It is comforting to me that this is beginning to be studied. I am 63 and i have had Aphantasia my whole life (this, as i understand it, is the norm, all though you can have it happen due to health issues, though that is more rare). This didn't stop me from being very creative, but because i couldn't "See" the creative things and they just tended to spring forth fully formed, i was always afraid the creativity would go away. I didn't know where the creativity came from so i thought it could go just as easily. This kept me from going into art oriented careers or other careers where this visual memory seemed to be important to other people, never mind that i could do those things Without having the visual memory. When you had to "show your work" or "show the development of your ideas" i always had to do the finished piece and then try to create backwards to some kind of beginning that was acceptable to my instructor which was extremely stressful and made me feel even less like i had the ability to create (though i did, and my projects were lauded). In high school Geometry, i luckily had an instructor who was aware that there was more than one way to do something, and that not everyone had to follow visually progressive logic. She was very accepting of my answers even though they were often different than the 'norm'. i was very good in Geometry, and really all math, when the instructor wasn't trying to force me to try and visualize something. Same with Sciences, though i was afraid to go into the maths and sciences because i couldn't 'justify' my answers. i also had problems with memorization of unrelated items, lists of things. i had to drop a high level Spanish class, not because i couldn't speak the language well (it was not spoken at home or in my community), but because i couldn't memorize the weekly list of unrelated words that were the only thing we were tested on. i could speak, read, write and think in the language, but i was force to withdraw so as not to ruin my grade point average. To this day i still can't memorize lists, though i've tried every method i could find (hint, every method i've ever seen relies on visual memory), and when i go to the store for even one thing, i need to write it down because i can't "see" what i need. However, i've never had any problem memorizing play scripts, as long as they make sense and follow along like a book. Dadaist plays like 'Waiting for Godot' are impossible for me to memorize. i even had huge problems with 'Godspell' as the dialog is essentially random bits of the Christian New Testament used as dialog. When growing up, i never had any problems memorizing verses from the Bible or any other religious text, again, as long as it made cohesive sense (the book of Revelations was not something i could memorize). These experiences have lead to a great deal of hardship in my life because i've put aside things because i didn't know that how i thought was normal, and that nothing would 'go away' just because i couldn't "see it" in my head like most of the people around me. i have never reached my "expected potential" because i was always worried that there was something wrong with the way i thought. i've only found this all out in the last year. i am really not sure what to do with the knowledge and whether i can get back some of the things i've put aside. i'd write a memoir, except i don't have "memories" in the same way other people have them. Everything that i can remember is always in the 3rd person, as if i'm the observer rather than the participant (again 'observer' is a visual word, but i don't have any other way to explain it, we who have Aphantasia have no vocabulary to describe the things we perceive). And much of my life, unless very strong emotions were attached to it, is a blur in recollection. My memory can be easily triggered by others or things that i read, however, to me, my life is more like a list of things, many of them unrelated to what comes before and after, so it is difficult to easily recollect them on my own. i hope a lot of research is done and that eventually this information is injected into the school system so that no child ever has to go through the doubt and sometimes devastation that i did and do. My father, even though he was a medical doctor, has not been understanding when i tried to explain this (but then, he's a narcissist and i'm the eldest child and was supposed to fall in line with what he wanted), he thinks that i am making "excuses", no, not excuses, explanations. i have never made excuses for anything, i have always simply tried to explain things in order to understand them. But i had no vocabulary for Aphantasia and i was fighting against the world vocabulary of "seeing" (even blind people i've known use the "seeing" vocabulary, and the people i've known have had a "mind's eye" it was just different than sighted peoples). If this had been know when i was young, perhaps i wouldn't have felt that everything was a fight and a fear. Tell people about this. Encourage research, the future will thank us.

I’ve just today discovered this was a thing and my brain feel like it’s melting. Do you mean to say that when others close their eyes and ‘imagine’ something there is literally a picture there and not just the concept of what it is? I do have vivid dreams but not anything like that when I’m awake. If I did I’d wonder what drug someone slipped me. Ok so do people also literally hear music in their heads when they get and ear worm and not just their inner monologue voice “singing” the lyrics over and over again?

