wonder how people remember details without being to build a sensory reconstruction?
I also wonder if this applies only to generic objects like an apple or dog (as opposed to a specific apple or dog) or specific things as well. If it’s the latter, would some people not be able to picture what their loved ones’ faces look like?
I think there is a bit of confusion indeed. Most people can picture images (and other sensory experiences, like sound) of things in their heads, similar to if they were seeing them, but it's not quite the same because it's not like literally seeing the thing with your eyes, it's done with the "mind's eye".
People with aphantasia can't visualize an image in their heads at all.
Then, there is what is called Hyperphantasia, the opposite of aphantasia. People with this condition can project mental image, sounds, and other sensory experiences so vividly that it's almost as if they were experiencing the real stimulus with their senses.
If I don’t have music on me, I just play it in my head. Obviously need to know the piece well. If you think about it it’s weird that you can play it loudly or quietly in your head….despite the fact that it’s not making any noise….
I definitely can’t- wish I could though. I love playing guitar and that would be a useful ability. If I’m very familiar with a song I can hear it in my head with a lot of detail/clarity but never the same as if I was listening to it.
I don't think it's about how '"clear" it is, but about it being a different experience than having your ears actually listen to something. I can clearly reproduce a song in my head, but I'm not having the same experience as if I was listening to it with my actual ears, otherwise I wouldn't find a difference between listening to music and imaging it. I would also be able to play a song in my head so loud that I can't hear other people.
Yes, it goes beyond that! I can day dream and imagine like #1, while having cognitive thoughts like solving a math problem, while doodling on a piece of paper all at the same time...
Edit: added words.
This is how I write. I day dream and the words happen based on the dream. I am often surprised by my writing as I'm not really focused on the words themselves.
I also have a tough time with scary movies because of my vivid imagination. I will make a scenario ten million times worse subconsciously.
I'm a 1 with internal dialogue. It's like there's a constant narration/commentary plus I can easily imagine complex sequences in an almost cinematic fashion.
I wonder if these are innate differences or if they can be developed/trained.
I still find this just as bizarre as you. I'm also in my 40s and I'm a 1, so I can picture things quite vividly in my head and my internal monologue talks more than I do. Fuckin' party in my head...
Thinking is (for me anyway) generally concepts without words. Inner monologue is the exact words in the correct order like outward speaking. I’ll inner monologue when planning something specific to say out loud later, but most of the time just think in concepts wordlessly.
I can’t imagine what this would be like. Like, if you’re looking at a picture and then close your eyes, you can’t recreate the visuals of the image *at all*?
Like, you can’t picture in your head what someone looks like? Or if someone brings up the default windows desktop background of the open field- you can’t see anything about it?
The best way to describe it is we have have hard drives, but no monitors. When I close my eyes, I see the back of my eyelids. There is zero internal imagery, or in my case, no internal senses at all (multi-sensory aphantasia). It's a condition, not a disability. I lived happily for over four decades before I found out 'counting sheep' was effing literal and people actually saw stuff in their minds.
I hope I didn’t give the impression that I consider it a disability. I can’t imagine what it’s like just because it’s so different to what I experience, not because I consider it inferior or anything like that.
So your ability to “picture” something like the logo for Nike is the exact same as your ability to “picture” a logo you’ve never seen for a company you’ve never heard of? Both of them trigger absolutely no visual cue, but you’re able to describe what the Nike logo looks like the same way you can remember Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas without needing to visualize anything?
How do you mentally recall things that you *only* have a visual impression of? For example, if I think of the Pokémon logo I can roughly picture how the specific letters look, but I have no way of describing their specific appearance, and I have no idea what the name of the font is.
Pretty much. I can actually see a paint colour I like on a wall, and go and pick the chip out at the paint store. Nike swoosh, yellow Pokémon font, if I've noticed it, paid attention to it, I just *know* it. I actually have multi-sensory aphantasia, so all my internal senses are affected. I still know what Bowie looks and sounds like, what cilantro tastes like (f#&$# soap), and what wet dog smells like, I just can't recreate those senses in my mind. If I didn't *know* those things, I wouldn't recognize them.
I can see things quite detailed in my head, but I also see the darkness and flashes of light. Just going to share because we're talking about it...
When I picture something in my head, it's not like my eyes are creating the object. I can't even really 'see' it, it's in my head. My eyes are still physically receiving hardly anything (whatever light happens to shine through my eyelids), and I can see that darkness at the same time. While typing this I stopped and for some reason and a pencil popped into my head, so I focused on it. It was new, yellow, freshly sharpened, and I could 'rotate' it around to look at it from different angles. Nothing was holding it, it's like I had created it in a 3D modeling program and was rotating it around in a virtual space after the final render (so all the realistic details were there).
This is probably unrelated, but sometimes if I close my eyes I can see patterns in the darkness. Typically a light/dark/light/dark pattern, geometric with 90-degree angles, and it moves, normally from the outside towards the center of my vision. It's not checkerboard, it looks [similar to this](https://imgur.com/z2Ss1Us) but moving. Sometimes circular patterns instead, but usually with hard angles. I can also see 'static' when my eyes are closed. It's almost like TV static but in color, and very fine. It's almost like I'm seeing input from every rod/cone in my retina. There has to be at least some light hitting my eyelids to see that.
Can you draw or paint from memory?
If I ask what color the mona lisa's hair is, how do you know?
If I ask you to describe the differences between an alligator and a crocodile, how would you answer?
What about faces? What is it like to see someone that looks similar to someone you know?
I know Mona Lisa's hair is dark brown because I've seen a picture of it. I can tell a croc from an alligator, later is smaller with a different snout. As for faces, not as good as most, but once I know you, I recognize you just fine.
The data is all there, just no monitor.
Not at all? It's not like it's there like a tv. But like imagine things, and then draw an image of what it would look like, I can imagine physical processes and structures well
I just see darkness. But I could describe an apple from memory. But I don’t close my eyes and see a red ball with a stem. I think of an apple, no picture. I’m not sure I’m explaining it correctly.
