I knew some people doing research on aphantasia in a lab I was a part of in my undergrad. Some of the things that stuck out to me: - Many people with aphantasia report having vivid dreams, suggesting that there must be something about being awake that inhibits that process of visual imagery - This is very clearly a spectrum. Some people have no imagery, some see vague shapes or shadowery imagery, and others have very vivid images. - The object rotation test may not be a very good measure of phantasia as it is possible that other sensory modalities are being used to solve it (some people have described solving that problem through a very vivid somatosensory/proprioceptive imagination).
@ihmcurious2 ай бұрын
Good points, especially the last one. People describe all different strategies for mental rotation, whether they're aphantasic or not. Maybe they're rotating them in a different sensory modality...
@DrkstrX2 ай бұрын
I guess im the few cases of aphantasia where dreams look the same as when i visualize 😂
@Me__Myself__and__I2 ай бұрын
"Vivid" dreams does not actually indicate they visualized anything while dreaming. When you tell someone with aphantasia to visualize something - to THEM they do. They "visualize" (imagine) the conceptual representation of that thing. Its not until you compare specific cases between people that they realize theit "visualization" is different. So maybe dreaming is conceptual and not using i ages in their mind, which to THEM could still be interpreted as "vivid".
@stoferb8762 ай бұрын
Yes. I don't have aphantasia proper, but I do definitely have some degree of it. And this give rise to these very weird things about my cognition. So for example I can often imagine an object or recollect a scene, and yet I cannot tell you what the colors are. It's not that I didn't see some kind of image in my mind, I did. And it wasn't in black and white, it was definitely in colors. But I still often cannot tell you those colors. And even weirder is when this kind of unclarity relates to other features of an image, like size and shapes and stuff. It's like I often have a kind of "sketch" rather than a full-blown image in my mind. But it's unlike any real world sketch you could actually produce in the real world because it's often lacking details that you simply cannot get away from producing in a real-world image. And obviously I rarely recall or imagine anything in moving pictures, and absolutely not anything that takes more than a few seconds. I can visualize in moving pictures (for a few seconds per go) if I really try, but it's really difficult and taxing for my brain to do so I prefer not to. And that really makes it weird that when I dream it can often be so very visually convincing in a way that my waking imagination is completely unable to imitate. But it just occurred to me that maybe that plays a part in why I tend to so completely forget my dreams almost immediately when I wake up. That task about shapes being the same shape from different angles. No I don't see a moving picture in my head to figure it out. But I do have a kind of sense of 3-D space, which is sort of what I use for such questions. So I have a kind of spatial "movie" for that sense of shapes and position, but I don't see that stuff, it's not a visual thing. It seems like it's more about my mind saving energy. I use these more primal 3-D-space sense. instead of translating back and forth between the visual and the spatial, I take in the visual and translate it into spatial and do my spatial movies in my mind and then spit back the result, preferably without having to translate it back to visual because it takes more effort. In this case the question is rather why more visual people be so determined to perform a movie in their head when that's just extra calculations that don't need to be there.
@JustinWhite78612 ай бұрын
I feel like I solve it intellectually, like perhaps I would be less likely to walk away not consciously knowing there was an additional jutting cube on the left side, where as other solvers of the problem may be able to never specifically think about the structure, and simply rotate it for the answer.
@Anne_Onymous2 ай бұрын
I have no ability to visualize things in my head. I'm so envious of everyone else! I used to think the term "picturing something in your mind" was just a hypothetical saying.
@hansalce1472 ай бұрын
really? so if I tell you to imagine a tiger you won’t be able to?
@durschfalltv75052 ай бұрын
@@hansalce147hahahaha
@durschfalltv75052 ай бұрын
Can you imagine a spider crawling on your skin? Do you dream?
@mayatrash2 ай бұрын
You can learn it
@jakewilliam152 ай бұрын
everyone Ive ever talked to about this that claims to have it misunderstands that we dont see it the same way we really see and actually do visualize things exactly the same.
@jozincarnate2 ай бұрын
So i have mind blind aphantasia,.I just want to let other people know if you also have it, to make sure you have lots of photos of those close to you. I recently lost my parents and I struggle to picture their faces, which I felt ashamed and frustrated about for some time until I found good photos of them both. Good luck
@oliverjansen910Ай бұрын
I felt the exact same way after the loss of my best friend and other people close to me, I’m glad that someone else out there shares this experience
@faarsightАй бұрын
Yeah I can't picture peoples faces in my mind. I can create a sort of "feeling" of what they are like. Their smile, their personality, what it's like to look at them. But I can't literally see their faces in my mind. I'm quite good at remembering people by their faces though. Like I recognize people when I see them. I'm much better at that than remembering names of short time acquaintances.
@cadenelson891Ай бұрын
I’m sorry for your loss. But just curious you had to “find” pictures of them? It’s 2024 so that’s shocking that you didn’t have easily accessible pictures of them
@jozincarnateАй бұрын
@@cadenelson891 I am from the older gen, didn't have a camera phone growing up in the 80's then I moved away for work so didn't have all the time to see them. Plus I didn't give it much thought as I just didn't think about the consequences (it will never happen to me thinking!).
@_Lumiere_Ай бұрын
Tbf, even those of us who dont have aphantasia need photos for that purpose. Maybe it's just me, or maybe I'm on some aphantasia spectrum, but the images in my mind are fleeting. Not clear and steady like looking at a photo or a video, but more like glimpses that that never let you take in the full picture. Older memories become vaguer and people's faces become more akin to abstract ideas, sensations or partial images.
@jmfs34972 ай бұрын
I have hyperphantasia. Until a few years ago I thought everyone visualized the same way. The strengths for me are often process based, where I can run physical simulations in my head backwards and forwards fairly rapidly. I often solve mechanical problems at work, and coworkers think I "got lucky", but the reality is that I did the same problem-solving anyone would only I did it in my head. Some people can memorize texts/statistics/formulas much easier than I can, and choose that skillset to follow processes. I visualize in 3D. Pros and cons to the entire spectrum. Mutual respect is key.
@Sokol_2 ай бұрын
Same here. I have visualized moving complex assemblies with different textures etc. Helps a lot with running machinery business
@fullyawakened2 ай бұрын
again, not a real condition. you are just a normal person with a normal brain except you use it. most people are extremely lazy thinkers. you're focusing, nothing more
@altima226892 ай бұрын
HOLY shit, I thought that was normal!
@TatuCarretaАй бұрын
@@fullyawakened lol is true, is just a matter of training. the best way is meditation and lucid dreaming!
@AE0N777Ай бұрын
Amazing !!
@lukaz20001Ай бұрын
I found out during a therapy session that I had aphantasia. My therapist told me to imagine something, and I got frustrated over people always saying that as if I'm meant to see pictures in my goddamn head. Turns out that's exactly what some people do. We ended up doing the apple test as well, which colour it was, what kind of table was it, what happens when it hits the ground. I visualised nothing. As an avid reader, it absolutely ruined me for a few weeks, knowing that people had the ability to visualise the story they're being told, the locations and the people that inhabit them. It's truly surreal. I made my peace with it not long after, realising my inner monologue would do more heavy lifting. I'd have to describe scenarios or things in excrutiating detail to "visualise" it, but it would still be words inside my head, and not pictures. I think it has helped me develop a more logical way of thinking over the years, although I would love to try the grass on the other side. Another tidbit that may be entirely personal and/or unrelated, but psychedelics (mushrooms especially) provide me with no visual hallucinations. I've never seen distortions, colour shifts or any of the funky stuff you'd expect alongside a trip.
@breebisshop7325Ай бұрын
Same here! I didn't find out during therapy but my visual experience is the same
@God0fTimeАй бұрын
really? even if you eat 4 grams of gold cap psilocybin ?
@breebisshop7325Ай бұрын
@God0fTime yes, I can appreciate patterns more and colours are vibrant etc, but there are no visuals
@epajarjestys9981Ай бұрын
@@breebisshop7325 Same for me but it wasn't always like that. I only had vivid visual hallucinations when I took shrooms for the first time. Years later just some funny moving patterns. Now nothing at all. And my imagination is also not nearly as vivid anymore as it was when I was younger. I could listen to music in my head so clearly that I didn't need to annoy anyone. I could imagine all kinds of stuff. I think it's just something one needs to practice. Use it or lose it. About the hallucinations from psychedelics though, I guess it's the opposite: Use it too often and lose the magic.
@MDE_never_diesАй бұрын
I would have gone insane if I lacked the ability to visualise things. My childhood was painful enough and not being able to escape it would have sucked.
@Vincent.Ай бұрын
Being an artist with aphantasia is really hard sometimes, since I can *think* of a pose idea that I want for something, but I can't actually... put that on a canvas, if that makes sense. I can think of it, and how I wish for the limbs to be positioned, but I can't actually visualize it, which makes it hard to actually.. put it on paper. That's why I like to take pictures of myself doing poses resembling the idea I had in mind and use them as references. Total life saver
@Zodiac_Killer_6Ай бұрын
Honestly, I think aphantasia made me a better artist in a way. I totally agree with what you said, and it does get so annoying. But if you think about it, being forced to use a reference every time I draw meant my drawins always had good anatomy. And by studying real life your art will be constantly improving.
@ikxalenull720 күн бұрын
getting one of those poseable wooden dolls can be a great help.
@controllerfreak35962 күн бұрын
yeah, I'm a computer artist with aphantasia and have your same frustrations.
@Fintybaibai420Күн бұрын
it's really weird, i'm an artist who has the opposite problem, i see images when i listen to music/ hear sounds/ associate sounds with colour and images, i can imagine anything in any particular position, and it helps me with my art to be able to see a 2d character as if they were 3d. tho my best friend sees absolutely nothing. i asked her about it and she describes thinking and imagining like "reading a script of events" but not seeing any words or hearing them, it's so bizzare
@DatFishGuppyАй бұрын
I have aphantasia, and the way he's describing it is close to how I feel. He mentioned often times we can do the task and just not be aware of it. I've described my memories as a weird two party hive-mind where anytime I need to recall something, the memory guy goes and watches it, and I inherently know everything about it - but I never see the memory. I can only tell you im thinking about it. I know it's there. To expand on this, I feel like it's an autopilot adaptation. I don't often need really think about the task... I just stare at it and then an answer appears. It's so bizaare to put into words.
@narraliveproject2576Ай бұрын
Do you ever meditate? As someone who have vivid imagination, meditation is such a chore but rewarding, if I manage to observe my feelings, inner talk, and mental images. I thought someone with aphantasia would have advantage to experiencing emptiness and decategorization, thus enter the zen state of 'common mind' where you could be enlighten by doing everyday task (satori).
@blizzard1198Ай бұрын
@@narraliveproject2576 do you refer to that state where one goes into a state where it's like they are nothing experiencing everything?
@blizzard1198Ай бұрын
I can imagine but do this too.
@crowsong8097Ай бұрын
This sums up pretty well what happens with me too. Interesting idea and way to phrase it.
@narraliveproject2576Ай бұрын
@@blizzard1198 That would be too far, just experiencing the here and the now without mental disturbance. I tend to get lost when day dreaming or even when imagining a concept from the written passage. I find it hard to not get distracted by this active imagination, when I want to write story from previous scenery, my mind become dull, I cant put the right words, and feel exhausted.
@pigeon4x250Ай бұрын
I realized I have aphantasia mid-last year. The way he said "I think these people don't lack mental imagery, they lack the conscious experience of mental imagery" REALLY resonated with me. "Mental blindness" I think is an appropriate description of this condition. The way I've described it to others is that it's similar to the movie Inception, and the concept it establishes of dreaming in layers. It's almost like I'm thinking about visualizing. My thoughts all feel a layer deep, below this mental blindness. When I try to visualize something, an activity I have to do daily for work, it's like I'm thinking about the concept of visualizing. Like the visualization is happening and I am aware that it is happening, but I can't see it, I just know the resulting data. In the same way that those who are visually blind have their other senses heightened, I feel almost like I perceive these visualizations through other mental senses if that makes any sense. It's like complex thoughts, visualizations, and forms come to me through knowing and not through seeing. This does mean however that "mental noise" and distraction can get in the way at times. If I'm going through something, have anxiety, or I'm in an environment that makes me unable to focus it takes me longer to get this data or could possibly prevent me from getting it at all. I've also realized, if anyone else has aphantasia and is reading this, that these "mental senses" can be trained through practice. Certain types of meditation have helped a lot.
@dimitardobrev3296Ай бұрын
Be specific. What kinds of meditation?
@dashas5198Ай бұрын
Seconded - what kind of meditation are you talking about, any examples?
@shawermusАй бұрын
I think i got it! The imagination process happens in your head, but you can only see the resulting information and not the process itself. Kinda like seeing a description of an image, but not the image itself.
@davidlivingston8268Ай бұрын
Do you also get "different sensations"? I have tried to indulge more in my fantasy and try to visualize scenarios, places etc. The closer I "feel" to conscious visualisation of imagery, the more of a tingling, energy rushing sensation I get in my forehead/top of my head. Has anyone else experienced this? (Also the closest I get to visualizing is really imagining that I am there. Like in a dream. It wont really work if I just say to myself "picture a horse in your mind")
@eukaryote-primeАй бұрын
Aphantasia and lack of an inner monologue have made me wonder if at least some aspects of what we call consciousness are just the screen on which the movie of our subconscious mind plays, in a manner of speaking.
@bucko000012 ай бұрын
When asked to visualize an apple, my mind sees no apple. My mind remembers that there are red apples, green apples etc. Maybe someone took a bite out of it, maybe there is a worm sticking out of it. All scenarios that I have looked at previously and remembered. I can invent any kind of apple I want using descriptors that I have memorized, but I can't see it.
@bloodisfuel98822 ай бұрын
Im the exact same thing too, but for me, its like i draw it quickly in my head. I cannot see it when opening and closing my eyes, but I have a mental image of it. Not vivid, but can like, draw it? Its weird for me. I have verg good imagination, but not vivid imagery. Which is weird. My mind is excellent at like, re-drawing things i used to see / remember. I can imagine it well, but never like, visual it when opening or closing my eyes. Its like i cannot actually see it there, but imagine like its there and draw it. When i try to, lets say, multiply 23x48, my mind draws them fast, its like: ok so that's 48, under it 23, and i calculate it. I can see my writing, but not in a vivid way. It's like, i "imagine" i am actually seeing it in a vivid way, but i dont. But when i am calculating it, i forget so quickly what were the numbers im multiplying.
@wamyam2 ай бұрын
Do you forget what green looks like when you close your eyes?
@Nebukanezzer2 ай бұрын
You aren't literally seeing it. It's more like memory recall than vision.