@findlestick

4 жыл бұрын

Not just static pictures, but more like a movie playing in your mind's eye. In regards to songs, sadly, yes. You hear the actual song itself on a non-stop loop that can be extremely difficult to stop, the song can sometimes play in your head for days, and it's nearly always some annoying song you hate.

@orangeblossom5362

4 жыл бұрын

@@findlestick For me it's not difficult to stop.

@blueskyla7978

4 жыл бұрын

I have aphantasia. And yeah I thought everything was conceptual with imagination. But when I get a song stuck in my head I can sometimes hear the actual song. We all have variations of something. I also have vivid dreams. But I see nothing awake beside what my eyeballs pick up. And some people have no inner monologue. I absolutely do. But I can also hear bits of memories. It’s something I didn’t share much before. Made me feel like others would think I’m crazy when I know it’s just memories. But to me it feels like it would be crazy to see images in their head and maybe even outside. Seems too confusing. I already have too much going on in my head. To add picture would be way too much.

@mikewisniewski8199

3 жыл бұрын

yes

@barbarahaynes7036

3 жыл бұрын

I was amazed to find some people don't have an inner monologue

For me I struggled in school with math they would say do the math in your head and I just couldn't , I had to write it down. I'm glad to finally know that I'm not alone that I was just born different not broken.

Your under 5 minute talk on this subject is the best I've listened to, so far. I appreciate that you recognize Aphantasia as a difference, not a disorder. Perhaps we are less likely to suffer from PTSD? Or at least suffer to a lesser degree? I build my memories with descriptive words...and I sort of have to decide to remember the details of a specific event. Unless there is more than just visual stimulation happening....chanting, incense, bells. A beautiful natural event, like a storm, will sometimes fill my heart with such rapture that I'm inspired to write a poem in remembrance of it.

This is exactly my presentation of Aphantasia as well. I have read about some of the variety of experience, but your descriptions - reading with understanding but without visual imagery, lack of visual dreams, narrative description of rooms, lack of loved one's faces....so accurate to my experience, also!

I found out this week that I have this. The only reason I even know this is a thing, is that my daughter got an email from my son who wrote that he was extremely upset because he had this and no one told him (he has disorder issues). Anyway, I asked both my husband and daughter about what they saw and it astounded me! I seriously didn’t ever realize people actually saw what they see when they close their eyes and visualize. I see nothing. No colour, no pictures, shapes, nothing. Just greys, and sort of bubbles like when you have snow blindness, only Grey shades. Even if I just look at my husbands face, if I close my eyes, I cannot picture it. Of course I know what he looks like, or what anything looks like. You have the “ idea” of what things look like, and the memories of what they look like, but I cannot conjure up any image of anything at all. Or any colour. And my son is the same. I wonder if they have done any study about genetics playing a role in this. That would be interesting. I’m not sure how I feel about the whole thing. How do you miss something you never had?

@bigshark5895

3 жыл бұрын

@Artsic scott Nope if it was a misunderstanding then some wouldnt say they just see black no images or slight images. This kinda debunks that theory.

@bigshark5895

3 жыл бұрын

It may be genetic my sister has it but my mother doesn't so idk.

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

@Artsic scott Black darkness and quite for me very close to 24/7 and 365

@cynthiapaxton8343

2 жыл бұрын

Oh my gosh I'm so excited I just found out my granddaughter 14 yrs old has it and her mother and myself and for added juice rh neg also,we are I mean. Autism runs in our paternal side too.

@dominicklicciardi

Жыл бұрын

Same

Maybe this is why I don't miss anyone.

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

Same i think...

@N0Xa880iUL

2 жыл бұрын

I don't even miss family. No one.

@DarkBurster

2 жыл бұрын

I can visualise things as if they were right in front of me but I still don’t miss anyone, am I a psychopath 🤣

@ThrdWrldGrl

3 ай бұрын

Interesting.. same with me.

I know I could never imagine that people see sheep. I thought they were making it up. I see black and I have no imagination... I have always wanted an imagination and have felt like there was something wrong with me.