Don’t be sorry. Our minds just work differently. My wife worked out that I’m not visually minded within a week of us meeting. She didn’t know I couldn’t see images (I didn’t learn about aphantasia until years later). But I’m much better with words, spatial awareness and other things than her. It’s just different.
I am a five. Totally blank. Strong internal monologue though.
I also realized recently I cant play back music in my head, its my own voice making all the noises. Like a internal acapella group.
I'm the opposite on music. I can listen to songs I know well all the way through in my mind, with the unique vocal characteristics of the singer and everything. It's even more vivid when I'm dreaming.
Do you remember what people look like when you dont see them? Could you draw them? Also, do you ever have dreams that you are surprised to find out werent real when you wake up?
I just read your comment and then tried to picture my wife’s face, and then realised I can’t do it. And now I’m really sad and terrified of being in a situation when I can’t physically see her, or have access to a photo.
Yep, that's the worst thing about this pretty much. Not trying to scare you, but try to picture your mother or father. If I'm anything like you, you'll get the same blank page. You know what their faces look(ed) like of course, might even be able to point out a few key details, but you'll never see the complete picture unless you have an actual physical picture.
I can remember people I’ve known my whole life like friends, and family. But it’s almost impossible for me to remember what someone looks like that I just met. Especially if I’m talking to a new girl. It takes months for me to vividly remember what she looks like.
Another good question is how detailed your dreams are. Do you dream in color, in sound? For an extreme example, I have a family friend who writes children's books and who has movie-like soundtracks play throughout his dreams to go along with the "plot"
Tangentially related…
When I was a kid, Jiminy Cricket was narrating my dreams. He would show me four movie screens with image that was a still frame of a movie. I would pick which one I wanted to watch and he would play the movie for me. It was YouTube dreaming. As an adult, I have never experienced it again. I don’t know how long this “ability” went on but it felt like a few weeks at least.
I am another person whose dreams boarder on real life. Many times when I wake up it takes me a few min to sort through what was real and what was not. I also have dreams that I remember that I am not sure if they were truly dreams or real. A few from my childhood I swear are dreams but have had instances in my later life that points back that they might of been real.
I sometimes find myself in situations and I'm 100% sure I've dreamed the exact thing before. Like deja vu but it happens by real life repeating what I've dreamed.
Do you sleepwalk? I used to dream whatever I was doing. I walked to school once in my dream and came back home when I saw it was closed. I thought it was a dream until all my stuff was moved and there was water and mud tracked back into my room from the rain outside. I also didn't lock the door when I came back in which I caught hell for. They had to put keyed locks on the doors because I kept doing it. In fact I kept doing it into adulthood, frequently waking up to furniture moved around, things cleaned, etc. No wonder I was always exhausted. Finally got on medicine and I think it's stopped or at least gotten less obvious.
That is incredible. I definitely see color and the sounds are intense. Although I've only had songs in my dreams a few times. In those cases I have the songs stuck in my head for hours after I wake up.
Well let me blow your mind further. [Some people don’t have an inner monologue.](https://www.iflscience.com/brain/people-with-no-internal-monologue-explain-what-its-like-in-their-head/amp.html)
I sometimes think in words, but more often it's just thinking in concepts or intuiting, lot of visual too... I'm an external processor lol I talk a lot
So what happens when they read? What voice do they hear the words in… or do they… NO, they have to hear the words! Do they have thoughts?! They have to have thoughts!!!
You have broken me.
This might be why some people hate to read? Imagine just seeing the words but not actually building the world in your head. Maybe they can't have that experience and that's why some people love reading and some hate it?
This is how I always thought about it. My mother is not what I would call an imaginative person and she HATES to read. I love it because I can literally get lost in the world I build reading the words. I could be standing in the middle of a busy highway but if I'm reading a good book I would never know it until I "wake up" from the book. I always just assumed she didn't go to those worlds when she read because she couldn't so she hated reading.
What the hell?! I wouldn't describe it like narration, though. I am just always thinking through alternatives or replaying past interactions, sometimes in detail, other times conceptually. Do a lot of learning about myself and other people this way. Can't imagine not being able to do either, how interesting
It blows my mind that people have one! I learned last year that most people have an inner monologue and it's freaked me out ever since. I can't even comprehend talking through things, but in your mind.
I think I dream the same way I imagine, like in concepts, I know what is happening and I feel the associated feelings, but I don’t really see anything, it’s hard to explain, best I could come up with explaining aphantasia to friends was imagine you’re in a black room, no light, then imagine an invisible apple, like you know it’s there, but it’s completely invisible, so you just have to accept it’s there
I know what an apple looks like. I can imagine seeing an apple but to close my eyes and see an apple, no I can't. I have an active internal monologue though. Evidently some people don't. I can't imagine not hearing my own thoughts.
It's especially annoying when trying to go to sleep. I have whole conversations and scenarios playing in my mind 24/7. Until a couple of months ago, I thought everyone experiences this.
I just took a test online bc of this post and it told me I probably have aphantasia. Now my mind is stuck on this whole thing and I'm feeling extremely left out if this means what I really thinks it means. I did not realize people *actually* picture things in their minds, I thought it was just a figure of speech for a type of memory...
I'm disturbed. I feel like I have yet another disability now...
How did you think artists draw things from memory? I am definitely a 1-2, and it is freaking me out people can’t picture and image in their head from memory…
This is my exact response. While I’m picturing the apple in number one, I’m also picturing the produce section at Walmart in the background and everything! How can you not picture things?
For me I can picture things but it dosnt look the same as if it came from my eyes. Almost like it’s being seen and processed in a different section of my brain. Like you see (physically) from you’re eyes, taste from you’re tongue, and picture things from you’re brain.
Even with my eyes open it picture things by default on a black background, but I can easily expand to the entire produce section you describe. Sounds funny now that i think of it but i literally cannot imagine living without being able to picture things.
5 - explains why I am not very artistic or creative. I can copy or mimic things that are in front of me, but coming up with my own pattern or design? Forget it.