@rohanking12able2 ай бұрын
@@Nebukanezzer so when someone sees a unicorn with dragon wings. Thats memory recal
@1231091002 ай бұрын
😂😂😂 ♤@@rohanking12able
@Krompulos2 ай бұрын
I have strong Aphantasia. While awake, I have no imagery associated with thought. However I have the ability to conceptualize heavily. As a child, I thought when people said they had a "Mental Picture" of something it was only an analogy. I have extremely vivid dreams, so I have the ability to Imagine. Perhaps there is a lack of connectivity between the concious and unconcious mind. I am a visual artist, and can draw from memory, with accuracy, but not visualize things internally. I would love to speak with anyone who is interested and discuss further.
@sherylbusch58532 ай бұрын
I’m like that too. My dreams are more real than reality, and while I can’t draw or paint well, I create textile art with a good for colors that contrast well. I’m 67, and just realized in the last year that I can’t visualize while awake, but I can contract an idea any object in question, while “visual field” is black.
@doctorinternet86952 ай бұрын
Very interesting! Its funny that youre an artist. For me, theres was a time when i liked to draw, but since i can imagine things, my motivation to draw dimishes, because i get satisfied in imagining an image, instead of bringing it to life. Can you imagine other sense modalities, like sounds, smells, and tastes? Another aphantasiac here said she could
@chicahaga2 ай бұрын
I have total blind aphantasia. Only found out about it several years ago. I also thought “mental images” were a figment of speech. I think with an internal monologue and thus can hear audio sounds/ music internally. I rarely remember my dreams but when I do they are vivid and I have experienced several lucid dreams before. I also used to make art and preferred doing very detailed drawings and paintings, possibly because of lack of internal imagery.
@timewave020122 ай бұрын
Can you draw from written or verbal descriptions? I would want to visualize the entire drawing before starting. Even with a verbose description of something very complex, I'd want to visualize the whole thing at a high level, sketch that first, then integrate detail as I'm able to visualize it.
@luisostasuc8135Ай бұрын
I can visualize in an extremely detailed way, and can "feel" emotions that others do (cringing to death kind of thing but with all kinds of emotions), as well as other sensory imagination. It's no cake walk, it's actually a detriment sometimes. The funny thing is, I can't draw for shit. I'm sure I could get reasonably okay at it, but it's not a natural talent of mine. I can make things like a desk or chair with few problems, but I couldn't sculpt without a lot of work. I think it might be that drawing and sculpting are the kind of thing where if you mess up it's hard or impossible to undo (getting the proportions wrong or hitting a fault in the stone, etc). Another interesting thing is that I'm great at getting the gist of what people want when they don't know English as well as I do, but I am nearly incapable of using other languages to communicate very effectively. I spent 4 years in highschool in spanish class but all I came away with were a generally better understanding of how to conjugate in several languages and the truth that vocab matters more than teachers say it does 😜
@microchip5673Ай бұрын
This is why I always loved reading. Everything turns into a movie in my head still. I recreate everything described and it’s why I get disappointed with some movies made from books because they leave out a lot of information or changes things.
@faithc1969Ай бұрын
I have aphantasia. I love reading too, you'd think because I can't actually picture or see anything from the book in my head I wouldn't enjoy it. But strangely I do. Sometimes though when I really pay attention to the fact I'm reading words though I have a hard time focusing. It's so odd lol. I make up stories in my head all the time too, but it's like speaking the words as if telling or writing a story without actually seeing anything.
@NachoCheese2Ай бұрын
I remember reading of mice and men in English 9th or 10th and I always pictured things/scenarios in my head and I love it “feels like my own world” but sometimes when I see an actual concept from an artist or someone else I think, huh that’s now how I imagined it, I remember always hearing Lenny in a certain type of way and picturing how he looked whenever I would read it in my head
@GelatoSnipes27 күн бұрын
i dont enjoy reading, i have no visual mental imagery ahha
@fetchfec16 күн бұрын
After realizing I have aphantasia, I realized this is why I didn't like reading. It always felt like a chore to me. I wondered why people didn't watch movies instead of reading LOL
@unintendedmango582512 күн бұрын
I think I actually enjoy reading more than movies because I can’t visualize. I get overwhelmed by too much sensory information at once and often have a very hard time figuring out which details I’m meant to process and remember. With books, it’s simplified. I’m told which details to focus on, and they’re already in the ‘language’ of my mind-words instead of images or other senses-so I don’t have to do as much work to process. I do tend to skim descriptions, though, especially the first time through.
@dimitardobrev3296Ай бұрын
As someone with aphantasia, ive realized that memory recall is a different thing to composing new "images" in the minds eye. So i sort of have a bank of memories which i can access, but for new constructs i find i need to write or draw them out to explore them. Then they become a memory that i can work with.
@jacobobos2 ай бұрын
I can't imagine anything unless I am extremely sleep deprived or right before falling alsleep, when my body beggins to remove my admin privileges to the ability to move my body(falling into lucid dreaming). In that state and lucid dreams i see shapes or low detail locations, more towards concepts like road/hills/trees/houses occupying particular location in the vision field, but there's no color and very little texture
@Llkolii2 ай бұрын
Yes I can only do it if I get into a deep meditative state. And its like flashes of pictures rather than me manipulating them, sometimes I see some wild stuff but I have to stay on top of practicing meditation to keep the ability so it fluctuates
@TatuCarretaАй бұрын
you do WILD tecnique?
@jaredf6205Ай бұрын
I’m not sure that’s imagination though. I believe that’s considered a type of hallucination called a hypnogogic hallucination. It definitely can feel similar enough to be mistaken as visual imagination though. So what you are experiencing is pretty close and sensation to what happens when people visualize something. It might even be slightly more. Though with these hallucinations, they tend to be much less controllable than visual imagination.
@TheBodiesInTheWaterBeckonsАй бұрын
I can only imagine tinted looking things. Like there's a filter over everything i imagined. Like an old film, y'know. The filter is almost yellow, but not quite. A bit brownish, but when i dream. That, is when every colors came. I also lucid dream often. Not all the time, but it happens quite often enough. I always have telekinesis as a default setting in my lucid dream doe. It's like a clutch that my mind made up to make me realized it quicker that "this was a dream, so hurry up and do your thing".
@ChadKingOfficialАй бұрын
I know what you mean, I remember I deprived myself of sleep to see what would happen and I remembered I saw this antique doll and colors were flashing, from black and white to the image being in color. I also remember seeing those geometrical/kaleidoscope looking shapes. That was crazy.
@leonardoanacadios995Ай бұрын
"They don't lack mental imagery of an apple, they lack the counciouss experience of the mental imagery of an apple" Trully mindblowing.
@JustSomeJoe-dp5rpАй бұрын
I have aphantasia, yet have had a successful career as a visual artist. When I close my eyes, I see nothing at all. When I'm designing something, it starts as a verbal description in my head that gets more and more elaborate the more intricate or detailed it gets. I do have vivid, visual dreams though, and an incessant inner dialogue. I envy that some can see things in their minds visually, even if I can't begin to imagine what that must be like!
@widget596328 күн бұрын
I do a decent amount of 3d modelling as a hobby, and for me at least it comes down to "vibes-based" design (which I can do easily and immediately) vs. "planned out" design (getting a complete picture in your head and then recreating it, which I can't do at all. And as for dreams, it always feels like they're visual, but I realize a lot of them is just auditory and proprioceptive (where I can feel how my body feels and the feedback I would receive from touch/pressure/muscle tension and pushback/etc.) and for whatever reason my brain is just totally ok with not having visuals while acting as if they're there.
@voidspooks6372Ай бұрын
As someone with Aphantasia and a dissociative disorder, I find the way I can't visualize things feels very similar to trying to remember something that I have disassociated from. It's very interesting
@LeispadaАй бұрын
i truly believe these are linked.
@Giganfan2k12 ай бұрын
Aphantasic here. I can hear music, sounds, and peoples voices. Visualisation seems like sorcery. I can't even understand what that would be like.
@fabiosonhandogrande16972 ай бұрын
When you hear, it's still very clearly in your mind, right? Not exactly "real sound", no matter how much you focus, your ears don't feel it? That, but with the eyes... I'm sure it seems pretty wild. Some people can't grasp how having aphantasia's like, but I've gone "Well, I think without words, or many images every now and then"
@ToxicFruitSnack2 ай бұрын
Same it’s so abstract to me
@Giganfan2k12 ай бұрын
@@fabiosonhandogrande1697 I played in Orchestra for 9 years. Movements of pieces I practiced will just show up. Sometimes it can be so loud/vivid it will seem like it is from the room. Listen to something like Philip glasses Einstein on the Beach. Music and people's voices will get mixed in my head all the time. Usually I don't even know the conversation that is getting mixed. Most of the time though you clearly know it's coming from your own head. Usually. *Then...* I had a stroke whenever I was 35. It affected The language center of my brain. I spent about 2 years learning how to talk, read, and do math again. My internal monologue now is chopped up and different... If feels less concise and I have aphasia all the time. Here's something I've never been able to articulate easily. So you know how like you miss a word or a concept and it's on the tip of your tongue but you just really can't remember it... Stroke brain feels completely different. It is like 404 not found in the subconscious.
@magicmarcell2 ай бұрын
@@ToxicFruitSnackcan you visualize a light?
@Llkolii2 ай бұрын
@@fabiosonhandogrande1697 I feel words in my ears but I know I'm thinking them lol
@handsanitizer24572 ай бұрын
Yup, I found out I had aphantasia around 10 years ago at a dinner party. Someone said wow i had to imagine/ picture myself on a beach to relax. I laughed and said so you're just saying that as a turn of phrase. He said no i am literally seeing this on my mind. 😅 i was like wait can all of you do this ? And everyone at the table said yes, i was flabbergasted. Im in it by the way. And I also use arch 😂
@pushparahi5681Ай бұрын
😂 what's n arch btw
@MDNQ-ud1tyАй бұрын
Yes, but do you go to the beach? Also, what do they mean by "picture". How close that is in their mind to what they would exactly experience? Are they feeling the heat of the sun on their skin, the sort of burning feeling? Hearing the sloshing of the waves and the seagulls? How far does it go? My guess is that everything is "conditioning" if you do X a lot you can "visualize it a lot"/experience it in your mind better. The more you do it the more you can experience it. It's also about how much of "in the moment" you are. When I was younger I couldn't visualize and experience in my mind much but as I got older I could do much more. It's about learning to connect more with our senses rather than being in "thought space". The more of a thinker one is the less they are just experiencing and vice versa. E.g., if you are imagining things in your mind you can't really think normally because you are already using your mind. E.g., when they imagine themselves on the beach do they also imagine what they are thinking as they are experiencing all that(basically exactly as if they were on the beach)? Likely not. I do think that some people have more "active imaginations" than others and it is a spectrum but I seriously doubt people experience their imagination as if they were in reality. How could they function. I have had a few times when my mind was very "vivid" and I could not live like that constantly. I would begin to confuse my mind with reality. E.g., before I started doing music I was very confused on how musicians could hear music in their head since I never heard any. But after doing music I can create music in my head very easily. It's conditioning. If you spend a lot of time doing something it will become more "real". Maybe it takes doing drugs as that was probably the real turning point for me. Once you do some mushrooms and you experience a different world you realize there is far more out there and it opens your mind to the "experience". Probably any extreme situation triggers peoples minds to expand and teaches them to "think outside the box" and people that are used to living in those high intensity states of mind are just more conditioned to experience more in their own minds.
@annahgibbus8Ай бұрын
IKR "It's like wait can all of you do this"😆 I had the same experience & also flabbergasted. I thought everybody was just making it up & joking with me 😆 I love your story how you described it & wrote it 😆 You sound like a really fun person & probably the funnest person at the party 😂 Thanks for your story! 🤍😂🤍👍
@rongikeАй бұрын
when I realized it then I soon came to the understanding that people literally undress others in their minds and got really creeped out.
@OhhCrapGuyАй бұрын
Also an aphantasiac Arch user, lol
@timewave020122 ай бұрын
I work with a lot computer code, mostly C/C++. A while back, I had a revelation that I often remember code by how it _looks_ (whitespace, indentation, line lengths, etc.), and thought maybe I'm weird and other people don't think that way. I can still picture code I haven't looked at in years.
@honkhonk8009Ай бұрын
I just remember how the flow of logic "feels". Like I just imagine a turing machine when I do assembly and stuff.
@timewave02012Ай бұрын
@@honkhonk8009 Oh yeah, I mostly mean for finding snippets I'm interested in, that I remember seeing or writing some time ago. I don't think Turing machine unless I'm writing brainfцck, and then for anything complicated I map the memory cell usage in comments. Assembly isn't much different thought process from C, just a lot more tedious, especially with SIMD or stack manipulation, which are the major reasons to write assembly these days. If you want something different, functional languages are cool, because they make you invert your whole thought process compared to procedural.
@Ta2demonАй бұрын
I suffer from this! My entire 47 years of life I thought everyone imagined things like me until like 8 months ago I saw a video about someone talking about Aphantasia.. I could not believe people actually could see actual images when they imagined something or like when they read books they have mini full color movies running in their heads.. I just read words and get a concept of whatever im reading in my head. I was SO mad and jealous when I found this out. I feel like I've missed out on so much..I remember growing up doing group meditation exercises and the speaker saying things like imagine a sunset or a beach and I'd always think what's the point? I'm an artist as is my whole family and my whole life I have never been able to draw things from imagination but when I look at something I can draw it really well.. Now I know why I never could draw or create newly imagined things..It pretty robbed me of my dream of working in any artistic field..You people are so lucky I'm so jealous =( I wish there was a cure
@100KGNatty20 сағат бұрын
If you can't visualize nor have an inner monologue, then I have news for you: You're an NPC.
@Jalterra2 ай бұрын
One of my friends has aphantasia and still he devours books. It is so inspiring that nobody or even yourself can stop you when you're involved in such thing with enthusiasm.
@SamGarcia2 ай бұрын
it's easier to read books with aphantasia. There are no distractions and hence I've gotten really high speed reading scores. We basically treat the words like you would a math problem by using just the symbols (for example, some may imagine 2 apples and 2 apples as 4 apples OR you can just do logic with the symbols of 2+2=4 without messing with apples), we don't have to imagine or picture it.
@Giganfan2k12 ай бұрын
I had a stroke that borked my ability to read books. Before I did. I loved to read and I am aphantasic. They are basically books on tape that play in your mind symphony.
@rohanking12able2 ай бұрын
@@SamGarcia how do you know that lol
@Dedicated_.12 ай бұрын
I get so bored reading all the seemingly meaningless details, I just want to know the story, the characters etc, the real meat of the story. I have a very fundamental way of looking at the narrative.