@LightYagaamii

2 жыл бұрын

me too

@ShadowOfVexx

2 жыл бұрын

It may be useful to consider that the work Imagination refers to "the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses." while images are part of it for most people its not at all the entirety of the experience. if you can think about things and come up with ideas (I think everyone can?) if you can conceptualize then you can imagine, it may just not have that picture component. (at least thats how I feel about my aphantasia)

@drrd4127

Жыл бұрын

​@@ShadowOfVexx Imagination is literally Latin for to 'to picture oneself' or in other words create an image. If you can't create an image then in the literal sense of the word you have no Imagination. Look at the word: Imag- is the same as Image.

@ThrdWrldGrl

3 ай бұрын

You still have your intuition.

The pictures we see is in our head not like halutinations in front of us.

@z_ed

4 жыл бұрын

True. It's in the mind's eye. 🧐

@JoshPhoenix11

2 жыл бұрын

Actually apparently some people say its as vivid as real life. If some people thought Aphantasia wasn't a thing I think they're defiantly not going to agree when I say that I have both full Aphantasia, and also closes and open eyed visuals. The visuals have only ever been the same thing and have never differentiated, so thats one thing. They aren't pictures or images of anything, rather a constantly moving/flowing of deep indigo patterning. The closest thing I can describe it as it resembles something like a morphing lava lamp pattern, except instead of it being a morphogenic static pattern it will flash or pulse in a 3D morphogenic flow of cascading indigo pattering. Open eyed or closed eyed, and its the most intense when im sleepy, not so much tired though I always have to some degree an never goes, but for some reason specifically sleepiness potentiates it considerably- and things like amount of light and light source type, how close or far away im focusing all effect the transparency of it and how much I can notice. But the Aphantasia is that bad that if something I own isn't always places or laying somewhere in my vision then for the most part its like it doesn't exist. Everything I've ever put in the bottom crisper section of my fridge goes to mush because I cant see it when I open the fridge.

I just found this out about myself when someone was telling me about why reading is fun. I dont imagine anything I actually laughed at them and asked other people a realized im the odd one out

@elizabethbordeaux8797

3 жыл бұрын

Lol, I always thought people seemed pretentious during those guided meditations...like the crowd in The Emperor's New Clothes.

@sageyt4808

2 жыл бұрын

I love reading but i have aphantasia. The words speak to me but i just don't "see" stuff.

@N0Xa880iUL

2 жыл бұрын

I love reading but I mostly read non-fiction. Science, articles and stuff. Surfing Wikipedia is my favourite reading hobby. Yet I do relate to /have Aphantasia.

@sageyt4808

2 жыл бұрын

@@N0Xa880iUL Wow, thats intresting. In what way do you relate? Cab you close your eyes and "see: things?

@N0Xa880iUL

2 жыл бұрын

@@sageyt4808 Nope. I have to try very very hard and still only briefly. Doesn't come naturally. It's like I have to constantly construct (conceptually) an image to visualize it. If that makes sense.

I found out about my condition a few years ago when small research studies were starting to be done. It can be a pretty debilitating condition for myself. It may not be the worst thing in the world but I can’t really tell you any positives of having Aphantasia. Hopefully more research will be done and more people will recognize and understand more about it. Since most people don’t even know they have this until they learn about it. So we really need more information out there. Thanks for the video and for spreading this interesting topic!

I had about 3 vivid dreams in life and I'm 30. That's all the imagery my brain was every able to do.

@tylerbushre8765

2 жыл бұрын

I have very visual, realistic, linear(most of the time) and exciting dreams. Not every night but most. If I don’t recall a dream in the morning I usually get ‘clues’ throughout the day to remind me. I usually get messages, dreams that uplift me or downright exciting dreams. Occasionally I get ‘scary’ ones. I find those just as exciting. One time I got stabbed in the gut in a dream and woke up to the pain. It went away after like a minute. That’s the only time over experienced that. It’s more exciting and memorable that way. Sweet dreams!

@gabriellalaplace

2 жыл бұрын

@@hyzenthlay713 Cool, I used to think that when I was younger.

That blows my mind! 🤔 if I envision an apple for example I picture it so vividly that my mind takes me through the senses, the weight and feel of it in my hand, the colors, the sound it makes when you take a bite - all in a split second.