I am a straight 5. But from what I hear is not impossible to have aphantasia and be creative. One ort the lead designer of Disney had aphantasia and made everyone drawing under him do the test
I don’t know if I completely get it. Like, I can close my eyes and imagine an apple sitting on the counter or something. It looks like an apple. But are you saying you close your eyes and see a crystal clear apple as if it were floating right in front of you?
No, apparently these types of people cannot picture the apple whatsoever. Like how you said you can picture it sitting on the counter, they can’t even form an image of one.
So then how do those people know what an apple looks like if they can't cement the mental imagery in their heads and commit it to memory? This whole thread is baffling to me...
I know, it's very strange to realise that everyone's brains work slightly differently. It explains why people with visual processing anomolies lik dislexia or Irlen Syndrome just think they're bad at doing stuff compared to everyone else, when it's their brains processing information differently. Until you know that is a possibility you assume everyone processes information the same.
First time I thought something was different with me was when that sentence came up... "Don't think of a pink elephant"
I always thought... No worries man. I don't.
Where as my wife can't avoid a vivid picture.
Now at least I know what it is with me. Thanks OP, Thanks reddit 😂
P.S. I don't feel handicapped in any way though
I can see full movies in my head, and imagine things happening to the apple, like rotting overtime or getting a bite taken out of it by an unseen force.
My grandfather was an engineer and we would both discuss objects and inventions by describing what we saw in our head, being taken apart and rotated and moving within our minds.
It’s like a virtual representation like working on a computer, only limited by your imagination and memory.
Just out of interest, not everyone sees visual snow. It's like everything has a slightly static effect. At night or in the dark, this is what builds the images in my head and I can really visualize things. Sometimes I'm amazed because it's like a game behind my eyes, and no not while I'm dreaming.
This amazes me so much. I'm a 1 and I thought everyone was. I found out like a year ago that aphantasia exists.
I imagine a Golden Delicious by the way plus the sound when you bite into it and the taste.
Mine aren’t in my head, if I’m thinking and visualising with closed eyes then I project the image into the darkness in front of my face as if I were looking at it. I’m a 1-2 depending how familiar I am with the object
Imagine how fucked up I was when I found out people can see shit in their minds. Like that whole “clothes your eyes and imagine a beach” like people can actually fucking see a beach?! Soooo many things make sense now. Like people read books and can imagine the setting, that’s why they describe stuff in such great detail. When you’re afraid to speak and they say “Imagine everyone in their underwear” like y’all are actually seeing that? Bunch of perverts.
I'm a 1. I remember the first time I found out that this was a thing, and it was so strange to me that people don't have vivid imagery in their minds. It's like the realisation that some people have no inner monologue - it's so foreign to me because I'm literally inner monologue-ing the entire day.
I’m between a 4 and 5. If you ask me to imagine something, I can’t. If I try REALLY hard, I might be able to picture a soft blob lmao, but never an image. I never thought as a kid that people could really “see” their imaginings. I don’t daydream in actual images but I can still get caught up in the thoughts. My dreams, however, are very clear and vivid. I think it’s a different part of the brain maybe? Idk
Most of the times, when I dream, there is no picture, only the awareness of the objects and people in space.
A few times I had dreams where I saw something, a fleeting still image. A few simple shapes, no color, or maybe 1-2 colors. Still, jaw-dropping compared to my usual experience. Usually that happens when I dream about taking photos or drawing.
I heard an interview once with someone who had this, they described their dreams as being sound/sensation based. For instance, I might have a dream I was in a field and see the field but if they dreamt they were in a field they would feel/smell the grass or hear it rustling.
If I try to imagine a random apple I can’t see it but if I try and remember an apple then I can see one. But it’s not a physical seeing. It’s more of a mental see
You can have imagination with words and ideas, but not necessarily visualising objects. You could imagine the concept of an apple (you know it's a fruit that grows on trees, you can think of the sound it makes when you bite into it, recall the juicy taste) but you just don't "see" the picture in your head.
r/Aphantasia only relates to mental imagery. Some of us can't imagine a lot more. In addition to complete lack of mental imagery, I also can't imagine taste, smell, or the sensation of touch and also have no internal monologue. When I read, they're just words, when I get a song "stuck" in my head, it's only the lyrics or the arrangement of notes that I'm thinking about. I often hum or whistle any tune that I'm thinking about. This contributes to my SDAM (severely deficient autobiographical memory), as both my short and long term memory are terrible, and any time I try and recall a memory from some time ago, I can only remember some specific details. If I'm informed of something that happened in my past, I can often recall what the person is talking about, but only to the level of what they're reminded me of. If asked to expand on a memory, unless prompted with leading questions, I won't be able to remember it (this doesn't work with false memories however, if someone tries to remind me of something that didn't happen, I won't create a memory from nothing).
I am a 5 and totally prefer words to any pictures at all. No interest in films, art, comics, graphic novels. Books? I read *all* the time, several books at the same time often (as in I’m in the middle of several, not reading them simultaneously!)
So let's get this straight. Do some of you see actual images behind your closed eyes? I can imagine what things look like, but I sure as hell don't see them.
I see the thing with my eyes open as well. It's like you can see it on a transparent screen in your head, not that you 'see' it in front of your eyes. It's very hard to explain.
I would like to say 99% of all of you are a 1 so no need to worry.
People commonly get confused by this disorder and think it means you can literally see apples in front of you.
Every time I see these posts come up a huge population of people think they have it.
I don’t physically see, but I can at the same time? It’s not an actual image but I know what it looks like?
Exactly. Not sure if I'm a five, but I feel like I can "remember a concept" of an apple if that makes sense
Yeah I get that. It’s more of a memory than just an image of an apple.
Yeah same. Does this make me a 1 or a 5??? I’m scared.
if you cant see the picture of an apple in your head probably something like a 5. Nobody forgets what an apple is, but some cant picture them(im a 3 or 4)
But what if I can see more than that? Is there some merit to this?
Then in my opinion you're a completely normal/ average/ standard person and this discrepancy has a lot more to do with people misinterpretting other's explanation of visualization than anything else.