@magicmarcell2 ай бұрын
@SamGarcia do you think music conveying the meaning of the words in unison would help you get a better understanding or do you think you already comprehend enough? Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question
@pourcelaine2 ай бұрын
This research excites me intellectually and devastates me personally. I’ve been progressively losing my ability to (or based on what the video describes, my *awareness* of it) visualize things in my mind as I rely more and more on dissociation to function the way I need to for a paycheck instead of the ways I enjoyed when I was younger. I also demonstrate a lot of symptoms associated with alexithymia, except I actually can identify my day to day emotions. Seems like I really am slowly dissociating my life away. Functioning normally but “spiritually” bereft.
@ToxicFruitSnack2 ай бұрын
Those are some big words damn you’re smart
@pourcelaine2 ай бұрын
@@ToxicFruitSnack 😂😂 uhmmm thanks I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic
@Madgura2 ай бұрын
In this realm our training forgets to mention that underneath all of it you to are an "I". An I can identify with any description it chooses to be true. See, with all the I's running about; Identities are reinforced or destroyed by a form of democracy or majority belief of state of some quantified event or observation. Being aware of what you are presenting to all the others and knowing that they are not aware of what they presented to you eventually makes you feel like your imagination is gone but it's not true your imagination has moved up a step. Find where it is it might shock all of us.
@xyzzyxyzzy22 ай бұрын
Dissociating is a bad solution to whatever your problems are.
@74palmsАй бұрын
Going through the same thing. Wish I could be experience things like a child for one day
@zoma7506Ай бұрын
Spinning a cow at high speeds
@naganwhat8364Ай бұрын
Same...
@arkvsi8142Ай бұрын
Now I can't unimagine it
@j_trnlnd1966Ай бұрын
*starts humming in polish*
@TacticsTechniquesandProceduresАй бұрын
How many rotations? Grass fed?
@extramisc_etcАй бұрын
the game
@YogaComCainara3 күн бұрын
I was born with aphantasia and I’ve been trying to understand the advantages. I have found some good ones! 1 - I sleep super fast, no problem at all. 2 - my meditations are peaceful and deep 3 - I live 100% in the present moment because I can’t be anywhere else! 4 - my way of thinking is quite different from others for obvious reasons 5 - I don’t traumatise as easily as I can’t picture anything. 6 - nature and art are an absolute joy for me as they are the only way I can experience beauty 7 - music is my life! I think I’m not so dependent on visuals because of my aphantasia. I was upset for a few days when I discovered aphantasia. Now I completely embrace it! It is who I am!
@matthewgetgood80972 ай бұрын
Wow i think i have this, i do not see any image when i close my eyes, just have a fleeting sense of apple-ness that is gone as quickly as it arises, in fact i can actually visualize the apple better in my mind with my eyes open but even then it feels more like a memory regarding what i know about apples rather than an actual image, probably why i have always been terrible at drawing anything i cannot see.
@jhnyjoejoe692 ай бұрын
I can imagine anything but i still cant draw anything i cannot see, not with real things at least. I can draw things i make up.
@Anaesify2 ай бұрын
@@AmyFerguson I normally have complete blankness only when I try to visualize anything, but sometimes when im very sleepy I get an "impression" of something in just the way you're describing! Very neat! I always question myself like "wait did i just *picture* a slice of pizza?!?" but when I think back its more like I saw a millisecond after-image of a triangle that could be imagined to be a slice of pizza, there were no details or real colours, just a flash of light that was vaguely triangular and my lil creative brain went "hey pizza is triangular! Maybe that was pizza?
@davidjones80432 ай бұрын
@@AmyFergusonthat just means you need practice. You don't have some magical condition that makes you special 😂
@isaactimms60162 ай бұрын
Bro same. I’ve always been this way and it’s super hard to explain how I remember things. I’ve always been good with numbers and remembering sequences but I don’t have a visual memory to go off of it’s like I pull the information from no where
@johanlawrence42472 ай бұрын
Visualisation tends to be quite varied even amongst those who can do it, for some it is more or less vivid and some see it better with their eyes open whilst others can only do it with their eyes closed. It could be you fall on the lower end of that spectrum and visualise better eyes open. I have full aphantasia, and even something like a memory is not really like I can relive but just information I have access to. For example, I would assume you know that 1+1 is 2, but I bet you don't remember learning that, it's just information you have. That's kind of how all my memories are.
@waterinferno20712 ай бұрын
I think the best way to explain what aphantasia is like is a book. Instead of visualizing the object, I describe what an apple would look like if my eyes were open. I know an apple should be red so I add 'red' as an adjective, and I just build with words until I have the scene I want
@renelovemetal2 ай бұрын
Can you explain how would you interpret something that you have never seen before and it's beeing described to you? And if don't see it can you remeber the description and tell it to others?
@wooden26212 ай бұрын
@@renelovemetal Not them, but aphantasic. -Personally, I wouldn't do very well at interpreting it. I would need the description to draw a lot of parallels to things I *have* seen before, but that would only give me a vague understanding of the function, or maybe the size or shape as it relates to me or objects near me at the moment. Either way I would have no way to really imagine or conceptualize the thing, and if its something more abstract as opposed to a singular physical object I basically stand no chance. -Probably? If I knew I was going to need to describe it to someone else later I could pay extra attention to the description given to me, and just recite that as a script. I would think it would be harder to describe it to others compared to an object I have seen before, but I assume thats the same for anyone. The point there is that describing something to others is the same as my own mental recall though. I wouldn't be drawing off a visual picture in my mind to recall the thing to describe it, I would be drawing off the conceptual description I have in my mind for it. Similar to just defining a word the way a dictionary would.
@renelovemetal2 ай бұрын
@@wooden2621 Thank you
@rohanking12able2 ай бұрын
@@renelovemetal thats a memory question not an imagination question
@waterinferno20712 ай бұрын
@renelovemetal I am notoriously bad with lists of instructions so I think they fall under the same generalization of "things I've never seen before". I keep notes for a lot of the hard-core puzzle games I play so I never lose info I stop thinking about frequently. When I read the maze runner books I never imagined what the monsters described looked like, I just thought about the adjectives used like "sticky, almost fluid, semi mechanical" and was content with that as my understanding of the monster. I still know how terrifying it should be, but I could never see it for what it truly is. Just the outline of what it could be if that makes sense
@PadajDeszczu2 ай бұрын
I normally got aphantasia and think in terms of sound, voice. But recently when i was tired and lied on the bed i stopped thinking hearing voice in my head and instead was imagining a movie or something like this it was really cool
@pushparahi5681Ай бұрын
Is it difficult to be not able to say things in the mind ?
@PadajDeszczuАй бұрын
@@pushparahi5681 For everyone its different experience. Im used to it so can't say but when I don't hear sound i feel very uncertain and kinda in the flow like life just happens you have no control
@sinntheeeuhhАй бұрын
@@pushparahi5681 I have aphantasia and no inner voice. Not difficult at all. I only think about what I want to think about and if I don't want to think I don't. There are no voices in my head and no random thoughts that pop up. Just me thinking what I want to think.
@zahraahmed811Ай бұрын
You're probably clairaudent
@onegrapefruitloverАй бұрын
@@sinntheeeuhh how do you experience the act of thinking? I visualize a lot so this intrigues me 😅
@energiesrising333Ай бұрын
I can't even imagine what it would be like to see an actual image in my mind.
@LeeTwentyThreeАй бұрын
Everyone’s explanation seems to be different. For me, it has to be “outside” my normal vision. Off to the side, in the periphery, usually “above” where I’m looking. But it’s not like an extension of my normal vision. I guess it feels like I’m seeing something with an eye that is literally inside the back of my head, and it’s pretty dark really unless my mind is clear. When zoning out, like in the shower, it’s like that “eye” takes priority though.
@Whatismusic123Ай бұрын
@@LeeTwentyThree yeah it's kinda like a third eye that is shut most of the time, and when you open it, it blends with the rest of your vision. Just like when your right and left eyes see seperate things
@davidlivingston8268Ай бұрын
@@Whatismusic123 Thank you for this explanation. I have strong Aphantasia and have tried to teach myself to visualize. Anytime I feel like I'm close I can literally feel the energy in my forehead/top of my head
@ajvastАй бұрын
i would describe it as like having two layers on photoshop, and the imagination layer is like at 10% opacity. like its there but also not
@energiesrising333Ай бұрын
@ajvast Interesting. I really appreciate you describing it. I understand what the details of say an apple are. However I don't see an image of it, just know what the apples I've seen look like. If that makes sense. Now if you asked me to imagine something I've never seen I would not be able to explain any details. All of this is very intriguing to me. Again thank you for helping me to understand.
@paandabeeАй бұрын
Since someone might relate, I'm a writer / actor with aphantasia. It's such a funny concept to me that I have a "vivid imagination" and yet... I don't See anything in my head. In fact, I always got frustrated during acting exercises during class that emphasized "picturing" a place or thing since I couldn't actually see something in my head; that's actually exactly how I began to realize I might experience things differently than the norm. I'm also an avid bookaholic ^^ because I enjoy worldbuilding / storytelling. I might not be able to picture the words on the page, but that doesn't mean I'm not going along on the ride with the characters. It also doesn't mean I can't worldbuild myself, which is something I've been doing for years. So I hope if anyone is an aspiring creative with aphantasia, you're not discouraged due to your mind's blind eye.
@WirlWind494Ай бұрын
Wall of Text alert! I had a super scary introduction to my own aphantasia: (TL:DR - I learned I had aphantasia after enduring a week long mental breakdown or something...) This is 7-8ish years ago: I was reading a webnovel at my desk when it happened: my brain was suddenly flooded with words, sentences, complete paragraphs of an un-known story. My internal monologue was hi-jacked by the words, like someone stole away the mic and was shouting directly into my brain. Such an intense verbal barrage completely killed off my ability to function beyond basic self-care. My focus was utterly destroyed. It took an hour or two of me sitting in a daze before a thought broke finally through the noise and made me act. It wasn't a rational thought, it was more like a compulsion; Vent the words onto paper (a word doc) and hope that it would empty my mind enough to regain control. And so, I started writing. For a week, I did nothing but write. When I (eventually) noticed that it was dark, I'd go and cook low-tier meals with easy prep (and I still burned a few due to the broken focus). It felt like I was trapped inside my head the whole time, just experiencing the world passively without any thoughts because I literally couldn't hear myself think. Conversations were impossible, I basically grunted and said yes or no to any questions while I was cooking dinner. Writing seemed to help, but it was like the difference between being set on fire and being dipped in magma. Both are bad, one is just less bad... Somehow I managed to survive until the end of the week and on morning 8, I woke up half asleep and sat down at my desk. As the screen flickered on, I suddenly started crying because I could finally hear my thoughts again: "I need a coffee..." Thankfully that sort of thing hasn't happened again, because it was absolutely terrifying... During that manic week, I wrote about 200k words (it was all pretty shit because I wasn't even a hobbyist writer at the time). It traumatized me to the point that my brain keeps trying to convince me that it was just 'inspiration' and to this day, reading that novel draft makes me feel off so it won't become a complete story anytime soon. In the aftermath of that event, I was curious to look stuff up online and thus found out that I'm basically on the bottom tier of visualization for aphantasia. Also, there's no making music because my internal monologue is just that; a voice that kinda sounds like me, endlessly ranting in the darkness. Learning more about it was quite refreshing as I could finally understand many things that were weird when I was younger. For example, I absolutely hated mathematics because I couldn't do the calculations in my head without forgetting numbers (similar to how people shout random numbers at someone's who's counting to make them forget...). Now I have a concrete reason why I hated it so much, which helped me to hate it less. Once I realized that, I came up with new methods that suit me for counting (I use verbal rhythms for the numbers I'm adding. For example, 80 + 15, I would first do the 80 + 10 which is simple enough, then count out the 5 with a certain rhythm which helps me to remember the numbers much easier somehow. If there's a carryover, I can use half-steps to indicate it in the rhythm. Hey, if it's stupid but it works...) The big take-away is that my internal monologue is supremely-uber-highly-mega important for me to function as a human and when it goes away, my brain functions at the level of a smart dog. Right, I also learned that my spatial memory seems pretty good; I can still remember the dimensions of my grandma's linen closet (we used to hide there as brats while playing hide and seek...) I can still draw a basic floor plan of that house even though I haven't been there in like 20 years (They just moved houses). Maybe I missed my calling, maybe I should've been an architect.
@PurpleLemursАй бұрын
Have you only been manic once? It’s so strange that that happened. Do you think anything triggered it?
@dimitardobrev3296Ай бұрын
Loved your story. I'm an architect, so the end took me by surprise! Like you, I also can recall spaces pretty well. In fact I remember and can probably draw to scale all the dwellings I've ever lived in, even the apartment we lived in when I was a toddler. Did you ever find out why you had that "verbal storm" that locked you into a writing trance?
@phobics9498Ай бұрын
This doesnt really sound like it would have anything to do with aphantasia. I mean what you described is some sort of panic attack and the math thing is about focus, not visualisation. Pointing to ADHD.
@rimasuemikidiaАй бұрын
I was thinking more about discalculia, about the math part. Rather than aphantasia.
@ladylamellaeАй бұрын
@@phobics9498 over a full week long of the same hyperfocus is pretty our there for adhd, sounds more like a schizoaffective breakdown than anything else.
@AdithiaKusnoАй бұрын
This is fascinating, I just figured out today after watching this that I have aphantasia. My background is theoretical physics. When I did my research and dissertation in grad school I can imagine things in my mind but I rarely need to do it unless it's necessary. So when I imagine quarks distribution in a hadronic particle then my mind would think about quarks without picturing it. I noticed this when in the beginning of the video the blocks were visualized by actually rotating them. My mind can pictures two blocks and comparing their arrangements without rotating them. My wife always told me that I am a platonic because I tend to see things in abstract and generality not in particular or concrete. But I guess it takes a new meaning. Thank you for this video. I just learned something new today.
@recarsion6 күн бұрын
When he described 2015 as "a decade ago" my heart skipped a beat but it's true
@charvolute2 ай бұрын
i actually remember being like 7-8 years old in the car and realizing i can do this!! for some reason i pictured lois griffin (lmao?) in front of me in the car and i was just blown away how i could "see" her but obviously she wasn't real or entirely visible to me. i thought it was so fascinating
@charvolute2 ай бұрын
this combined with synesthesia is almost overwhelming sometimes, but also incredibly fun and interesting! im on the spectrum so obviously my experience with sensory processing is quite intense, in my experience the ability to visualize is linked with this varying sensory experience. i wonder if this is something that has been examined?
@nikkireigns2 ай бұрын
Lois griffin 😂😂
@ToxicFruitSnack2 ай бұрын
Hey petaahhhh
@Llkolii2 ай бұрын
I'm jealous how cool!
@TatuCarretaАй бұрын
hahahah
@andregustavo20862 ай бұрын
Its cool that some people don't have an inner voice, but now that I've watched this video, it might be plausible to say they do have an inner voice but it's hidden within the unconscious processes.