@UniversalMysticsOfChrist

Жыл бұрын

Same.

@drrd4127

Жыл бұрын

Me too

@nickjunes

Жыл бұрын

Same... I think this is more normal, but we still don't know on what level most people function. I think we need to find out and figure out what we're dealing with as a society.

@ThrdWrldGrl

3 ай бұрын

That is totally amazing.

I can't picture things in my mind. I don't know if I ever could. For me it's like you explained, thank you so much!

i have like 99% aphantasia but not 100%, at least from my understanding i can imagine things if i try really hard, but only for a very short time and they appear like a shadow of a reflection of something, more like a feeling, than a vivid image

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

How do you "try?"

@bntagkas

3 жыл бұрын

@@lizicadumitru9683 i have no idea how to explain it, language is not adequate

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

@@bntagkas You think about it and it manifests? I know it's not like flexing a muscle but something must be happening in your head you are aware of when you try.

@N0Xa880iUL

2 жыл бұрын

I know exactly what you mean. It's still Aphantasia. What you are describing is like conceptual visualisation. It's not like a photograph. Instead it's like a geometric construction.

I definitely don't have aphantasia, I think I am about average at imagining or possibly slightly above average. Visualizing worlds and stories, to music, is a huge part of my personality. And (to the people that can't do that), unless you have hyperphantasia , it's not like actually seeing a picture or object in front of you. It's kinda like having a second picture, inside your head, that you can kinda look at if you focus. You still see what's actually in front of your eyes, but you can sorta focus on the mental picture instead. Sorta like holding up a pencil really close to you, you can focus on it if you really try but you can also more easily just focus on the background instead. Also, people often say to close your eyes when imagining something, but most of the time staring into space makes it easier for me to imagine stuff. (idk if that part is normal but i just wanted to say it) Edit: Also I think it's easier to imagine sounds than images. I cannot imagine smells and just barely temperature. I can also imagine feeling things. (not emotions, that is, i mean as in physical objects touching my skin, like sitting down or holding a book (for some reason it's easier to imagine feeling stuff in my mouth than on, say, my arm. idk why but probably 'cause the tongue is pretty sensitive when it comes to feeling)) So if i were to rank the senses from easiest to hardest to imagine it would probably be: Hearing Seeing Feeling Feeling temperature (I know it isn't an individual sense but it is be harder) Tasting Smelling Edit2: Also, also, when we close our eyes, we also see a black void, but visualizing stuff isn't in that void. We see visualization farther in our minds than our sight is, (Yes I know I sound like I'm high but I can't come up with a better description) the only reason people tell you to close your eyes is because it might help you to not get distracted by any physical objects you would see otherwise. Visualizing isn't seeing, it's... something else that is basically indescribable. So when you say you can't see anything when you close your eyes, no one without see-through eyelids or on shrooms can. (Maybe some actually can and if so tell me) Edit3(i should probably stop now): To those that can't imagine music either, it is kinda like hearing music but the speaker is in your head and on a bit lower volume than usual. (Also, I have like twice imagined music so vividly it sounded like it was actually playing in my room for a second) And (unrelated to music) the more we imagine certain images, the easier they become to imagine. (I know i could probably come up with a metaphor explaining this, something with forming an image with wet clay a bunch of times or drawing a picture a bunch of times, but it's 2am and I need to sleep, tell someone else to do it if you want to i'm tired)

@aggeisme

Жыл бұрын

@@k596 I'm assuming you mean that instead of actually seeing a dancer move, you feel the movement as if your body was making them, correct? That happens to me too, though it is usually paired with imagery. Sorry if I misunderatood, your comment was a bit hard to read. Also, my original comment was quite poorly phrased, probably due to the fact that I was tired af and had only recently started really thinking about stuff like this. At one point in my comment I said that visualisation was completely different from seeing and "indescribable". I take that back. What I believe I meant was that visualised images don't seem to appear inside your field of vision. (or at least that's what it feels like) Instead, visualising seems to me to be almost like switching to a different field lf vision, that you can render any image on. When you focus on this field of vision, it is seemingly impossible to focus on what you're actually seeing, as if your eyes are sending the information, but your brain completely ignores it. However, I find it more common to only partly switch to this "other field of vision". Meaning that you can still (sort of) see the world around you, but right where you're looking there is an image in the way. However it is still completely impossible to focus ln anything but the visualised image, meaning although I can create near perfect images and (especially) animations in my head, I am completely unable to turn those images into drawings, as even trying to trace the image means I start focusing on my hand instead, making the image dissapear. Unfortunately I sometimes can't control what I visualise, like some external force is ramming images into my head. This is very annoying as it is ONLY things I don't actually want to visualise. This is a better description of my experience, it's probably a bit different for other people.