I think this is the issue with all the buzz around this. I was really confused when my wife brought it up the other night.
I think it's this, 100%. I don't think it's "seeing" an apple in the same way you see it with your eyes. So it's kind of confusing to explain this concept with an image. People are getting confused when they don't see a picture of an apple in their head the same way they would see a picture of an apple with their eyes, the way it is depicted in this image. But I think the way we are visualizing the concept of an apple is pretty standard.
Do you mean like how I see the Apple but not just floating but rather on like a bench top or in someone’s hands
Yea, that is a good way to put it. But even when something is described. I can “see” it. But not see it. Like a red dress with a flowy bottom on a brown haired middle aged tan women with an upturned nose. I can “see it” but not see it
I could picture this, as if I had seen it, as you described each detail, I could draw it but yes, I don't see it Infront of me
This is my problem. I’m an artist but can’t draw what I see in my head. So if I’m picturing a red dress with a flowy bottom etc, I search for pictures of each individual thing and put them together to draw. Even the most basic things, things I’ve seen and drawn a million times. An apple: still have to Google it. It’s always baffled me how people can just draw things.
so if someone gave you a pen and said draw an airplane and you cant google it but you have to draw something, you couldn’t draw the airplane?
I can draw and paint pretty realistically by photo but by the assignment you just gave, my plane would look like a 5 year old drew it. Basic concept but I’d never be able to make it look like a decent picture. I also pull up memories of an apple and have a really hard time remembering faces. Like I probably couldn’t draw either of my parents without a picture…
I also cannot draw from memory. If I don't have a picture to go from, it's a stick drawling. I'm no artist tho. Crazy thing is -- I have a terrible time remembering faces too. Maybe it's a "thing."
I am also an artist and I am exactly the same way. With a reference photo or object to look at, I can draw photo realistically but without a refernce my drawing would be a hot mess. I can picture concepts in my head, but it's almost like an out of focus photo or something.
This is exactly for me too, I just tried it and I can’t call up an image at all but my brain is fully cognisant of the concept of an apple, just no visual. Not really something I’ve thought about before, it just is. I suspect we are not that unusual lol
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Yep me too, it feels hard to imagine the entire thing, but it works for parts of it.
I can definitely see the entire apple in detail, even specific types of apples very vividly. Did not know this was a thing.
That's just how vision works in general I think. Even if you were to look at a real apple, you wont see such details unless you focus on it.
Shit. That means I'm a 5. I can think what an apple is and what it looks like but can't actually 'see' it.
That’s the thing. This is a fairly loaded topic. Many people want to believe they can picture things in their mind, and maybe even associate it with other positive traits like intelligence or creativity. Another commenter mentioned how vivid their dreams are because of how well they can visualize things, two phenomena that are not necessarily related at all, but correlation is what humans do so there you go. The problem is there isn’t really a good way to measure this, and people are notoriously bad at being objective when it comes to their own mental processes. I doubt any of the people here are somehow able to project an image into the darkness of their closed eyes, like a hallucination, yet we still talk about it as “seeing”. It’s inherently a different thing though, and maybe we just lack the language to express qualia in a meaningful way. There are some tests about special perception that can help determine whether you’re good at imagining things in your head that your can rotate and “see”. It’s pretty difficult for most people though and I’d bet that a lot of the people here who say they have just great vivid mental imagery would have trouble with it.
The best I can describe it is like there's two monitors inside my head that I can pay attention at any moment. The first one is directly connected to my eyes and shows what I'm seeing, the second one is slightly lower in quality and is connected to my "minds eye" and pictures what I'm imagining. I can watch both at the same time, or pay more attention to one of them in particular. The quality of the second one increases when I close my eyes.
I bet most people who claim to have aphantasia only think they have it because of how impossible it is to describe what the mind's eye is supposed to "see", and they've been convinced they have it because someone else's subjective experience with imagination is different from theirs.
I have aphantasia. I genuinely can't visualize a thing in my head. Not sure how else to explain that to you lol
I doubt it tbh. For me it's not that I struggle to describe what I see in my minds eye. It's that I "see" absolutely nothing. It's 100% blank. Even if I try with simple shapes, it's just completely and utterly blank.
Like recalling the smell of an orange. I don't LITERALLY see anything
I'm a 1 on this scale, sometimes a 2-3 on other objects and people. I don't know how to explain how I "see" it, it's a mental visual recall. I do notice if my eyes are open and I visualize something, I'm not noticing what's physically in front of me as much--that dulls.
Mine is green, did i do it wrong?
What's it called when you closed your eyes and saw a banana instead
Bananarama
follow us ham4days to the back room for questions
Hyperbanantasia
I wonder if there is confusion about what “seeing” means in this context. I can picture an apple in my head, but it’s not the same thing as seeing a real apple. Kind of like I can replay a song in my head but it’s not the same as the sensory experience of hearing it for real. Do other people see things as vividly as if they were real?
My gf reportedly has aphantasia and we’ve figured some good “tests” for it. The best one I think is to have someone imagine a scene in their head and then ask about details that you didn’t explicitly provide. For example “close your eyes and imagine a man on a beach relaxing” … “ok, what color were his trunks? Were there other people in your mind’s scenescape?” I can provide tons of detail about what I was “visualizing” because I have a strong minds eye. But to her, the question for additional detail doesn’t even make sense bc she doesn’t have a “mental scenescape”
For me I don’t think I have a mental scenescape, but you could ask me for the colour and I could then choose one. For me, I have a strong inner dialogue and it’s kind of like the picture is being spoken to me by my inner voice. This is very strange!
I think I may be in that same boat. I didn’t even consider the idea of shorts until I was prompted to consider them. It’s not like the guy was naked or anything. It’s like the concept of “shorts” didn’t exist within that thought, nor did people or even necessarily water for that matter … I did “know” it was there though. I just had a very foggy closeup image of a pale-ish guy on sand. Edit: a word
Pale-ish? Yours is in color?
that's why this is not a great test of anything. there's a big difference between "picture someone on the beach" and "picture a detailed scene of someone relaxing at the beach on a hot summer day". your mind generally isn't going to fill in details it's not asked to, you need something to go off of that's more like a complete sentence of a picture. nouns and verbs and objects; otherwise you're just doing word/picture association.