@AetherTunes2 ай бұрын
So my in-law I work with has neither it’s insane I asked how do you think he just saws idk I told him I have an inner monologue and he looked at me like I was crazy lmao
@waterinferno20712 ай бұрын
My buddy from work Simon and I had a conversation ab the inner monolog (he has none I have lots) and he described his thoughts closer to smells than words which is fascinating to me. He says it's because the thought is instant rather than needing to say a whole sentence in his mind, so it just feels closer to how smells work rather than speaking. I'm curious if he made that connection solely because of a lack of "noise" in his head, since my thoughts are instant as well, I just feel the urge to explain my actions to myself. I'll tell myself "you know why you're getting up why are you explaining it to yourself" and then continue explaining anyway
@Me__Myself__and__I2 ай бұрын
I really don't understand the lack of inner monolog thing. My inner voice LITERALLY NEVER shuts up. Ever. I can't imagine it not being there. My head would be so empty.
@marvin.marciano2 ай бұрын
@@waterinferno2071 Yeah he described it pretty well. I have aphantasia and but I do have an inner monologue. Weird thing is I can 'temporarily' turn this inner monologue off by focusing VERY hard at not thinking about any word, and it does feel like 'smelling'. I believe it's possible to achieve this state easier by practice of meditation. Just to be clear, it's not that I literally smell things. Smell is similar to not verbalizing words because humans lack vocabulary to describe smell precisely. We always talk about smells by comparing them to other things, but never naming the smells themselves.
@Giganfan2k12 ай бұрын
Clearly this reply is only directed to OP: So you are an inner mute, but don't have aphantasia?
@CheGuevaraVLC12 күн бұрын
I have no image of an apple at all, I just see black screen. And I can solve rotation puzzles pretty well. Ironically, my dream is to make comics
@juliaconnell2 ай бұрын
known I have aphantasia for years (thanks to some content on youtube). always thought, 'minds eye' - just a phrase that people used - no idea that people could *actually VISUALISE* things - blew my mind (not as much as people who don't have an inner voice/how do they THINK???) - I've l already happily volunteered to be part of a couple of uni research projects (University of Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand). what I find really interesting is... well number of things well it *is* POSSIBLE for me to see images - when I am completely utterly totally EXHAUSTED (think of a civil defense training weekend - from Friday evening to Sunday night 0 we has to drive after work (*when* I WAS working, many moons ago) - under the training they pushed us hard - little sleep - and trying to get to sleep these random but very detailed images - usually of random people did not know would just FLASH in my mind I went through a drinking binge in early 2014 for about 10 days (please don't judge me - reasons) - by the end similar but worse - VERY CLEAR - random images - regardless of whether my eyes open or shut - flash flash flash flash - so clear like watching TV but someone else is changing the channel every few seconds - really freaked me out PLUS - have VERY VIVID dreams - to the point where well well well before Inception (movie) - I had worked out a system (look at a clock - look back - time had changed - *ONLY* way in the dream I KNOW I'm dreaming - just like this 'reality' - sometimes try/succeed turn into a lucid dream - ) some images from *dreams from years* ago stuck in my head - though I can't 'see' them - still THERE although I cannot SEE images, I can draw a map/image of what is in my head - (i'm 52 now - have clear distinct vivid memory of an incident in kindergarten - yes kindergarten - sent this information to my mother few years back in an email - she didn't come back with "don't be ridiculous" = just accepted it = and moved onto to another topic oh - I'm an INTJ btw - professional tested twice - career counselling in 1998 & weekend business retreat based around Myers Briggs in.. 1999? 2200?
@luisostasuc8135Ай бұрын
That's interesting 🤔 I have pretty vivid visualization and rarely dream. In fact, I feel more rested when I don't dream, which is most nights. Sometimes though, it's like living an entire lifetime or more shoved into those few hours. I cringe to death at random memories too 😂 very annoying usually. Almost like my brain is deliberately keeping me from being too happy because every time I've felt really happy for the last 15 years something devastating has happened soon after. It's hard not to be pessimistic about it, but it's something I know how to deal with 99.5% of the time. I hope you get to find out what those studies found, if you haven't already 🙂
@crunchymushyАй бұрын
how do you even pronounce aoutoeaeara????
@juliaconnellАй бұрын
@@crunchymushy I take it you mean Aotearoa ??? mate! it's easy...🙃 actually - aoutoeaeara is on right track - more vowels than english speaks are used to - including ng (like singer) ok first, vowel sounds are a little different - instead of a, e, i, o, u A (ah) - Pronounced like the 'a' in 'are. ... E (eh) - Similar to the 'e' in 'there. ... I (ee) - Sounds like the 'ee' in 'three. ... O (aw) - Similar to the 'o' in 'or. ... U (oo) - Pronounced like the 'o' in 'two. ... Ng - Pronounced like the 'ng' in 'song. ... Wh - Usually pronounced like the 'f' in 'fine. next - you break it down into 'chunks' each bit that ends in a vowel is a 'chunk' so Ao /tea / roa Ao = hmm - Ah-o (as above, where, A in 'are' & O as in 'or' tea - tea-ya roa - like 'rower' (some one who rows a boat) VERY *rough* guide - listen Splitz Endz = 6 months in a leaky boat - (song) - they start with Aotearoa - lovely name - means 'land of the long white cloud' now that you've mastered that - onto our next vocab word - Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu (85 letters); Short form: Taumata "The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one". Note: Listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest official place name in the world.
@LeeTwentyThreeАй бұрын
Very interesting comment, thanks
@ZatmosАй бұрын
About your remark on people not having an inner monologue: I have an inner monologue but I've a few memories from very early childhood where I didn't have an inner monologue. It wasn't at all bothering me in my understanding of my environment or in my interactions with it. I also more recently experienced my inner monologue temporarily disappearing while being chemically impaired. It was a bit more peaceful but that didn't render me unable to think. I've come to think that the inner monologue, like visualization, is only mirroring subconscious processes instead of being the main drivers of information processing. Try to do the following to understand what I mean: focus on your thoughts and cut your inner monologue short. Then, ask yourself if you really did lose information doing that. You most likely didn't.
@Dvpainter2 ай бұрын
When I am talking with my friends online, one of them has at least said they have aphantasia, and they typically seem to be more logic oriented, and I personally have thought that maybe this is something like brain-handedness? Like for most people they press a 'button' to think of an image of whatever they want to imagine using their right hemisphere vs others using their left hemisphere to try for the same thing.
@youbetyourwrasseАй бұрын
BINGO. This data support my comment for the video. It's about thinking in Ideas as opposed to Particulars .. or something. Thanks man. We're gonna solve the Riddle of the World, and have Peace. WE ARE BECOMING AS GODS. ('bout apple time!)
@honkhonk8009Ай бұрын
No its because their word oriented. Words use traditional logic. People with hyperaphantasia think abt stuff through processes and "feelings". Like I do my math through feelings more than actual logic. Im really ass at chemistry and biology and shit like that tho
@AsifBooksАй бұрын
@@honkhonk8009 I agree with you. I'm mostly aphantasic and I'm definitely a word guy. I'm always reading or writing, from an early age.
@DvpainterАй бұрын
When I typed logic oriented I didn't mean very specifically math, but moreso logically thinking in conversations or taking logical approaches to situations to a higher degree than what I personally consider a normal level
@notahumanbeing6892Ай бұрын
@@honkhonk8009I’m very word/logic system oriented but my memory works based on the “energy” of a memory, then specific “strands” of that energy represent objects, people, events in the memory, rather than words describing the memory, or genuinely re-experiencing in my mind as ive heard from some people. Idk if it’s necessarily one or the other, personally I think it’s probably more like a wheel of categories including traditional word logic, feelings/emotions, generally active vs passive, generally external vs internal, plus plenty of others I can’t think of off the top of my head, which everybody has varying degrees of natural ability in. We love applying binaries to topics, but the more we learn about topics we have split into harsh binaries, the more we have to take those binaries apart. It may be time to stop applying hard rules and restrictive boxes to things we clearly don’t understand yet. Binaries are not helpful in most contexts, we just seem to really love dividing things into two groups for no real reason.
@lukesjukes12 ай бұрын
I see two images, both 3d, one with my eyes and one with my mind. They can be unique. As I listen and look at a person, I also see what they are saying or what I’m thinking in mental visuals. Both take mental capacity, so as my eyes are focused on an external stimulus, my internal representations reduce in strength and vice-versa - as my imagination increases my external focus reduces. But it is very easy for me to translate a recent external image into a mental one - like rotating a 3d object.
@Gnaritas42Ай бұрын
I have total aphantasia, but have done psychedelics and under the influence that's exactly how my perception became, 2 worlds and the ability to choose which one to pay attention to. My real eyes and one in my mind. Absent drugs, no mind's eye at all, just the real world.
@lukesjukes1Ай бұрын
@@Gnaritas42 I can attest to psychs having an effect on “increasing” the minds eye. I also remember my “minds eye” being an order of magnitude more vivid after having done psychedelics, still to this day, years since my first experience. (I don’t use them anymore besides marijuana - which does have its own effect but a lot less than psychs)
@Gnaritas42Ай бұрын
@@lukesjukes1 doing psychs was the first time I discovered what a minds eye was, and what a visual imagination actually was outside of dreams, and realized my thoughts could affect what I was seeing. Also only use mj these days.
@johnbillings52604 күн бұрын
My mind was blown when I found out people were able to see things that they imagine. And I am very good at "mental rotation".
@breebisshop7325Ай бұрын
I completely disagree that it happens via disassociation. When I "rotate" the image, I am simply comparing points of the second image based on the concept of the first image. The first rotation takes less time because there are less points of difference.
@ZechDzАй бұрын
Yup. I do things like pick a corner and think if something is left or right; front or back of it and then transpose that rule to the other object. It's conscious and quite manual and that's why it takes time not because it's "not conscious" as he said early in the video. Edit: I replied during the intro. Finally at the interview. I think it's weird that he says there's no conscious experience in visual imagery. There's consciousness just more like a lack of ability kinda like people who are tone deaf. They can hear tones to some extent, they just can't reproduce them accurately or in the worst case cannot discern them accurately.
@boydw1Ай бұрын
I recently figured out that I have partial Aphantasia. I can visualize things in my mind to some degree, but the images tend to be fleeting and mostly grayscale (though I can get flashes of colour by focusing on the notion of something being a specific colour). Perhaps the best comparison would be the "Embossed" effect in image editing software, generally lacking in fine detail & texture, with the areas outside the central focal point becoming rapidly more blurred and dissolving towards the periphery. Yet perhaps surprisingly, I can visualize mechanical concepts & movement quite well (for example, the internals of an engine), though I can't see the whole image clearly at once (almost like shining a very narrow and rather weak torch in the dark). I can visualize (for example) a cabin I'd like to build, move my perspective around inside or outside, place the major components in that space, but it's all outlines & shadowy planes, and fuzzy outside the central focus. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really visualizing, or if it's mostly conceptualization parading as visualization.
@juliebriggs1826Ай бұрын
Me too. My dreams are usually dark and fuzzy around the edges. Sometimes there is a “sense” of colour in that I know a bus is red in a dream but I don’t see the red.
@camicus-32496 күн бұрын
out of interest, is there any difference when trying to visualise memories? So not some abstract imagined apple, but a specific photo you've seen before? Or given you have an interest in engines, maybe a specific engine or car you've seen many times
@boydw16 күн бұрын
@@camicus-3249 No significant difference visualizing memories vs abstract. Familiarity adds detail to the object being visualized, but holding that detailed object in the minds eye is just as difficult, and will dissolve just as easily. It's still a patchy, fleeting, fading to greyscale view of a detailed object. Dreams are a little bit less so - still fuzzy & fleeting, and patchy colour, but not quite as bad as awake visualization, still considerably worse than my awake vision, which is excellent.
@FunkyJeff222 ай бұрын
How do I know if I'm picturing a red apple in my mind or if I'm just convincing myself that I am?
@Giganfan2k12 ай бұрын
Trust me... If you see the red apple you can see it. If you have aphantasia you wouldn't only say "you see nothing or a wire frame".
@xyzzyxyzzy22 ай бұрын
Maybe you don't actually exist, and you've just convinced yourself that you do.
@thediceroller8309Ай бұрын
@@xyzzyxyzzy2 Hey, do you know of any good hotels around here? Asking for a friend.
@sideoutsideАй бұрын
If you're not sure, then you aren't.
@douglasmurdoch7247Ай бұрын
You’ll know if you can literally see an image. It sounds like you are probably “convincing yourself”, because you’d probably know it if you were vividly seeing a lifelike image.
@Kevin00Brennan15 күн бұрын
I have aphantasia and the best way to describe it is this: look at an object in the room. Now imagine licking that object. Now look at the floor, your doorknob, the grass outside. You can vividly imagine the sensation of licking objects. That feeling of knowing innately how something would feel too lick is exactly how imagining without visualizing feels.
@warumonokurenaiАй бұрын
I always had issues trying to just, imagine/visualize things out of nowhere, but I never paid any attention to it until a couple of years ago, when I realized that not a single time in my life have I ever been able to produce an "original" image in my head, and whenever I am asked to think of something that is not tied to an actual memory ("think of an apple" VS "think of that apple you ate earlier"), at most, I get a very blurry and broken image that kind of flashes in my head for a millisecond and then completely fades away and I can't ever describe anything I "saw". It got me thinking of when I was a kid, and I went through all Harry Potter books, and could never ever imagine how any of the characters would look like, or the scenery, the rooms, outfits, the castle, nothing at all, and the only image I can produce, is from the movies. This has always been with me all my life... And something I just realized while writing this!!! The only times Ai have ever "seen" things that are not directly tied to a memory of something I've seen before, is either when I'm very high on hallucinogens, or very deep into meditation. The first one is the most common tho haha
@TheDakes2 ай бұрын
Very interesting! I may have this in some weaker form. I can bring up a weak image of an apple, mostly stemming from the memory of the apple, that was on my desk yesterday. But there is no color. And now I realize I generally don't see color in my imagination and when imagining something the images feel brittle. Same goes for dreams, I cannot remember, ever seeing intense color in dreams, even though I dream often. But I am a Computer Scientist and can visualize Algorithms and flow of data really well. I also own and design Bonsai trees and can imagine the shape, that I want, even when not looking at the tree. But more interestingly I am also a musician and I always envied people with chromesthesia (people, that automatically associate notes with certain colors). But now I realized, while listening to, or playing music, I associate it with shapes and texture. Very nice, thought stimulating video! Today I learned something new about myself, which I never thought about before.