@aggeisme

Жыл бұрын

@@k596 That's great that you're learning english! It's a really useful skill to have, especially on the internet. I'm assuming that by "black void" you mean as in the blackness you see when you have your eyes closed? Seeing different colors, lights and shapes (especially when you're tired) is actually completely different to visualising, and happens to pretty much everyone I think. I've seen the two confused a lot by people with aphantasia, as can be expected, it resembles how most describe visualisation a lot (most people say like "when I close my eyes I see images" which sounds a lot like those shapes and colors appearing once you close tour eyes. They are, however, completely different. Those shapes appear in your field of vision, literally ontop of what you already see (being blackness in this case). Those things are also visible if you're in a dark room when you're tired. That thing about swithing to another field of view isn't easy to explain, you can see both your visualised image, and what's actually infront of you, but what's actually inbrott if you is 'unfocused'. You can see it, but it's like your brain doesn't process any of the information sent by your eyes. Like if you're listening to someone talking and zone out. You can still hear them, but your brain doesn't process what you hear, so really like you don't hear them at all. Also the reason I say people might experience it differently is because, well, they might! Some people can visualise things as if the things being visualised were actually infront of them. Some people can create complex 3D models kn their mind, which they can then remember perfectly. We are all different, and the fact that some people can't visualise at all proves it. Also, sometimes (as in very very rarely) things I imagine leave faint after-images in my field of vision, so my visualised images aren't ACTUALLY in some third mind's eye, that's just what it feels like.

@nickjunes

Жыл бұрын

For me if I focus on what is in my head really intently and see all the details and color I can sometimes stop seeing out of my eyes.

I hope I will never loose my phantasia. I believe it would destroy me mentally.

I relate so much to this! Probably the best explanation of how I feel about having a blind mind’s eye. There are so many videos that make it seem like it’s a problem to be solved. I have no problem with it other than finding guided meditation annoying. I find the idea of having pictures in my mind terrifying. How do you trust that what you saw in reality isn’t something you made up? How do you get any peace when you close your eyes? Isn’t it noisy in your brain? Visually reliving your trauma when you close your eyes? Nah I’m good. 😂

@ThrdWrldGrl

3 ай бұрын

Exactly 😊

I experience this. I can’t imagine my loved ones faces either. Strangely enough I’m an artist. I dream, but not all the time.

wow! this was really interesting to watch!

Wow I can’t picture anything in my mind. I tried picturing an apple and all I call do is tell myself that it’s red and round but I couldn’t see it. Then I tried to see a beach and I can describe it perfectly but again I can’t see it. How intersecting is that! Also I do dream and see what I’m dreaming about but as soon as I wake up I remember how I was feeling in my dream like happy, sad or scared but I can’t remember the dream itself. All I can say is that was a good dream or a bad dream. I alway that this was normal but I guess it’s not. I wonder if I could rewire my brain to see stuff. It worth trying. I’m so fascinated!

@bigshark5895

3 жыл бұрын

There is studies into trying to be able to see so look into it but for me personally it doesn't affect me

@cynthiapaxton8343

2 жыл бұрын

You could be me I mean I could be you lol sorry but you know what I'm saying lol

It's crazy to me that this is a thing! I wouldn't call myself a super imaginitive person, but I've always been able to picture stuff in my head. The pictures are usually hazy though, and it kind of happens behind the scenes so it's not hard to focus on reality. There was this one time in high school I was so bored, I actually pictured myself playing basketball with my head down for 20 minutes or so. It wasn't as clear as a dream or reality though.