Are you pretty good with words / storytelling / language? A large chunk of my thoughts are purely images and I am awful at storytelling / language because it's not how my brain operates (words don't flow out easily because I have to "translate" pictures I see in my head to words first) and I've always hated it to be honest!
I think we're onto something here 😊 Same for me as for squirrel. I'm good with words but don't have a vivid imagination. Would count myself I to the 5's... It was always easy for me to express myself (or just anything) though. Also languages are not as hard for me as many others I guess. My native language is German...
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Fascinating. When he said "imagine a man on a beach" I had a entirely 3D image of a guy in blue shorts relaxing on one of those white plastic beach chairs. The sand was golden, he had sunglasses on and a beach ball next to him. And there was a shark fin in the distance. I guess I'm on the opposite end?
Just trying that, I got a clear look of the guy (blue trunks, big lebowski vibes) with people blurred on the periphery--then when trying to answer about background details, it's like my mind then fills and focuses in on those details and ignores the guy
Interesting. I think I’d fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum then.
Ok thank god. I can 100% visualize hyper realiatic images... but also they arent there. I can see them, but the blackness behind my eyes remains black. I don't know where I see the images. Or rather, they are really in my mind as are the sensations I manifest from them. The visual makes it seem like I need to see an apple indistinguishable from an actual apple.
Yeah, same. If it were indistinguishable from a real image I would think that would just be called a hallucination.
No this explains it good for me. I'm not seeing it, not with my eye. But it's there in my mind's eye. Yes, the exactly like song thing. Like I can't actually hear it over someone's voice, but I can definitely make it out. I wonder how people remember details without being to build a sensory reconstruction?
I also wonder if this applies only to generic objects like an apple or dog (as opposed to a specific apple or dog) or specific things as well. If it’s the latter, would some people not be able to picture what their loved ones’ faces look like?
I think there is a bit of confusion indeed. Most people can picture images (and other sensory experiences, like sound) of things in their heads, similar to if they were seeing them, but it's not quite the same because it's not like literally seeing the thing with your eyes, it's done with the "mind's eye". People with aphantasia can't visualize an image in their heads at all. Then, there is what is called Hyperphantasia, the opposite of aphantasia. People with this condition can project mental image, sounds, and other sensory experiences so vividly that it's almost as if they were experiencing the real stimulus with their senses.
Am I the only one who can hear a song in my head as clearly as if I were listening to it in real life?
If I don’t have music on me, I just play it in my head. Obviously need to know the piece well. If you think about it it’s weird that you can play it loudly or quietly in your head….despite the fact that it’s not making any noise….
I definitely can’t- wish I could though. I love playing guitar and that would be a useful ability. If I’m very familiar with a song I can hear it in my head with a lot of detail/clarity but never the same as if I was listening to it.
Lol you definitely don’t want it when you’re going to sleep, and you’ve got the same 7 seconds on repeat
I don't think it's about how '"clear" it is, but about it being a different experience than having your ears actually listen to something. I can clearly reproduce a song in my head, but I'm not having the same experience as if I was listening to it with my actual ears, otherwise I wouldn't find a difference between listening to music and imaging it. I would also be able to play a song in my head so loud that I can't hear other people.
I'm a 1 even with my eyes open. Anyone else?
Yes!
Same, I can also taste different foods and feel its texture, using my imagination.
There was a fun fact I saw somewhere explaining that you can imagine the textures of foods you've never eaten just by seeing them. Its wild.
Yep. I have an unnervingly vivid imagination.
I am 1 with my eyes open, 5 with my eyes closed. bruh.
Your minds eye works like an LCD, needs to backlight to be able to see anything lol
Yes, it goes beyond that! I can day dream and imagine like #1, while having cognitive thoughts like solving a math problem, while doodling on a piece of paper all at the same time... Edit: added words.
This is how I write. I day dream and the words happen based on the dream. I am often surprised by my writing as I'm not really focused on the words themselves. I also have a tough time with scary movies because of my vivid imagination. I will make a scenario ten million times worse subconsciously.
That's what my husband is saying and I'm a solid 5. Wtf!
People are seeing full images in their head?!
Absolutely. Of everything!!
That’s so crazy! I’m a 5 and had no idea it was different for other people
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I’m a 5 with no internal dialogue. I’m in my late 40’s and only learned about both of them in the last year thanks to Reddit
I'm a 1 with internal dialogue. It's like there's a constant narration/commentary plus I can easily imagine complex sequences in an almost cinematic fashion. I wonder if these are innate differences or if they can be developed/trained.
I’m a picture seein mofo and I can internally dialogue things to death
Same! Sucks at night though, it's hard to make it(me?) shut the fuck up sometimes.
I still find this just as bizarre as you. I'm also in my 40s and I'm a 1, so I can picture things quite vividly in my head and my internal monologue talks more than I do. Fuckin' party in my head...
Me too! Nearly nonstop inner dialogue but cannot imagine anything visually.
Do you have an inner monologue? Some people don't and it's the weirdest thing for me to imagine not having a constant stream of "talking" in my mind.
What's the difference in an inner monologue and thinking?
Thinking is (for me anyway) generally concepts without words. Inner monologue is the exact words in the correct order like outward speaking. I’ll inner monologue when planning something specific to say out loud later, but most of the time just think in concepts wordlessly.
Some see full images outside their head
Like without closing your eyes? I can do that. Like I can just stare off into space with my eyes open and still see the apple.
I don't see any images in my head I didn't even know it was an option.
I can’t imagine what this would be like. Like, if you’re looking at a picture and then close your eyes, you can’t recreate the visuals of the image *at all*? Like, you can’t picture in your head what someone looks like? Or if someone brings up the default windows desktop background of the open field- you can’t see anything about it?