@TatuCarretaАй бұрын
what a nice comentary, i dont want to be disrespect but i have this cuestion from musician to musician, do you try psichedelycs? do you see colors there or not? (i know this has nothing to do whit the music lol)
@TheDakesАй бұрын
@@TatuCarreta Once, and I did see colors there, yes.
@aerialplagueforce31532 ай бұрын
This is the only channel I've found that is covering the many aspects of the hard problem of consciousness so clearly and easily to digest, and it's a topic that deserves so much more attention, with it arguably being the core mystery of everyone's life and existence. Unbelievably interesting and awe inspiring, and if there was a course about it and I had the time and money, I would without a doubt enroll. Thank you so much for covering these modern day enigma's that almost feel like the only remaining piece of true magic left in a world where science has made the explanations to most things that were once magic, seem predictable or mundane.
@aerialplagueforce31532 ай бұрын
@@you_are_soul Yes. Science attempts to be objective, but as Chalmers has said, consciousness is by definition, subjective.
@Oscar.Vasquezzz2 ай бұрын
Conscious experience is subjective. But is consciousness?
@rohanking12able2 ай бұрын
@you_are_soul So, your unconscious activities and automatic functions are consciousness.
@babayega1717Ай бұрын
Lack of inner dialog is the biggest headbanger I've ever heard of.
@cecilrhodes2153Ай бұрын
Opposite end of the spectrum here, super Hyperphantasia/MADD, tuning in. 4D visualization, simulating entire worlds in my head, etc. It’s debilitating, as it’s hard for me to interact with others normally at times.
@tabcaps58192 ай бұрын
HD spinning 3D half-eaten apple that bounces around randomly
@catman87702 ай бұрын
I got that shit bouncin around in my head like an old TV screensaver
@abdullahhatkou55502 ай бұрын
Big bounce boings
@jhnyjoejoe692 ай бұрын
Ive got apple fractals.
@genericname34552 ай бұрын
I can do it all minus the HD
@auggiemarsh86822 ай бұрын
HD?
@baronvonbrunn85962 ай бұрын
It is great to finally see someone working on consciousness research who has a realistic and practical view of it. The others I stumbled upon on the internet often couldn't even clearly define the object of their research. Sometimes I think we should come up with a new more clear term for what is called "consciousness" in that field, just like when UFO was replaced with UAP. I think it would save us a lot of headaches.
@narcissesmith9466Ай бұрын
We need more people talking about their personal conscious experience.
@SevenHeronsАй бұрын
I follow an anesthesiologist on KZfaq who talks about preparing patients mentally and emotionally for “going under.” This is significant, because some patients come out of anesthesia in the throes of some experience they often start to physically act out. Some actually become physically violent. The most interesting thing I’ve heard is that we really don’t understand HOW anesthesia works. We (or at least, anesthesiologists) know how to calibrate the dosages, what to check for in terms of patient readiness and patient recovery from anesthesia, but don’t understand how anesthesia disconnects the brain or the awareness of the body and/or pain while under. Honestly, I think the philosophical and the practical are linked.
@-cirad-Ай бұрын
That is interesting. It reminds me of drugs like antidepressants, where it is not known exactly how they work.
@AmyFerguson2 ай бұрын
I wonder what chemicals like LSD do. When I used to trip colors were everywhere like a kaleidoscope. Like others have said, I “see” my imagined objects but not like I see an outside object. It’s dreamlike. If I try to focus in, it disappears. I will say I imagined a green apple but it’s more like a memory of an apple. There’s no real green there.
@TatuCarretaАй бұрын
or DMT, imagine a non inner perceptions person in dmt, we need so much research here
@RiaelАй бұрын
To me LSD does nothing, only haven taken as much as 150 ug I haven't broken through on DMT but the visuals with my eyes open are much stronger on the spirit particle than on LSD And while LSD is mainly affecting things that are there, for example I would see the bark on tree revolve going upwards, or the small 3D spots on my wall shifting and moving, or a curtain dancing as if it was windy, on DMT I saw things that weren't there, for example I would look at some plants on the ground and I would see them sprout, grow, wither and die only to be replaced by new plants over and over again.
@douglasmurdoch7247Ай бұрын
I have brutal aphantasia, absolutely blind mind, but on psychedelics I can see pattern like visuals in my kinds eye. Still no at will imagination, but some kind of crazy light show instead of total blackness.
@timothylolcats80202 ай бұрын
to me aphantasia is exactly like mental blindness, I'm fully aware of what I'm imagining, but I cannot see it. I say that because I would think it's similar to what a blind person's imagination is like. I agree with him when he says that I can have a "mental image" in my mind and do tasks like mental rotation, but there is absolutely no visual aspect. imagine a painting on the wall. to me its just a wall with a bump on it, but if im not touching the wall i would think that its just a flat wall, because i cant see the bump. this is even true in my dreams, I am fully aware of everything in my surroundings, even when I'm in a dark underground place with no light, and my awareness is tied to my location, so I don't know what's happening around corners or through walls, but there is no detail to anything. nobody has faces, there is no visual at all, it's almost like I exist in the third person. I'm aware of where I am and where everything else is and aware of what's happening and how things exist in the space, but I'm not limited to my field of vision and I am not able to make out any details that would require vision. even when I'm interacting with people that I know i cant make out their faces or clothing or any other details that would require eyesight to discern. not only this but I'm very inept at trying to make 2 dimensional sense of the 3 dimensional "image" I have in my mind. in the beginning of the video when you showed a mental rotation puzzle it was instantly obvious to me that they were the same object (i looked at them and didnt have to think about it or rotate them, i just looked at them and at glance thought they are clearly the same), but when trying to picture or draw the details on an object or in a scene from a specific perspective absolutely all detail is lost because there is no color or vision that I can use to tell where a contour or object ends and another begins. the best I can do is outlines, but details are completely lost on me. I can carefully design a car in my mind, lay out an engine bay, and be aware of how each individual component fits with the others in space. I'm very good with packaging and the 3 dimensional tetris when putting boxes and items into the back of a car or truck. I can completely and tangibly "visualize" all kinds of 3 dimensional shapes and interactions, but there is no perspective like you would get if you were looking at it, I'm "seeing it" from all angles and my awareness is fully 3 dimensional, like I'm a 4 dimensional being looking at a 3 dimensional image so that I can see everything from every possible angle at once. this is why mental rotation is silly to me. in the context of an engine bay I can rotate the turbo to make sure that the inlet and outlet pipes fit with the engine and the wheel wells, but the shape of the turbo doesn't change, so if there's 2 images I don't need to rotate it to know that it's the same turbo because when I look at an image the shape in my mind is clear, and since there is no perspective the shape is the shape and they are either the same or they aren't. the same applies to all of my senses, I can't imagine sounds, can't imagine smells, but when things are happening in a dream I'm aware of what people are saying, aware of what happened when someone slams a door even if I don't "hear it." my memories are much the same as my dreams and memories, I only remember what was significant to me at the time, so if someone said something I will remember the meaning of what they said but not the exact phrasing of it or where we were at the time, depending on how significant those details are. if it is significant that we were in class when it happened I'll remember it, but I still can't "picture" the classroom much less what other people in the room were doing or even where we were in the classroom, unless for example we were hiding from the teacher and to me that was significant enough to remember, or someone else was doing or saying something funny.
@timothylolcats80202 ай бұрын
excuse my bad grammar and run on sentences, but I'm lazy
@timothylolcats80202 ай бұрын
I also have an incredibly good sense of direction because of this, I always know where I am relative to where I have been in a 3 dimensional space (unless I'm somewhere new AND not paying attention)
@timothylolcats80202 ай бұрын
for me the mental rotation still takes place, but it's unnecessary and it's not something I do to identify objects, just something I do while completely a 3d puzzle for example, rubix cubes are hard for me though because the colors mean nothing in my imagination so I can't keep track of them using my mental image
@handsanitizer24572 ай бұрын
I agree with this 😂 literally how i sorta describe it to people. Im amazing at directions. it's almost as if I've been somewhere i can always remember how to get there. Without any images, it doesn't seem to be happening automatically.
@douglasmurdoch7247Ай бұрын
Bro, you HAVE to use paragraphs.
@keithwilliams88Ай бұрын
I am a visual artist and have aphantasia. Everything is filed in my mind as concepts. I have good spatial awareness. In a way, I feel like it’s a net benefit. My imagination doesn’t feel as “polluted” and I don’t need to overcome what pops into my mind as much.
@serialrain.Ай бұрын
You just made me re-evaluate my entire lived experience, thought process and understanding of my mind. Thanks! Great video!
@soulspiritself2 ай бұрын
Once you realise that you can't 'see' an apple, try thinking about a clock. I have full Aphantasia but I'm able to imagine clock hands at various times in my m,ind and replicate them - I just can't understand how it's done. It seems to run in families alongside Hyperphantasia. I have noticed those with Aphtantasia tend to be above average with words, whereas Hyperphantasia lends itself to visual art of course. We also get a meditation bonus (and we finally realise why we could never do the guided visual ones).
@TatuCarretaАй бұрын
im so glad to find some aphantasia person who meditates, if you want to share, how is it?
@silberwolfSR71Ай бұрын
I long ago had given up on meditation because the few guides/pointers from friends/family were heavily visualization based. "Imagine a spoon in your mind and really focus on it". A frustrating few minutes later had me annoyed and resigned to the fact that it just wasn't for me. Never really revisited it since, perhaps I ought to give it another try.
@Miterosan2 ай бұрын
currently studying cognitive science (interdisciplinary) and it is facinating that this topic were presented to me this semester. funny timing
@koka_pepsiАй бұрын
I have been able to picture things in my mind, picture things in my environment, and speak to myself in my mind for as long as I have been alive, it is so hard to comprehend the idea of never having these abilities
@baldy517Ай бұрын
Fascinating. i've known I have aphantasia for some time, but this is the first time i've heard an explanation that explains my experience. Specifically, I can "see" what are called"flashbulb" memories but cannot simply choose to see things like the apple example. I spent all of school just confused when people said things like "close your eyes and picture " it just seemed like nonsense until i found this condition and realized everyone has a minds eye. But, this idea that those with aphantasia just don't experience internal imagery consciously explains to me how "flashbulbs" aren't just some confusing curveball invalidating my experience.
@chrisroberts1773Ай бұрын
Oh wow, this is life-changing. He's totally describing me. In response to some of the comments. I can't "picture" an apple in my head. I can "imagine" a green apple vs. a red apple, taste the difference, feel how the texture is different on my tongue, hear the different sounds when I bite into each one, I can "imagine" how some set of features would change if it were rotated in different ways, but I can't conjure an image of it, and no I can't "see" green in my mind's eye when asked. I do get some abstract "shadows" with my eyes closed, and they can have color, but I have no control over them, except that if I try to identify them, they go away. When asked to visualize a tiger, (with my eyes open) I got an instantanious flash of a tiger's stripes and then the face of a tiger, but I can't pull them back, and with my eyes closed, I can't even get that. I had a therapist a few years ago who thought I might have a split brain disorder, her attempt to treat that went nowhere. I have had vivid lucid dreams where I tested my vision, and with effort, was able to make out details like the exhaust pipe of a car or, with effort, reading a sign (though it changed when I attempted to re-read it), and I can see color in dreams. No, I can't intentionally "picture" loved ones' faces, or my house, or green, or even the numeral 1. I've tried to ask others about how their minds eye works, it was like we were talking in different languages. If asked to imagine myself on a beach, the best analogy I could give is that I can only imagine myself as if I'm on a beach with my eyes closed. All of the other senses work fine, (sound works REALLY well for me, I think it's better than my actual hearing), but no vision at all. I'm an INTJ, computer programmer, and have been doing really fancy stuff with AI. I'm sort of elite in my ability to "imagine" the behavior of complex systems. This video and the comments section, even comments from those who think this isn't real, were very helpful. Edit: I don't think I've ever smelled anything in a dream, but yes I can conjur the sensation of specific smells on demand. I'd never tried that before now, but it works, so I know it's not something I had to "practice".
@7c2dАй бұрын
Really interesting that you can recall senses from other modalities but not vision. Your experience and vivid description of it is more confirmation to me that I lack any of what you describe in my mind.
@honkhonk8009Ай бұрын
mfs like you always end up being really good at chemistry/bio and discrete math. But bad at solving differential equations and calc stuff lol
@claudiamanta1943Ай бұрын
AI will tell you what a rose smells like.
@chrisroberts1773Ай бұрын
@@claudiamanta1943 Well, I probably can't tell you in words what a rose smells like in a meaningful way. "Slightly sweet", that's obvious, and "soft" comes to mind for some reason I can't explain. I tried a few AI's (that is my specialty lately), they consistently say it's commonly described as smelling "romantic", "delicate", and other things that are mostly meaningless to my [probably underdeveloped] sense of smell. I also saw "Floral", well duh, and "Feminine", which seems nonsensical to me, roses do not smell like a woman, unless that woman is wearing rose-scented perfume. The point is that I can, at least for some things, intentionally recall an actual sensation that's very much like smell, but I can't (at least not conciously) do that for vision.
@tayzondayАй бұрын
I have the opposite- hyperphantasia.
@jayzillawashereАй бұрын
Thought that was you. Small world sometimes 👋
@tierinieАй бұрын
Hmmm.... Do I have a normal mind? I can imagine anything visualize anything and everything, but visualizing very complicated stuff takes too much brain power, so I just visualize parts of it and just use concepts on parts that the human brain just can't imagine, such a complicated thing. Tbh... I have the ability to dream while awake .... The way I do it is kind of forcing my brain to sleep but instead of the brain dreaming I do the dream by imagining things. By doing this I can actually choose what to dream and stuff. I can also do this when I wake up but I don't move or anything, I just think that I woke up but I'm still in a dream, basically half asleep the instant I try to move in real life I disconnect from my dream the same way I can connect when I want to as well Happens most often when I am sleeping and somebody calls my name And that kind of makes me wake up but not all the way I can manipulate this kind of half conscious state and basically know that I woke up even though I never left the dream, this way I can manipulate my dream it's kind hard since sometimes I fail and when I try to move in the dream I move in real life disconnecting from the dream When it is successful I'm able to control what I want to move kind of like transporting my consciousness into the dream When I move in the dream it feels just like moving my real body but the actual movements can't connect to real life And since I discovered this I have gotten an incredible amount of controllability in my normal dreams and I can actually recognize and acknowledge for example stuff like the super slowed movements in nightmares I can acknowledge that this is not normal and is supernatural but no matter how hard I think the word dream just escapes my mind It's kind of like forgetting what you were trying to do even though you are doing it
@user-qx4bp5rf3nАй бұрын
I only have vague, momentary images. The same goes for thoughts. I either have concrete dialogue, or I am empty. All I have is an amorphous feeling with very gentle nuances that I grasp at. This can even be literal in the sense that I move my hands around when explaining or thinking, to in a way feel and structure the fabric of my mind.