I don't have super visual images but I do have images. I love being able to escape in my own head..it's scary to think I could lose this ability.

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

I can get lost in my head too but more of a word forest than pictures.

@mase8189

Жыл бұрын

You won’t, without brain damage.

Excellent video ✅ thanks for sharing

They named the condition aphantasia around 2015. This is now 2021 and the only information you can find is the same scrappy bits of information on all the u tube videos. Im 65 and i do consider this a condition and a disadvantage. even though i only heard about aphantasia a few years ago i always knew there was something wrong with me. In my twenties my family were on holidays at a seaside resort that we had previously stayed at five years in a row when i was a child. Myself and my boyfriend went to stay with them for the weekend i thought this was my first time at this seaside. My family couldnt believe that i could not remember all the holidays i had spent there. I have no real memories of my past.

@N0Xa880iUL

2 жыл бұрын

Same😢

@deesoundrecordingstudio9739

Жыл бұрын

I was in a band for years played all over England, i cant remember a single Gig, the only way i can relive them is if they were recorded or filmed, because i got lost a lot on holiday friends used to play tricks and hide from me, i had panic attacks, but i cottoned on in the end :)

Bro the mind is so strange the foolish thing is to think we know when we really dont.

Has anyone with Aphantasia tried DMT? I’d love to do a study as it had no visualization effect from my experiences.

Hi, FYI - you might learn something... I have always suffered from Aphantasia - called in Scientology - a Black Field. ( not a recommended practice). It appears to be caused by early trauma. When I was young and stupid, I used some Psychedelic drugs. this use allowed me to actually see the hidden imagery - in full color ! - Also, on occasion when waking up in a dream, I get to see the imagery as well. So , am I a Verbal thinker ? The brain and memory are holographic, even if low or poor mental imagery !

Wow I’m 50 and are just realizing this. I can’t see anything in my mind zero image I only know what I know . I can never see my only daughters face I have to FaceTime or look at the pictures. Thank you for making this video. I must say life is a lot more difficult for people like me.❤

had this all my life and only recently discovered people actually "see" images you hit the nail on the head for me at the end when you said how do they tell the difference from real life, it must be like watching a film while driving a car. About internal monologue, i have a constant thought going all day but cant hear anything at all, no real voice, i only started driving when sat navs became a thing (Im 57) people told me to remember things on a route, (I know what a flag pole looks like for instance) but it was like planting it in a big black room with nothing else, on the monologue thing when i was young i had a fever and could here very loud speaking from within my head saying my name or telling me to open the curtains or such like, it was so loud and clear if scared the hell out of me, but as the fever broke so the voices stopped. glad im ot alone in this :)

@MonkeBusiness69

Жыл бұрын

Its almost like it plays behind your eyes if that makes sense, you can see both at the same time, I can imagine monsters climbing out my coffee cup and visualise that happening in real time but you don't actually 'see' reality is still the main focus of your visual system its just like a different place your seeing it from, when I close my eyes I can still see the darkness of the back of my eyelids but i'm able to still picture scenarios and fantasy worlds at will, they're a lot more vivid and intricate with your eyes closed tho

@drrd4127

Жыл бұрын

It's like watching a film, yes, you are correct. I am very aware my visions aren't real life and I use the visions to make sense of the real world. If they actually believe your minds eye is real then most likely they have a mental health condition called Hallucinations and delusions.

I'm a total aphant as far as I can recall I always have been, I don't feel like it's just another way of processing the world though. It drives my passion for photography and makes it much more difficult to learn and the constant desire to picture the people I love most when they where young is something I can't justify in words, I'm not trying to bash you for your point of view but from where I stand I feel robbed at the highest levels.

@georgia2251

4 жыл бұрын

i totally agree, i have it too. i’m an artist and i’m so upset that i can’t just plan what i’m going to draw in my mind which sometimes makes me change my mind half way through or get proportions wrong, but i think that without it i would love and appreciate it that much because i can express what i’m thinking through pictures like anyone else it’s just on a canvas instead of in my head

@georgia2251

4 жыл бұрын

wouldn’t *

@beinsage

3 жыл бұрын

I just found out about this a few days ago and I'm still in denial, I cannot imagine that people are **literally** seeing pictures. I want to know more about what people are REALLY experiencing when they say they "see" a "picture" in their head. I'm just soo 🤯 right now, I don't know how to feel but your comment rings true for me

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

@@beinsage Ask then to explain in detail what they see. The objects position in the "minds eye" space and frame of reference from their view. If they can explain in much detail it's as if they see the imaginary object in real life. Crazy!