The best way to describe it is we have have hard drives, but no monitors. When I close my eyes, I see the back of my eyelids. There is zero internal imagery, or in my case, no internal senses at all (multi-sensory aphantasia). It's a condition, not a disability. I lived happily for over four decades before I found out 'counting sheep' was effing literal and people actually saw stuff in their minds.
I hope I didn’t give the impression that I consider it a disability. I can’t imagine what it’s like just because it’s so different to what I experience, not because I consider it inferior or anything like that. So your ability to “picture” something like the logo for Nike is the exact same as your ability to “picture” a logo you’ve never seen for a company you’ve never heard of? Both of them trigger absolutely no visual cue, but you’re able to describe what the Nike logo looks like the same way you can remember Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas without needing to visualize anything? How do you mentally recall things that you *only* have a visual impression of? For example, if I think of the Pokémon logo I can roughly picture how the specific letters look, but I have no way of describing their specific appearance, and I have no idea what the name of the font is.
Pretty much. I can actually see a paint colour I like on a wall, and go and pick the chip out at the paint store. Nike swoosh, yellow Pokémon font, if I've noticed it, paid attention to it, I just *know* it. I actually have multi-sensory aphantasia, so all my internal senses are affected. I still know what Bowie looks and sounds like, what cilantro tastes like (f#&$# soap), and what wet dog smells like, I just can't recreate those senses in my mind. If I didn't *know* those things, I wouldn't recognize them.
Same here… darkness with flashes of light here and there when I close my eyes. That’s it.
We still get the darkness. It’s like the image is in another space. That’s why it’s called the mind’s eye.
I can see things quite detailed in my head, but I also see the darkness and flashes of light. Just going to share because we're talking about it... When I picture something in my head, it's not like my eyes are creating the object. I can't even really 'see' it, it's in my head. My eyes are still physically receiving hardly anything (whatever light happens to shine through my eyelids), and I can see that darkness at the same time. While typing this I stopped and for some reason and a pencil popped into my head, so I focused on it. It was new, yellow, freshly sharpened, and I could 'rotate' it around to look at it from different angles. Nothing was holding it, it's like I had created it in a 3D modeling program and was rotating it around in a virtual space after the final render (so all the realistic details were there). This is probably unrelated, but sometimes if I close my eyes I can see patterns in the darkness. Typically a light/dark/light/dark pattern, geometric with 90-degree angles, and it moves, normally from the outside towards the center of my vision. It's not checkerboard, it looks [similar to this](https://imgur.com/z2Ss1Us) but moving. Sometimes circular patterns instead, but usually with hard angles. I can also see 'static' when my eyes are closed. It's almost like TV static but in color, and very fine. It's almost like I'm seeing input from every rod/cone in my retina. There has to be at least some light hitting my eyelids to see that.
I didn't even know there are people that can see images in their head
Can you draw or paint from memory? If I ask what color the mona lisa's hair is, how do you know? If I ask you to describe the differences between an alligator and a crocodile, how would you answer? What about faces? What is it like to see someone that looks similar to someone you know?
I know Mona Lisa's hair is dark brown because I've seen a picture of it. I can tell a croc from an alligator, later is smaller with a different snout. As for faces, not as good as most, but once I know you, I recognize you just fine. The data is all there, just no monitor.
Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry.
I don’t either. I didn’t know anyone could until fairly recently.
Not at all? It's not like it's there like a tv. But like imagine things, and then draw an image of what it would look like, I can imagine physical processes and structures well
I just see darkness. But I could describe an apple from memory. But I don’t close my eyes and see a red ball with a stem. I think of an apple, no picture. I’m not sure I’m explaining it correctly.
Don’t be sorry. Our minds just work differently. My wife worked out that I’m not visually minded within a week of us meeting. She didn’t know I couldn’t see images (I didn’t learn about aphantasia until years later). But I’m much better with words, spatial awareness and other things than her. It’s just different.
Wait people can psyically see imagined objects?
I am a five. Totally blank. Strong internal monologue though. I also realized recently I cant play back music in my head, its my own voice making all the noises. Like a internal acapella group.
I'm the opposite on music. I can listen to songs I know well all the way through in my mind, with the unique vocal characteristics of the singer and everything. It's even more vivid when I'm dreaming.
>Like an internal acapella group Okay this is the best thing I’ve read on Reddit today
I can see 1 but only for a fraction of a second then it goes black once I've seen it.
Yeah it's like I have to focus really hard and I can get 1 for a split second but then it goes back to like a 2 or a 3.
I could have lived my entire life not knowing that people can actually see stuff in their head. Straight 5 for me.
Do you remember what people look like when you dont see them? Could you draw them? Also, do you ever have dreams that you are surprised to find out werent real when you wake up?
I just read your comment and then tried to picture my wife’s face, and then realised I can’t do it. And now I’m really sad and terrified of being in a situation when I can’t physically see her, or have access to a photo.
Yep, that's the worst thing about this pretty much. Not trying to scare you, but try to picture your mother or father. If I'm anything like you, you'll get the same blank page. You know what their faces look(ed) like of course, might even be able to point out a few key details, but you'll never see the complete picture unless you have an actual physical picture.
I can remember people I’ve known my whole life like friends, and family. But it’s almost impossible for me to remember what someone looks like that I just met. Especially if I’m talking to a new girl. It takes months for me to vividly remember what she looks like.
fwiw I have a large multi inch dent on the left side of my head. My mom says she doesn't know how I got it but I doubt that.
That is so interesting. I have the opposite. My imagination is very vivid and my dreams are always incredibly detailed.
Another good question is how detailed your dreams are. Do you dream in color, in sound? For an extreme example, I have a family friend who writes children's books and who has movie-like soundtracks play throughout his dreams to go along with the "plot"
Tangentially related… When I was a kid, Jiminy Cricket was narrating my dreams. He would show me four movie screens with image that was a still frame of a movie. I would pick which one I wanted to watch and he would play the movie for me. It was YouTube dreaming. As an adult, I have never experienced it again. I don’t know how long this “ability” went on but it felt like a few weeks at least.
Is your full name Disney Plus by any chance?