@Mag33k26 күн бұрын
If you can’t imagine anything, but really want to, don’t give up. Few years ago I couldn’t imagine anything. I couldn’t imagine an apple at all, I couldn’t even imagine single letter. Now I tried it at the beginning of video without thinking too much about it and my apple was mostly red with a yellow patch turning into green, like the picture on the left. I tried many, many different things over the years, related and unrelated to the imagination so I have no idea what worked or what was the reason it wasn’t working. At first nothing worked. I don’t know your case, but even if you think you will never be able to imagine things, you (and probably nobody else) can’t be 100% sure until you try many different methods and approaches. Again and again and again ;) Good luck! ❤
@IfeelKindaSick2 ай бұрын
I just get very vague bits of shapes in my mind, everything is mostly shrouded in darkness. And as soon as I try to concentrate on it, it gets harder to see. My dreams are like that as well, it is like 50-80% of the information is missing. What happened one time though is that I got pushed in my dream and suddenly everything popped with colour and it was like real life for a few seconds. This was a very surreal experience and I still wonder what happened there. Also didn't really understand what backwards masking was about. In the first image I knew it was a spider, the second one I thought it was a bunny in a cup. But what does it tell me, how did that relate to the video?
@rohanking12able2 ай бұрын
That masking made little sense
@TatuCarretaАй бұрын
you need to read about WILD tecnique in lucid dreams, is the only way to have a "more real than reality" dream
@billkemp93152 ай бұрын
Not only in scientists but in my profession of architecture and engineering, aphantasia is also present which I found astounding!
@renelovemetal2 ай бұрын
You are the perfect person to ask, isn't it ( and I don't want to offeand anyone), isn't it limiting peoples creativitiy? Meaning beeing "given over night" this ability, a creative person would do much better and more beautiful work?
@billkemp93152 ай бұрын
@@renelovemetal@renelovemetal Yes, visual thinking is an accelerant of people's creativity. Not having inner visual thought is limiting creativity.
@renelovemetal2 ай бұрын
@@billkemp9315 Thank you for replying, I was suspecting the same thing and I cannot stop thinking about how much it limits scientists in understanding things and how much scientific literature we have from people with aphantasia, let alone it's implications in religion or politics and many aspects of life, it's almost impossible to be a good leader in any domain if your mind doesn't picture in real time the problems that the people in front of your are speaking about
@rohanking12able2 ай бұрын
@@renelovemetal what are you suggesting?
@renelovemetal2 ай бұрын
@@rohanking12able You see how it is? When you have no imagination you are left only with questions
@noeandsomenumbers15 сағат бұрын
I have aphantasia, and the rotation test is very interesting, it almost feels like I'm "imagining" tactile rotation rather than visual rotation. I get the same feeling when predicting how a Rubik's cube will change based on certain moves, or when studying molecular structures. What I find interesting also is that I get very heavily immersed in novels, specifically adventures and journeys, mostly because of how much I feel the sounds, smells, and general atmosphere of the different scenes present in books.
@markmaloney8154Ай бұрын
Memory is the source of consciousness. When babies are born, they appear to be conscious, but they are not; they're exhibiting autonomic responses to environmental stimuli. As they experience things in life, they start building memories, and the more conscious they become. It takes years to acquire enough memory to become fully conscious. Another term for consciousness is ‘awareness.’ Without memory, you wouldn't know (be aware of) what things are. Memory is the heart of consciousness…
@cmbaz11402 ай бұрын
When i closed my eyes I saw an apple that kept changing colors from green to red and back like flickering...i realized this was because i didnt have information on its colors...
@nikkireigns2 ай бұрын
Mine did this but with shades around me instead of actual apple shades - a muted burgundy red, a sage green instead of apple red etc 🍎 🍏
@Colin-Bunkey2 ай бұрын
I totally agree with this . Although I have aphantasia, I am able to manipulate my mind and even other processes in my brain in strange ways that other people claim they cannot, yet I objectively experience these processes. I have found that hard determinism has helped me understand a lot. I do love music, as some people on here said, I used to have very vivid dreams.. horrible horrible ones. I listen to solfeggio frequencies on my tv while I sleep in the other room during the night and I have gone from not having any mental imagery to being able to somehow m occasionally have a slight , abstract images but they are.. I can’t explain it. I do experience synesthesia when I attempt to recreate the apple in the form of feeling an invisible apple sitting on my skin for example. It has led me to have insights on things I never thought I would. Once you define consciousness it ceases to be that. So my imagination is very malleable and bizarre things that I can’t seem to find any info on, in every other aspect except visually. I think you are onto something here for sure. I can seem to visualize quantum physics in a strange way, like invisible walls. I watched a video recently where someone suggested our consciousness is quantum. When I access that field or whatever I.., I can’t explain. . Ahhh
@TatuCarretaАй бұрын
so interesting! please if you find the words share :)
@Colin-BunkeyАй бұрын
@@TatuCarreta quantum physics is our true nature. If we are not fully accepting of our nature and the nature of all things, we limit our consciousness and it gets separted, causing what some people experience as the unconscious mind somehow controlling us, or the subconscious bubbling up and doing one thing to another. We are on the path to, as a collective, as more and more realize we are all essentially the same, just with different interests that can unify or separate us based on our interpretation of said interests. Political structures and organized belief systems know this, and use it to control us. Our unconscious mind is part of a us. Raise it and make it equal, and you can then a utilize your subconscious and be the writer of your own existence, and not have to be subject to anyone else’s. Although, seeing as we are one mind, separated by beliefs and ideas, we are partly there.. once the quantum computer race is won, and there are no longer any more secrets, which one country is going to do inevitably… just think. We have been on a binary system of computing, and we are biological computers that know the buttons. During the time we until technology makes the leap from binary to quantum, we can use our nature/biology to make reprogram our past binary ways of thinking to align with nature. It’s happening, and if you don’t pay attention it will happen anyway.
@notahumanbeing6892Ай бұрын
I have the same.. draw? affinity? for quantum topics, when they are explained to me they just click but my friends are all very confused when I try talking about it, ive explained to them in every way i can think of, sent them to the reading or video I was talking about, they just do not get it. Thinking about the ways in which different quantum effects connect, the things they have in common, I feel like my spirit has touched another plane, the energy there is amazing, i yearn to understand more of the topic. We live in a time of incredible advancements in nearly every field, but consciousness study and quantum mechanics have made some real leaps and bounds even since I started following them, yet still I wish we knew far far more than we do. I really think whatever is causing the strange effects we see with quantum jumping/tunneling is the key to multitudes of other advancements in countless places, it’s just an idea I feel in my very core is true.
@crowsong8097Ай бұрын
Yes! The tactile apple! I get this as well.
@gattciyoАй бұрын
???
@TheGamerprodАй бұрын
Im an artist with aphantasia. I think what drew me to art was being a child unable to imagine things that i wanted to, if i wanted to see a cool guy with a sword, i would have to physically make it on paper because i couldnt represent it in my head. I really think thats what drew me to art from an early age
@AsifBooksАй бұрын
I'm mostly aphantasic. It's not the lack of an ability, so much as simply "using a different processor" to achieve the same task. A processor that just doesn't happen to waste RAM on visualization.
@overlordborn6131Ай бұрын
What's the advantage of aphanthasia which you had noticed ?
@AsifBooksАй бұрын
@@overlordborn6131 I think of it in much the same way I think about internal monologue -- which I also rarely do. I see it as a savings of mental RAM. I was certified "gifted" at an early age and performed particularly well on spatial rotation tests, even in the first grade. I didn't know I was different than other people in this regard until just a couple years ago. But it's impossible for me to separate my own particular neurology from the fact that all my life people have told me I'm smart. :-) There's just no way to truthfully separate those two things. Note (1): I can *force myself* to visualize something, but my visualizations are fleeting, low-resolution, and static. This is even true of memories, which I remember more like frozen snapshots. In my head I have 2 images of my mother. They are both from photographs. That's it. Note (2): I am an editor, and my understanding of the world is super semantic/symbolic. I don't miss a thing, even when a writer says "her scarf was red." I have a sneaking suspicion I read even *more* into such a statement because, for me, it has to be a *deliberate symbolic detail*. Note (3): Likewise, I can make myself "talk" in my head. It's just that I don't usually "need" to, unless I'm solving a complicated math problem, or something like that. My thoughts also become internally audible sometimes when I'm tired or stressed.
@BladeTrain3r2 ай бұрын
I'm fairly weak on visualisation but fairly strong I think on somatic and auditory imagination. I can "feel" the texture of a tissue for example, if inexactly. I can recall voices and music fairly clearly, replay a song with accuracy mostly limited by memory. If a qualia is to be thought of as an integration of cognitive inputs, then virtual qualia like imaginary experiences can be described in similar terms relative to all inputs simulated internally. If that makes sense.
@TatuCarretaАй бұрын
lol i write about that, is a very good way to see the mental manifestations, like we have an analogue perception and a digital one, we can mentally taste, smell, view, hear, feel, and even all the perceptions at the same time. aphantasia is like a broken cable...
@graciegracieАй бұрын
Synesthesia
@catman87702 ай бұрын
Cannot imagine being unable to visualize things in my mind, when I visualize stuff its always in easily manipulable high quality images that can be animated and the like
@jhnyjoejoe692 ай бұрын
yup. We got superior processing power.
@nikkireigns2 ай бұрын
No wonder I get tired easily 😂 I can imagine how much I’d get done if I wasn’t able to do this so well.
@SamGarcia2 ай бұрын
@@nikkireigns As someone with aphantasia, but not a very total one, it literally feels like my brain is burning a lot of calories for me when I try really hard to imagine things, and all I get is very faint shadowy lines and shapes in a very foggy abysmal void, so I imagine someone with a full one would get drained easily.
@nikkireigns2 ай бұрын
@@SamGarcia do you find that you’re good at things like math and science? I’ve always struggled with those but love reading and writing and art. Just curious if there might be a correlation there somewhere
@SamGarcia2 ай бұрын
@@nikkireigns While I do love math and science, I can't do math in my head, I do it with pen and paper, because I have to image the symbols to do it in my head. There might be some correlation, but simply, I just find that people with aphantasia simply think outside our head (like the pen and paper math I just said) compared to people who think inside their head. I have an internal dialogue, so I talk to myself in my head, but apparently, some people don't have an internal dialogue, and I believe they talk to themselves out loud with their mouth instead to make up for that. So really, anything you can do in your head with images, we can/try to do outside our head. If you try to make an image in your head, well, we have to make with our hands a real statue outside our head.
@user-gr1io9is3vАй бұрын
I've always strived to be more conscious because I always thought being more conscious meant being able to do more, know more, I've always been a dreamy kid, mostly living inside my mind, as I've visualised what I wanted as some sort of fantasy in my head. This video is fact.
@hazu6437Ай бұрын
Thanks, this is really informative to me. A bit of story to share like everyone else, When i was a kid, i literally can imagine things when i open my eyes (in which i remember that it's a detailed images, its like slapping another sight on top what already there) When i was on the last year of elementary school, my imagination are a bit too active that i awake when sleeping (lucid dream) which i should say ruined my life because i start getting sleep paralysis and i feel lethargic during the day Long story short, i disappointed my parent because i got dumb stuff for dumb reason when i was a teenager and it's start a chains reaction that lead to me being depressed a little bit too much. And start from there i am losing those ability (to picture thing, even inside my mind to the point of i can't even remember face and when trying to remember scenery which i normally can, back then i cannot, which made me freak out a little tbh) Another long story short, another stage of a little bit too much depression came and it's quickly stabilize after a bit of enlightenment which made my depressed phase almost passed and now i realize that i can remember (as in recall scenery) again, though i also realize that i get traumatized cause i still cant remember something that really really specific and only for that spesific thing *quick note: "to remember" in my case are more like recalling a scenery because i having a hard time to differentiate between when is yesterday and before that
@roomtempwater12 ай бұрын
I think another issue with consciousness studies is that we haven’t scientifically studied psychadelic experiences, it’s a difficult task but I think one that needs to be studied to fully understand what consciousness is
@TatuCarretaАй бұрын
we need to do it by our self if the goverments dont aprove the researchs. Some like psilocibine, pure lsd or DMT, are very powerful drugs but no big damage, actually are great and positive results! helps us to know what we are
@KatatonyaАй бұрын
Fooor suure, this is my biggest gripe with consciousness studies. What is the reason for this? Do countries not let you research illegal substances or what? There are definitely places in the world where they do it. Do the scientists themselves avoid it? I'm personally really interested in what Astral Projection (the next level after lucid dreaming), is and I think that it would definitely unlock some big unknown knowledge about consciousness. I've heard it explained as different states of consciousness: Dream Awareness Experience - you're unaware that *you*'re dreaming, and you're not the real you, with all your memories and being Lucid Awareness Experience - you are aware that you're dreaming, but you're still not really the real *you* Astral Awaremess Experience - you're BOTH, aware that you're dreaming, AND, you're the real, full, *you* I wonder, how do these 3 interact with the main one?: Awareness Experience - you're AWAKE, not dreaming, and you're you, fully conscious and aware that you're conscious. I think the field of Neural Science is vastly under-researching the state of dreaming and how it influences our ego. And then this one combines quite well with the field of studying psychedelics, "mind-altering drugs". And there likely lies the key to quite a big chunk of "how the brain works". I wrote this while high, sorry.
@monkqpАй бұрын
@@Katatonyathe problem is doing it in a way that is more broadly useful. individual experience is hard to pin down and quantify. plus getting funding for such a project could be a hard sell if you went "we're getting people high as shit and writing down what happens". as far as i know there's some research on psychedelics, and how it could be used to treat some mental illnesses (anxiety, depression, dunno what else) but not specifically on how it relates to the idea of consciousness. on a not-so related note, astral projection is a load of bull, but your definition of it seems to differ from the more popular one. Can you elaborate on what it means to be the "real you" and why you're not the "real you" when you lucid dream?