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

@Brian, I'm not on the level of "robbed at the highest level" but I feel cheated as well 🤨

Wow interesting.. I am the opposite of this, I can't imagine living without visualizing things in my head !

I wasn't surprised to have aphantasia because screening tests for autism recommend that I should do a diagnostic test. I've known that for a very long time.

I can dream in images, and I can conceptualise things. I cannot conjure images. I can say "Oh yeah a bus looks like this" and I know what it looks like but I don't see it.

Eat some magic mushrooms.

@Anna-xn8ds

4 жыл бұрын

Doesn't work.

@pug_frost7246

4 жыл бұрын

@@Anna-xn8ds I'm still going to try it. I have PTSD and have started smoking medical marijuana and it's helped a lot with the audible loops of the trauma. So I'm hoping maybe mushrooms can open my mind's eye.

@jamesblackburn6139

4 жыл бұрын

@@Anna-xn8ds are you sure? I have taken something before and hallucinated, or more I enhanced what was already there, but I assume that would mean magic mushrooms would work to create visual images?

@7GtwNYkHYs

3 жыл бұрын

I have aphantasia and didn't even know it was a thing until recently. The first time I've tried shrooms I was completely blown away by closed eye visuals, it was the first time I experienced what it's like to not have a blind mind.

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

@@pug_frost7246 Seems your mind's eye is wide open, why you may be affected by the auditory ptsd 😕

I describe things in my head.

I agreed with everything except Harry Potter. I welcomed seeing movies based on books because of the visual aspects. So imagine my disinterest when people complained about their character's eye color being wrong. It didn't bother me. I just enjoyed seeing the words come to life visually. I also am on the autism spectrum, I have ADD, so that makes life fun lol

@FranWest.

3 жыл бұрын

I agree, I enjoyed the books but had no mental image of the characters at all, so when the movies came out, I was happy to finally see all the things I read about.

@ocdplaylistmaker7032

3 жыл бұрын

@@FranWest. Interesting! When I was in freshman year of high school, people complained about the Percy Jackson movie getting stuff wrong but I was like, what do you mean? I thought they were making a big thing of it. But another thing that I only realized later was because of aphantasia is that I would skip over visual descriptions of people's clothing, places, et cetera, except, for example, when it came to the 12 cabins in the Percy Jackson camp. Then I would make a diagram figuring it out lol. It's interesting because all that time, I thought nothing of it. When I saw that certain people could illustrate books, I assumed they had a special talent they were born with. But I always saw the visual descriptions as pointless boring fluff, but I would read it anyway to give it the benefit of the doubt.

@ximono

2 жыл бұрын

The only thing I would complain about was if the character's personality was different. How they looked was always fine with me. I've also always wondered why authors keep describing people's appearance in great detail, it doesn't do anything for me.

@cynthiapaxton8343

2 жыл бұрын

Same here almost my child her child I all have aphantasia we are also rh negative and autism runs on paternal side too.

So... I can only see things when I'm dreaming. But it's always been so erratic I can't remember ever really having a clear dream

1 to 3 % of people have this "condition" yet so do a majority of commenters on every video! Amazing.

@N0Xa880iUL

2 жыл бұрын

Isn't it obvious? They came here because they looked it up.

@cynthiapaxton8343

2 жыл бұрын

Very funny lol

I dream really intense and vividly, at the same time my mind is pitch black when trying to imagine something during the awake hours. I sometimes feel like an npc, lol.

I have it also.. aphantasia.. No one else in my family has it possibly my mom but I'm not sure because she has dementia so I don't know if she understands what I'm asking her

counting sheep? thet's a huge effort for me. but I can imagine a haze of changing colours and easily recall a good song. I often fall asleep like that.