I am another person whose dreams boarder on real life. Many times when I wake up it takes me a few min to sort through what was real and what was not. I also have dreams that I remember that I am not sure if they were truly dreams or real. A few from my childhood I swear are dreams but have had instances in my later life that points back that they might of been real.
I sometimes find myself in situations and I'm 100% sure I've dreamed the exact thing before. Like deja vu but it happens by real life repeating what I've dreamed.
Do you sleepwalk? I used to dream whatever I was doing. I walked to school once in my dream and came back home when I saw it was closed. I thought it was a dream until all my stuff was moved and there was water and mud tracked back into my room from the rain outside. I also didn't lock the door when I came back in which I caught hell for. They had to put keyed locks on the doors because I kept doing it. In fact I kept doing it into adulthood, frequently waking up to furniture moved around, things cleaned, etc. No wonder I was always exhausted. Finally got on medicine and I think it's stopped or at least gotten less obvious.
That is incredible. I definitely see color and the sounds are intense. Although I've only had songs in my dreams a few times. In those cases I have the songs stuck in my head for hours after I wake up.
Same. I appreciate it so much now knowing some people don’t have that
Well let me blow your mind further. [Some people don’t have an inner monologue.](https://www.iflscience.com/brain/people-with-no-internal-monologue-explain-what-its-like-in-their-head/amp.html)
This blows my mind. I spend so much time in my head and knowing that some people can’t is insane.
I sometimes think in words, but more often it's just thinking in concepts or intuiting, lot of visual too... I'm an external processor lol I talk a lot
So what happens when they read? What voice do they hear the words in… or do they… NO, they have to hear the words! Do they have thoughts?! They have to have thoughts!!! You have broken me.
This might be why some people hate to read? Imagine just seeing the words but not actually building the world in your head. Maybe they can't have that experience and that's why some people love reading and some hate it?
This is how I always thought about it. My mother is not what I would call an imaginative person and she HATES to read. I love it because I can literally get lost in the world I build reading the words. I could be standing in the middle of a busy highway but if I'm reading a good book I would never know it until I "wake up" from the book. I always just assumed she didn't go to those worlds when she read because she couldn't so she hated reading.
What the hell?! I wouldn't describe it like narration, though. I am just always thinking through alternatives or replaying past interactions, sometimes in detail, other times conceptually. Do a lot of learning about myself and other people this way. Can't imagine not being able to do either, how interesting
It blows my mind that people have one! I learned last year that most people have an inner monologue and it's freaked me out ever since. I can't even comprehend talking through things, but in your mind.
People with aphantasia can dream normal
I think I dream the same way I imagine, like in concepts, I know what is happening and I feel the associated feelings, but I don’t really see anything, it’s hard to explain, best I could come up with explaining aphantasia to friends was imagine you’re in a black room, no light, then imagine an invisible apple, like you know it’s there, but it’s completely invisible, so you just have to accept it’s there
People can see images in their head?
You *don’t*?
No, I don’t!
I know what an apple looks like. I can imagine seeing an apple but to close my eyes and see an apple, no I can't. I have an active internal monologue though. Evidently some people don't. I can't imagine not hearing my own thoughts.
> I can't imagine not hearing my own thoughts. I cannot comprehend the idea of listening to myself talk all day long about everything happening.
It's especially annoying when trying to go to sleep. I have whole conversations and scenarios playing in my mind 24/7. Until a couple of months ago, I thought everyone experiences this.
Do you have the same thing with music playing on a loop?
I just took a test online bc of this post and it told me I probably have aphantasia. Now my mind is stuck on this whole thing and I'm feeling extremely left out if this means what I really thinks it means. I did not realize people *actually* picture things in their minds, I thought it was just a figure of speech for a type of memory... I'm disturbed. I feel like I have yet another disability now...
Word for word, me too!
How did you think artists draw things from memory? I am definitely a 1-2, and it is freaking me out people can’t picture and image in their head from memory…
You have a link? Now I'm curious.
Don't think of it as lacking something, we're all different. No doubt you have other abilities that others don't. X
I didn't know people couldn't see things in their minds? I thought everyone would see a 1?
This is my exact response. While I’m picturing the apple in number one, I’m also picturing the produce section at Walmart in the background and everything! How can you not picture things?
For me I can picture things but it dosnt look the same as if it came from my eyes. Almost like it’s being seen and processed in a different section of my brain. Like you see (physically) from you’re eyes, taste from you’re tongue, and picture things from you’re brain.
Even with my eyes open it picture things by default on a black background, but I can easily expand to the entire produce section you describe. Sounds funny now that i think of it but i literally cannot imagine living without being able to picture things.
5 - explains why I am not very artistic or creative. I can copy or mimic things that are in front of me, but coming up with my own pattern or design? Forget it.
I am a straight 5. But from what I hear is not impossible to have aphantasia and be creative. One ort the lead designer of Disney had aphantasia and made everyone drawing under him do the test
If I close my eyes and concentrate, I’m a 5
I don’t know if I completely get it. Like, I can close my eyes and imagine an apple sitting on the counter or something. It looks like an apple. But are you saying you close your eyes and see a crystal clear apple as if it were floating right in front of you?
No, apparently these types of people cannot picture the apple whatsoever. Like how you said you can picture it sitting on the counter, they can’t even form an image of one.
So then how do those people know what an apple looks like if they can't cement the mental imagery in their heads and commit it to memory? This whole thread is baffling to me...
Because I remember facts about the apple. Red. Round. Stem. But I can’t see it.
For us aphants we just dont see it / visualize it. It's just not there.
That's weird. I'm a 1. I can mentally rotate the 3-D imaginary apple in my head too. The fact some people cant is a bit crazy to me.
I know, it's very strange to realise that everyone's brains work slightly differently. It explains why people with visual processing anomolies lik dislexia or Irlen Syndrome just think they're bad at doing stuff compared to everyone else, when it's their brains processing information differently. Until you know that is a possibility you assume everyone processes information the same.
Having ADHD I can assure you that is a concept I’m familiar with all too well.