@KatatonyaАй бұрын
@@monkqp the cultist version of astral projection definitely sounds like a load of bull, but people like to sugar coat everything in life, it's probably how our brain works (hence religion, makes you feel special and not just a blob of cells). Thing is, A LOT of people experienced this Astral thing, and I know a few personally even. If you ask any of them for details of the experience, it matches, to what people on the internet say, to what people in other cultures say, etc. The CIA even did experiments on it. It definitely exists imo. Do you actually leave your body? Most likely not lol. Does our brain have some immense hidden potential? Most likely yes imo. And I think some psychedelic drugs bypass the difficulty of getting an astral experience, but it's like going into it ultra drunk. I stumbled upon a subreddit called AstralAcademy where the author wrote a book explaining his views and techniques on Astral Projecting, his definition is what I used, it's way more realistic and down to earth, stripped down from any unnecessary cultist links. Here's how his book explains your question: "it’s best described as you being the actor in a play, but being fully aware that you’re the person playing the part, not the person in the play" -- is what an astral experience is The difference from the lucid experience is that while in a lucid dream, you become aware that you're dreaming, but you don't become aware of much more than that, you're still kinda in a dream state. I.E - you don't really become aware that you're the person playing the part, you're still the person in the play, not the real you reading this comment. I think the author also claims that all 3, dreaming, lucid dreaming and astral projection, take place in the same space. The only thing that's changing is your awareness level. That's also an interesting way to view it. I myself only experienced lucid dreaming and many failed astral dreaming attempts. Have some wild sleep paralysis stories though. I never really gave it a full shot though, was always busy with stuff irl and couldn't concentrate on this. This book of his sounds really promising though, if anyone's interested find the subreddit and there should be a post with the downloadable book somewhere on there.
@RiaelАй бұрын
>on a not-so related note, astral projection is a load of bull Absolutely stupid statement.
@LouiesLog2 ай бұрын
I really struggle to rotate objects in my head
@ihmcurious2 ай бұрын
What do you experience when you try to do it? Do you "see" anything?
@OpreanMircea2 ай бұрын
You are just bad at geometry
@martinelosudietz6795Ай бұрын
I think I am in the spectrum of aphantasia, I can only visualize things conceptually, and sometimes if I try really hard, I can sketch the shapes of the thing I imagine. But, on the other hand, I have an ability that I hardly have seen on anyone else. I have no problem remembering actual sounds or songs or voices, I can "hear" sounds really vividly in my mind, and that's a thing that everyone around me has told me that they can't. Additionaly, that's a thing I can totally control, I can choose to remember sounds. Lastly, something related is that I can be doing task A, while someone talks me about a Task B. At that moment, I can choose to ignore them, end with Task A, remember what they told me about Task B and answer them about that other task. Very interesting video btw, this is a very intriguing field.
@mightytheknight2878Ай бұрын
In my explanation, consciousness, is directly ties to rationality/thinking reasoning will power. a higher level of consciousness is basically a higher-level driving force of rationality sub consciousness, is directly tied to instinctual/need reasoning will power and emotional reasoning is a unknown ratio between them. example instinct give the emotion of fear and stress etc while rationality give the emotions of assertiveness and determination etc so basically, it's a mega huge spectrum, where sub conscious and consciousness chip in and can even chip in the same emotion, for example common emotion of both conscious and subconical have in common, is fear, happiness and anger/rage. The problem of brain stuff, is that each individual has a degree of driving force to each single emotion, basically everybody has unknown value of each, and a reason that trigger a response that why some like something, and other people don't like something, its usually the balance and force between sub conscious, and conscious, and witch one is stronger/higher driving force (will) The Greatest Problem of being able to determine this, is very unreal, as the values and trigger response, and how many trigger responses are need etc., is unable to be determine. This is because people sub conscious, and conscious, reasoning values of gravity, the intensity, and multiple trigger, or multiple reasons and multiple checks of each and the speed of awareness of each; in short there is a lot going on. and the quality, intensity, and the conditions, depends and randomly varies on the individual life experience, of an individual. Basically, its constantly adapts to the situation there in. Now there are multiple scenarios which can completely disable or enable a subconscious or conscious response. this is when people do training habits diets atmosphere that exposure even people exposure and can go even as simple and low as whether or not you clean your teeth or not; and even thinking and dreams actively changes reasoning, values, and numbers of them. basically, it is so random, and a single word thought, ore a single sound or a single image can actively change these values, at the speed of light basically. That is why there are general recommendations, and practices of training based on the majority of people, or major response. because the mental functionality is completely uncertain and constantly evolving to the point even with 2 consciousness, sub and active, people still can't keep up with the changes, Part 2 So, we have 2 states of consciousness Sub Inconstant instinctual reasoning and Constant rationality thinking reasoning. So, this is one of the greatness misconceptions of people; people think that animal is less smart than humans; that's completely wrong and somewhat true; there are many examples See this what people are not understanding, when were born we are basically the same as an animal, we whine, we play, we break, we do horse play, and etc., there no difference from a baby human from a baby animal. What happens after is what makes the difference, humans are biologically engineered to really more on knowledge rationality and consciousness. Animals are born with claws, higher strength and physical aptitude in general, there biologically engineered on instinctual reasoning, and their conditions require less sense of reasoning especially when there smaller than need higher levels of speed and agility. So, what's the difference its simple. Animals are more subconscious, and lower in conscious Humans are more conscious and lower in subconscious. it's due to people needing more conscious or self-awareness drive to survive, animals need more instinctual drive to survive willpower is basically the driving force, and an animal will power, conditions, and how their biologically engineered then need more instinctual drive humans need more conscious, or self-awareness drive; a great example are rules, animals have little rules; humans have a lot of rules and laws that means humans must think and be rational of those rules to function in a society. an animal doesn't an animal need more strength and buffer faster to survive in their society. that why most animals run lot faster than humans, humans barely run a fraction of speed especially compared to a horse or cheetah, which can gallop and run at a whooping 60 mph or more. a human barely manages 1-2mph per hour, and well trained. And this is the misconception; people end up saying animals are inferior to human, and the infamous bird brain thing. people like to claim that apes are closer to humans; that's false, actually in terms of DNA a pig is closer to humans. we didn't come from apes; were just a different type of animal. so, people like to ask, why is an ape is closer to a human. ITS OBVIOS, because apes have arms and legs. apes' survival is based more in ingenuity like humans, both biologically. why apes attack like humans, because apes have no claws. people like invent such illogical and irrational narratives because apes are similar to humans, and its simply because that is how they survive the best. so why an ape is a bit less intelligent than human; again, the run at rapid speed, they have less precise hand control and leg control, they have much more strength than a human; basically, they have a greater conscious than a usual animal but it's still lesser than humans, and they have a higher subconscious, than humans; it all connects, connect the dots the reason the survive more, or pose more intelligent, similar to giraffs, elephants etc.; is because they don't have ANY WEAPONS like claws and extremely sharp teeth so, these animals, has a different method of instinctual survival, and as a result because they can't depend on pure instinct there less instinctual than other animals, and more conscious or rational; because it's in their nature. NOTICE: If people where to ask me where I got this info, my brain I think, I use my brain; that is right I came to this logical conclusion from my head, using Infromation and data of countless of information, videos, audio, reading, and research also searching; basically NOBODY STATES WHAT I SAID, this is just me connecting the dots in an absurdly deep in depth thinking and analysis of multiple facts. people should take what I say, with more of a critical thinking, and a curious thing to think upon and rationalize themselves. NEVER TAKE SOMETHING IN ABSOLUTE FACE VALUE, I maybe be logically right in many points; but again, their many factors that are in play, and many factors that are potentially unknown; this is just a CONECTION OF DOTS. part 3 Misconceptions This is actually also why I dislike the idea of religion; because religion claims that animals have no conscious; yet that's completely false, and they are proven to have emotions; and even go to humans for help; there millions of things that confirm this. I also dislike the idea of people treating; that male and female are the same; when they're not; and this applies to basically EVERY SINGLE ANIMAL; male is less conscious, and more sub conscious or instinctual; and females are the reverse of that; there billions of investigations and studies the confirm this consistency. that's also why I dislike the idea that some scientists believe that human came from apes, because animals really more in instinctual sub conscious, and less on rational consciousness like I explained. There just random people, saying stuff base on such superficial, and superstition stuff, with no real depth thinking; they aggressively push a message rather than actually think. They have information, but they're not really analyzing it or evaluating it [ or like how I like to say it, [connecting the dots]; so, as you can see, people create many misconceptions, and erroneous understanding by jumping to conclusions basically. "a smart person is a person capable of accepting there wrong when they are; and looking deeper for the truth or to an answer" So, people would question how to make an animal smarter; just let it be with humans, and teach the animal; its that's simple yes, give classes to animals. like can the parrot, speak any language, and do responses like greetings and ask for crackers; because they were taught by human, there near humans there are even animals, which are significantly, weak to the point they can only live as a pet the answer: it's simple's start teaching animals, and suddenly multiple generation later they might become furies who knows. it's like ROBOTS and Ai; why ai can make a video, draw, make images, imitate voices, and etc., because were feeding it with human knowledge... why dogs are good caretakers, and why chickens and dogs can raise any creature including a human, because we near them the most. Shure there a level of biological limitation and instincts that promotes Sutch behavior, but if you do the math, you find the dog is one of the closes animals to humans. and the lifestyle of chickens are similar to humans in ways, little peeps follow the mom; actually, dogs and other animals, that a chicken takes care of or adopts, follow similar behavior. chicken is probably one of the most interesting animals, due to its nature of adopting, humans do the same. were biologically engineered to have more knowledge, and methods of teaching and precise communication. teach a dog to give you his paw, and when you put your hand, he will give you his paw and probably even shake it. why scientist discovered apes can do math, because they taught ape to do math. It's really that simple; train your dragon {pun intended}; literally teach animal's stuff. Humans are the most efficient species in teaching, and educating because that is the way human survive in the FirstPlace; probably 100-200 years later; we would have dogs that speak human language. Thanks for attending my ted talk, lel; I'm insanely brainstorming tbh in text.
@ToxicFruitSnack2 ай бұрын
I have aphantasia. No i can’t imagine this or that so don’t make me try. It literally feels like my head is empty, yet i can still “see” imagery, it’s just not like i can picture it in my hand for example. It’s in the back of my mind but i can’t bring it out into the real world as some people might be able to do. I don’t know if it’s genetic or not, my mom can see imagery and she was surprised when i told her about it.
@ApoLk_Ай бұрын
Hot take: I dont think aphantasia is "real", everyone has it, its just that people dont understand the question and think imaginaning the concept of an apple is surely the same as seeing the apple being red, this might be why scientist all have this aphantasia, they just actually understand the question. Again im not saying im right this is just what i think it is, i havent even whatched more that 30s of video, i just know what it is, maybe there some information im here that will change my mind.
@oliviabb73849Ай бұрын
Based on the comments…I agree.
@taoistflyerАй бұрын
Question, I've read a lot about aphantasia and have never gotten a clear answer. People describe visualization as seeing something in your minds eye which I assume I've been doing my whole life. Are you saying you literally see an image when your eyes are closed that is almost EXACTLY the same as when your eyes are open. as if the visual cones and rods in your eyes are being stimulated and you literally see objects with your eyes . So you, in theory, can project visual hallucinations into the real world that are indistinguishable from true visual stimulation. Can you project an apple on to a table that will block out the visual stimulus of light behind the apple. When you close your eyes can you create imagery that makes the blackness turn into a picture or movie that is exactly the same as if your eyes are open. If you're in a pitch black room can you make an object appear in the room and truly see it as if the lights are on. A controlled visual hallucination that is stimulating the visual cortex exactly the same as light waves stimulating rods and cones in your eyes. The semantics of the term minds eye can confuse the question and every answer I get falls short of saying, yes I can make objects appear in a pitch black room that are no different than objects in a room with the lights on.
@blizzard1198Ай бұрын
Essentially it is no different than seeing the real thing, let me put it like this, it's like if my mind has a tv that I can optionally turn off and on by will and this tv plays whatever I want, if you removed my eyes right from their very sockets, I can still visualize the an apple as if my eyes are there, I can make entire scenarios,scenes etc. I have been able to remember things when I don't know their names by putting a mental image, and then remembering.
@blizzard1198Ай бұрын
I'm sure you've dreamed right? Think of a dream that you can play and have full control of. It's like if you had the eyes disconnected from your body that can choose to see anything they want.
@taoistflyerАй бұрын
@@blizzard1198 so if your eyes are open can you make visual imagery appear in the room with you that is no different than real objects. Can you put a mask over a person's face that prevents you from seeing their face. Can you make a person appear in front of you that looks just as real as a normal person. Controlled hallucinations so to speak. If you're driving down the road can you accidentally conjure a brick wall in front of you that makes you slam on the breaks because it looks so real.
@zsoltfabian85Ай бұрын
@@taoistflyeryes they can never answer that clearly. I think they missleading many people.
@ihmcuriousАй бұрын
Some people report being able to project objects into the world. I haven't heard of people being able to create masks that negate visual perception. But if Adam Zeman agrees to a conversation, I will ask him.
@Singmen64Ай бұрын
Ok here is my story: One day I was drawing and listening to music for several hours. After that I meditated for roughly 6 more hours without falling asleep. After some time passed, my "closed-eye-visuals" started to morph into paintings of objects, landscapes and people inspired by the real (and not real) world. Normally they're just some colors and shapes morphing into each other but this time it slowly started to get really weird. I began to see 3 dimensional things and places all morphing into each other like an alien sight seeing tour or something like that. This goes on for a while and then it was slowly becoming all white-ish and bright and then I was in a complete monoton looking room with just my view and a brown/grey looking object I never saw before. It started to rise up in front of me as if it looked straight into my soul and then a portal like thing opened, transcending me to a place I could only describe as a form of Micro-Kosmos. With various strings vibrating and thus creating forms and shapes. I didn't feel like I had any psychical form while being there and it was as if my senses somehow melted together, creating a whole new sense In the process. I could move freely in this realm and I even did encounter a creature. It's body was made out of the same things as it's surroundings and after I could form a question and tried to deliver it to the creature the only response I got was alien-like frequencies. As if it was a whole other kind of language never being able to really understand what it said because for me it just sounded like musical frequencies in all kinds of sorts. So highly complex and otherworldly. Shortly after this experience which I was as suddenly thrown out of it as I was entering it. I don't know how long it was because I felt completely timeless there. After I "woke up" from it I first needed to collect myself and think about what the heck just happened while my 5 senses slowly began to work normally again like they're supposed to. Because it really felt like I was transcending time and space with just my soul and that's not an everyday thing to happen I guess... What are your thoughts about this?
@six1free2 ай бұрын
I'm undiagnosed but have aphantasia otherwise known as "those without eyes to sea" (the second way of thinking - I doubt it so rare, merely understudied) my mind works by an internal group of voices varying by what type of perspective, describing memories, plans, and surroundings, not images thus faces, especially over age, blur in regards to identification - especially with changed hair styles, new glasses, trans... ect. as oppose to useful, until you figure out how to pattern most things it's horribly unproductive. once you have patterned most things, chances are you did it wrong and will have to redetermine the patterns each miracle (what doesn't fit). All we know is we are usually wrong and search for the real patterns.
@Anaesify2 ай бұрын
I cant visualize and also cant hear anything in my head (also cant taste in my head), Ive never been jealous of people with voices in their head though, that sounds so awful to me!