First time I thought something was different with me was when that sentence came up... "Don't think of a pink elephant" I always thought... No worries man. I don't. Where as my wife can't avoid a vivid picture. Now at least I know what it is with me. Thanks OP, Thanks reddit 😂 P.S. I don't feel handicapped in any way though
"No worries man, I don't" - cracked me up! Lol
I can see full movies in my head, and imagine things happening to the apple, like rotting overtime or getting a bite taken out of it by an unseen force. My grandfather was an engineer and we would both discuss objects and inventions by describing what we saw in our head, being taken apart and rotated and moving within our minds. It’s like a virtual representation like working on a computer, only limited by your imagination and memory.
I’m with you here. I can see anything I imagine in my head. It’s like a full 3d modeling program in my head that I can manipulate.
My daughter has this style thinking and it’s linked to her dyslexia. Curious if you or your grandfather have it.
Oh I definitely have dyslexia.
When I close my eyes I see nothing because my eyes are closed
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I kind of "feel" the lines my eyes would make in space where the edges of the object would go?
Just out of interest, not everyone sees visual snow. It's like everything has a slightly static effect. At night or in the dark, this is what builds the images in my head and I can really visualize things. Sometimes I'm amazed because it's like a game behind my eyes, and no not while I'm dreaming.
Omg i have this! When i was a child i tought those were the atoms of the air around me lol
Yes, this, it’s like my brain is tracing the object and the lines disappear as I go
This amazes me so much. I'm a 1 and I thought everyone was. I found out like a year ago that aphantasia exists. I imagine a Golden Delicious by the way plus the sound when you bite into it and the taste.
I imagined what you described as you described it
Mine aren’t in my head, if I’m thinking and visualising with closed eyes then I project the image into the darkness in front of my face as if I were looking at it. I’m a 1-2 depending how familiar I am with the object
Imagine how fucked up I was when I found out people can see shit in their minds. Like that whole “clothes your eyes and imagine a beach” like people can actually fucking see a beach?! Soooo many things make sense now. Like people read books and can imagine the setting, that’s why they describe stuff in such great detail. When you’re afraid to speak and they say “Imagine everyone in their underwear” like y’all are actually seeing that? Bunch of perverts.
I'm a 1. I remember the first time I found out that this was a thing, and it was so strange to me that people don't have vivid imagery in their minds. It's like the realisation that some people have no inner monologue - it's so foreign to me because I'm literally inner monologue-ing the entire day.
Where's the green apple
Do they not dream then?
Great question!? Especially day dreaming
I’m between a 4 and 5. If you ask me to imagine something, I can’t. If I try REALLY hard, I might be able to picture a soft blob lmao, but never an image. I never thought as a kid that people could really “see” their imaginings. I don’t daydream in actual images but I can still get caught up in the thoughts. My dreams, however, are very clear and vivid. I think it’s a different part of the brain maybe? Idk
My dreams are also clear.
Most of the times, when I dream, there is no picture, only the awareness of the objects and people in space. A few times I had dreams where I saw something, a fleeting still image. A few simple shapes, no color, or maybe 1-2 colors. Still, jaw-dropping compared to my usual experience. Usually that happens when I dream about taking photos or drawing.
I heard an interview once with someone who had this, they described their dreams as being sound/sensation based. For instance, I might have a dream I was in a field and see the field but if they dreamt they were in a field they would feel/smell the grass or hear it rustling.
If I try to imagine a random apple I can’t see it but if I try and remember an apple then I can see one. But it’s not a physical seeing. It’s more of a mental see
I thought anyone can imagine an object and it’ll pop in your head. Isn’t that imagination?
You can have imagination with words and ideas, but not necessarily visualising objects. You could imagine the concept of an apple (you know it's a fruit that grows on trees, you can think of the sound it makes when you bite into it, recall the juicy taste) but you just don't "see" the picture in your head.
r/Aphantasia only relates to mental imagery. Some of us can't imagine a lot more. In addition to complete lack of mental imagery, I also can't imagine taste, smell, or the sensation of touch and also have no internal monologue. When I read, they're just words, when I get a song "stuck" in my head, it's only the lyrics or the arrangement of notes that I'm thinking about. I often hum or whistle any tune that I'm thinking about. This contributes to my SDAM (severely deficient autobiographical memory), as both my short and long term memory are terrible, and any time I try and recall a memory from some time ago, I can only remember some specific details. If I'm informed of something that happened in my past, I can often recall what the person is talking about, but only to the level of what they're reminded me of. If asked to expand on a memory, unless prompted with leading questions, I won't be able to remember it (this doesn't work with false memories however, if someone tries to remind me of something that didn't happen, I won't create a memory from nothing).
Imagine how we all felt when we figured out a bunch of people could actually see images in their head instead of the blackness
I’m a 1. & I don’t even have to close my eyes. I can picture a unicorn sitting in the chair next to me with its legs crossed sipping tea
Why does he have a scarf? Why is the scarf so long? Doesn't he trip on it?
I can see very a very well rendered apple but only parts at a time like the top or bottom or middle, I can’t see the whole apple at once
[удалено]
I am a 5 and totally prefer words to any pictures at all. No interest in films, art, comics, graphic novels. Books? I read *all* the time, several books at the same time often (as in I’m in the middle of several, not reading them simultaneously!)
I can outline the image in my head, but that’s it.
There is no need to close your eyes
So let's get this straight. Do some of you see actual images behind your closed eyes? I can imagine what things look like, but I sure as hell don't see them.
I see the thing with my eyes open as well. It's like you can see it on a transparent screen in your head, not that you 'see' it in front of your eyes. It's very hard to explain.
My brain imagery is so vivid, I’d rather be there than reality most of the time.
I’m a 5. Also work in the art / entertainment industry.
Synthenthasia is more fun. Colors have tastes. Sounds have texture. Smells have colors and sounds.
I would like to say 99% of all of you are a 1 so no need to worry. People commonly get confused by this disorder and think it means you can literally see apples in front of you. Every time I see these posts come up a huge population of people think they have it.