@six1free2 ай бұрын
@@Anaesify you bring up a good point, I can't taste in my head either, it's certainly the tounge that tastes and nose the smells - and yes the voices are likely to recall random things like scent but scent *rarely* seems to invoke memory as in others. the voices are all you, it's not like schizophrenia where they disassociate... it just allows for conversation and debate without getting horribly confusing... it is certainly a handycapt in this society not being able to "visualize"
@six1free2 ай бұрын
@@Anaesify do you have any internalization at all? how does it work, best you can describe?
@Anaesify2 ай бұрын
@@six1free I dont think I do... I was talking further to friends about this tonight actually... I have no inner monologue, I can't "daydream", I cant hear or smell or taste internally. I don't have vivid memories, in fact most of my past is essentially a black hole to me. My whole life (that I can subjectively say I experience) happens outside of my mind.
@six1free2 ай бұрын
@@Anaesify fascinating... ever try a myers briggs test?
@jeremydoody28 күн бұрын
Hot take: aphantasia is just the ability to discern the difference between a mental process and a sensory experience. It’s not that I am “unable to form mental images”; that’s the wrong framing. It’s more like I am capable of imagining an apple without becoming confused about whether this constitutes “seeing” an apple. It’s not like “normal” people have actual images in their heads. It’s a thought. You are thinking. The fact that you confuse it for an image that you “see” is just an error. You are misinterpreting your thought about the apple as an image of an apple, but it’s not. There is no image.
@tylerbrown44833 күн бұрын
Yeah, I don’t know about that. Because seeing is simply your mind interpreting the inputs from your eyes and using a subconscious thought process to make an image. So it makes sense that people could conjure the image into something that their brain interprets as a visual. And when they do that I don’t think they’re unaware that it’s a thought that they’re seeing rather than real optical input from their retinas. Sort of like playing a dvd instead of watching a live feed. The graphics card doesn’t know the difference between the input, whether it’s coming direct from a camera or from a disc player. But you know it’s a disc and not a camera because you’re the one who selected the source.
@c_karis_1Ай бұрын
The study of how our brain processes information has barely scratched the surface. And we haven't even begun studying consciousness.
@MaxTheMiner1Ай бұрын
I have aphantasia and I only realised I had it when I was 18. The difference in life experience from aphantasics and regular people is so small that you don’t realise until someone actually tells you people actually CAN see things in their mind. This moment is a paradigm shift I feel most aphantasics have experienced; it’s a moment where hidden memories and events from throughout your life all get brought forward and suddenly everything makes sense. The reason I do *know* I have aphantasia is because I can dream while under the influence of medicinal cannabis. These dreams are vivid and fantastic, I have very little control of what I do dream about but it usually correlates to stressors in my real life. Because of these dreams I can know what it’s like to be able to visualise things, and I cannot. (While conscious) The last thing I want to mention is something I don’t quite understand yet about aphantasia. That’s the fact that when I do think of something in my mind naturally, I often can find myself being provided a flash of the imagery in my mind. This flash of imagery lasts barely long enough to realise it even happened and cannot be replicated by trying to actively visualise or think of the same thing. It’s very frustrating I feel, it’s like the lights get turned on for a millisecond before going back out again, and you’re left with the concept of what you just saw without any imagery to it. I feel this is the brain attempting to recall visual information to mind but an active process in consciousness inhibits this ability and so visualisation cannot be achieved actively/consciously. I’ve heard others with similar experiences but I’m curious to see if any of my other aphantasics share this feeling/experience Thank you for this video Elliot. It’s nice to read the comments from all my other aphantasics and relate to their stories. It’s both a relief and funny to for once be able to relate to so many stories about life experiences due to aphantasia, for once I feel understood without the need to explain myself.
@DwAboutItManFr2 ай бұрын
We need to consider philosophical zombies for AI, dangerously missing on the debate.
@epajarjestys9981Ай бұрын
AI isn't real. Zombies aren't real either. Nothing dangerous about either. Dangerous is people's stupidity.
@thetruthexperiment2 ай бұрын
Blind imagination or “aphantasia” is a mental misconception. If you can give directions or tell someone what kind of dog you’re thinking of etc, you absolutely can see with your minds eye. You just have to rearrange your belief structure about it. I know this to be true because I was mind blind as a bat until recently. It wasn’t easy to do and I’m still not good at it but I absolutely can see my imagination now. And i absolutely couldn’t before. So, for those of you who feel “left out” with a little work and the right kind of thinking you can open up your minds eye. Really, it’s more like looking at what’s already there. Impossible to teach someone how to do it. You have to figure it out on your own. It’s not like flexing a muscle. You first have to know where in your mind to look and then you can get better at it. I’m living proof. You don’t have to believe me but for those of you who want hope and want to see, i promise that I am 100% correct about this. I know for a fact. I can’t show you, but you absolutely are not blind in your mind. You just don’t yet know where to look. That is a promise. I can’t promise you’ll figure it out but what i can promise is, believe you can’t do it is the primary obstacle keeping you from seeing it. You have to let go of the concept of mind blindness. It is almost criminal that this idea has been spread on the internet. It is actually hurting people more than people know. It makes some people suicidal and I’m not joking or overstating. It’s tragic how “science” is used in this regard. Especially given the “evidence” from brain scans. If you’re not good at seeing with your mind or you simply cant see because you don’t know where to look, of course this will show up on a brain scan. Once you know where to look your brain will light up just like everyone else’s. For those of you troubled by this oppressive meme, I want you to know that you can see. It’s only a matter of taking the time to figure out how. It can be easy or hard. It’s a matter of peeling back layers of belief that unfortunately have been compounded by the name given to this “deficiency.” Aphantasia is a word not a disorder. You’re not incomplete. I’m sorry to those of you who have learned this word and have taken it to heart. It is not real. It’s only subjective dissonance that can absolutely be resolved. It doesnt matter what the “science” says. Neuroscience is essentially a complete misunderstanding of consciousness not the other way around. Of course MRIs show what they show. You’ll know what I mean if you learn to see.
@markr96402 ай бұрын
I think there is some merit in what you are saying. There might be a typo: You said it's not like learning to flex a muscle. Did you mean to say it's not UNLIKE?
@thetruthexperiment2 ай бұрын
@@markr9640 no, it’s only like a muscle after you figure it out. If you don’t know where the muscle is you cant flex it. Thanks for helping clarify.
@kennethrobinson7498Ай бұрын
This was super inspiring, I resonate with this a lot as I’m an artist trying to find where in my mind my visual thoughts are. Great comment, hope I can consciously experience my minds eye soon.
@seanrevelle554Ай бұрын
I first heard about aphantasia a few years ago and I realized I couldn't visualize in my mind, but like you said all it takes is practice I still don't have strong visuals and I can't control the ones I do have but still it is now possible for me to see images in my mind. I agree with you 100% I think aphantasia is a myth and the problem is people just don't know they can visualize so they don't, once you learn mental imagery is a thing you just have to practice and eventually you will start to be able to do it maybe not well but still anything is better than nothing.
@thetruthexperimentАй бұрын
@@seanrevelle554 it’s very important that people have your attitude. People are calling into question free will and the reality of consciousness because of this ridiculous and erroneous notion. Consciousness is the only thing we can be sure is real and once you start questioning the validity of your own subjective experience and preaching the same it destabilizes people. Some people are naturally very good visualizers. I am not and before this was a thing I thought I had no imagination. Then I find out about this terrible meme (meme in the original Dawkins sense) and see the damage it was doing to people. People are actually suffering over this and it’s a terrible and needless shame. I fasted for a week a while back and realized I have a very well developed ability to taste in my mind. I can eat doughnuts or pie or cheesecake or anything and it’s 99% as good as the real thing. This is because I deprived myself of food for an entire week. When you’re sleeping you deprive yourself of visual stimulation and what happens? You dream of course. I suppose if you were to spend 48 hours or so in darkness you would begin to see things in your mind while awake. Of course you see in your mind all the time. Some of us just don’t know where to look. But if you can think of a dog and know what kind of dog it is, guess what? You’re not imagination blind. The “gonzfeld” technique is where you put halved ping pong balls over your eyes and shine a red light on them with “white noise” in your ears. Some people begin to see things after a few minutes. Someone like me, i don’t see anything but noise even after several hours, but for someone like me it probably takes quite a bit longer. Maybe a whole day. With taste it took several days of not tasting anything before I could taste absolutely anything nearly perfectly. Imagination blindness is in your imagination. So is all of your experience. Some experience comes through your body and some comes from within you. I promise everyone that you are not impaired. If you are alive you have an imagination and you are capable of seeing anything you want. You just have to stop believing you can’t. If you want it you can have it. For people like us it just isn’t obvious. I spent two weeks at a silent meditation retreat in part because I wanted my “earworms” to go away. Songs were stuck in my head. After nearly two weeks of silence my ear worms only god worse. If you want a song out of your head you have to practice mindfulness but isn’t obvious how to stop hearing something annoying. I find imagining “born to run” will clear it out. For some reason Springsteen doesn’t get stuck in my head. I’m not saying one way or the other if I like Springsteen. I’m just saying it works for earworms. Silence for two weeks only makes earworms worse. This is because your senses crave stimulation. For those of us who struggle to “see” it is just because the information from our eyes both open and closed is overwhelming and what we see in our minds is nearly invisible by comparison. Aphantasia is a dangerous lie. People become suicidal over it. It truly is dangerous. And it’s just a lie. A lie that people tell themselves and others. You can see. You can see right now. As you read these words there are countless images going through your mind. They’re simply dimmer than the pixels on the screen and the screen in your mind is obscured by your own misconceptions. You are not broken. You are not defective. You are not incomplete and you are not missing anything. You just don’t know where to “look.” But if you want to know where to look you can learn. Aphantasia is a lie. That is a promise. What I’m telling you all is the truth. Once you do finally get it, if you want to, you’ll be amazed. Amazed by how deep this lie is. Imagination is funding to being alive. If you are alive, you can see. I promise. I promise.
@brwa5176Ай бұрын
I describe aphantasia as the projector in my head not working. One still has the normal abilities e.g., image rotation, recognition etc. but can’t consciously project the images.
@MrJeffrey938Ай бұрын
I've been using Blind Sight to describe what is different about human consciousness for ever, but I never hear about it. Dr. Ramachandran predicted that a subject with traumatic brain injury (motorcycle accident) resulting in blind sight would have severed the nerve going to the conscious part of the brain but not the part that all other mammals possess. Psychologists predicted that the trauma was psychological. They took a look at the nerves and Ramachandran (the neurologist) was right. To me, this suggests that other animals do not inhabit a "world" in the sense that we do. Just like someone who possesses blind sight seems to see (a world) but doesn't, animals without a prefrontal cortex seem to experience the world but do not. It's another case of us projecting our experience onto our animal friends.
@thenerd173Ай бұрын
I remember always thinking people were joking or that it was some kind of figure of speech when telling others to "picture things in their mind." Only recently did I find out about aphantasia, and I figure I've probably got it; I can't visualize things internally unless I'm dreaming. I think that many of my interests and preferences stem from this. For example, I love movies and shows, often preferring them over books. I've never enjoyed reading books without pictures, as I can't picture what I'm reading by myself. I used to think I just disliked the act of reading, but after watching hundreds of anime and reading probably thousands of subtitles, I've realized that I don't really mind having to read things. I also love games and their storytelling. I love exploring the fantastical worlds that games provide, and I believe that it's because I struggle with creating my own; a sort of escapism that I struggle to create but love to partake in. Additionally, I can not visualize my memories at all. It always makes me feel bad, being unable to remember certain aspects of shared memories with friends and family. Massive parts of my childhood are completely missing from my memories (whether it's because of my childhood trauma or aphantasia). This has given me the desire to document my memories through pictures and videos. I was devastated when I heard about aphantasia and mentioned it to my friends and family. They are all able to vividly imagine and picture things. My best friend even claimed to be on the complete opposite side of the "spectrum," being able to create dream-like hallucinations just by thinking about things. I felt worthless or broken and still do, in a way. It felt unfair. Uni maths has been hell for me, and I can't help but think that I would've done better if only I was able to visualize things. However, I've lived my entire life this way, so I've grown used to it. I believe my aphantasia has shaped who I am. The second I found out about it, it was like everything clicked in my head. "Maybe that's why I do this," or "maybe that's why I like this," etc. It has been very enlightening. I've found a personal loophole that lets me circumvent my aphantasia: Sometimes, when having just woken up, I'm at a crossroads between being asleep and awake; during this, I'm able to effectively have lucid dreams. I say effectively because they are more like daydreams overlaying themselves onto what I'm actually seeing, like an AR headset.
@cunctator7622Ай бұрын
Then what am I? Sometimes I see it, sometimes I don't, sometimes it's 3D, sometimes 2D, sometimes coloured, sometimes in black and white... stranger thing is I am pretty fast at rotating objects in my mind + when I do math, I can pretty much visualize everything, even with my eyes open... and what about daydreaming? I do that every day, sometimes I can see only ehat my imagination is creating, with blurred images of reality behind, like if I had a layer in front of my eyes... sometimes, instead, it perfectly blend with reality and I can see both at the same time... so what am I?
@treyslider6954Күн бұрын
4:12 I would argue that the "layman's" definition of conciousness is less about being able to respond to things and just literally being *aware* of stuff. If you are conscious of something, it doesn't mean you're responding to it, it means you are aware of it on a mental level, with the distinction being 'aware' is more about sensory perception and conscious being "it is on my mind" perception; if you are aware of a car, you possess the factual knowledge of the car's existence. If you're conscious of the car, you're actively paying attention to the idea of "there is a car".
@versesZero5 күн бұрын
I have this. No visualization whatsoever. Most times I don't think about it, but when the conversation comes up it does bum me out. Seems like such a cool ability that everyone has and I love art and drawing. But then again, I lived 35 years without myself or my friends/family realizing that it was a thing so I seem to be getting along fine without it.
@teentitansrock8814 күн бұрын
I was gaslit as a child and told that I was lieing about not being able to see things I imagined. Sometimes I would describe it and an adult would say "well, yeah, no one actually /sees/ things in their head." Which only confused me more because other people were adimit that everyone could. I only realized this a few months ago, but it's also partnered with a poor sense of directional comprehension and poor facial recognition. As an artist it makes it difficult to keep up, to create things in my own mind, to plan ahead. I basically have to work physically to make any sense of anything.
@stoobpendousАй бұрын
I remember having an imagination up to about age 14 that was so vivid that it was like reality. Sometimes I'd scare myself. I could almost cry as I struggle to even daydream today.
@levelNeroZeroАй бұрын
For some people it’s like the same as being invited by people to learn to swim and then proceed to convince themselves they can’t do it on the first few tries.
@WedgyBlueАй бұрын
I can visualize in my head if my eyes are open. But if my eyes are closed, I see few.