Most scary thing is not able to imagine your own face... Wahhh I mean I don't know how the heck I look if some tell me to draw yourself oh yeh m my myself haa haaa..😣😣

I liked your video, well balanced and not selling anything, just saying how it is. I still can't quite trust that people aren't pulling my leg when they say that they can see things in their head. It's been black as pitch since the day I was born. I guess I never noticed that I was different because folk's don't tend to shout out: Guess what I just saw in my head! It's a private thing I guess.

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

Right! I thought surely they must be miscommunicating something...but no, some straight up see movie reels playing before their eyes.

@anonymoususername5007

2 жыл бұрын

​@@lizicadumitru9683 I think there is misunderstanding though. It's not like you're seeing it with your eyes, it's a fuzzy scene in the back of your mind that sort of flashes there when you imagine something; it's hard to make it stay. It feels like it's in your head -- you can't actually see it. Or you can remember directions in a city by flying down familiar roads, but you don't remember all the details of the shops or houses so the mental picture is lacking. It's completely different from dreaming. Dreaming is a lot more like real life (vivid). I don't know if you can dream or not. Also it's different from the way I imagine sounds (like music), which are a lot more realistic and easy to create in my head than what I visualise. Visualising some things feels like a mental struggle, at least for me; although I spend a lot of time fantasing and would be very sad if I lost this ability. It's easiest to visualise something you've just seen --it's like you take a picture with your mind.

@lizicadumitru9683

2 жыл бұрын

@@anonymoususername5007 I understand they don't actually visualize with their eyes but what they imagine in their mind's eye is just as clear as when they see it with their eyes.

This is all very interesting. But I am drawn to comment on something specific that jumped out to me for whatever reason. The thing about counting sheep. So often when it is depicted - it is of sheep bounding over someone's head (and typically in black and white). When I hear the phrase I Invision a green pasture with sheep grazing and a wood pole fence.

@dionysuscsw9405

Жыл бұрын

I appreciate how you showed both in this video.

Before today I didn't realise this was a thing. I clearly have a very vivid imagination, I don't need to close my eyes to picture something and frequently can be engaged in an activity and be present in that activity but also visualising something completely different. It's like having two screens for your computer where one screen is for the job tasks and the other is running Netflix in the background and you can dip in and out whenever you want to. I remember everything visually, it's like my brain has a massive cache of cookies that never gets cleared out. Earworms are no exception, I experience an earworm as the song itself "Baby Shark" is a prime example of one annoying and insidious earworm.

@amjan

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly. Do you also see non-visual things in a visual way? E.g. Every word I speak or think I automatically visualize written in my mind. The same for numbers, I always see them written in my mind, with colours and graphs. I see numbers on a scale and to make calculations I just look for the right number on the scale.

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

@@amjan How do you know its the right number? From past maths learning? Or you just "do?"

so shocked this is a thing, that people actually see pictures in their head. hard to believe

I think I have it too. is there a way to treat it.

If some people thought Aphantasia wasn't a thing I think they're defiantly not going to agree when I say that I have both full Aphantasia, and also closes and open eyed visuals. The visuals have only ever been the same thing and have never differentiated, so thats one thing. They aren't pictures or images of anything, rather a constantly moving/flowing of deep indigo patterning. The closest thing I can describe it as it resembles something like a morphing lava lamp pattern, except instead of it being a morphogenic static pattern it will flash or pulse in a 3D morphogenic flow of cascading indigo pattering. Open eyed or closed eyed, and its the most intense when im sleepy, not so much tired though I always have to some degree an never goes, but for some reason specifically sleepiness potentiates it considerably- and things like amount of light and light source type, how close or far away im focusing all effect the transparency of it and how much I can notice. But the Aphantasia is that bad that if something I own isn't always places or laying somewhere in my vision then for the most part its like it doesn't exist. Everything I've ever put in the bottom crisper section of my fridge goes to mush because I cant see it when I open the fridge.

To finally find what the hell is wrong with me

What is this instrumental? Any genius know?

Me too!!!!

Wow, that’s amazing. I have always been told I had great imagination but it’s hard for me to imagine not having one. What about the aphantiasia people? Are they able to have dreams?

@lucyleivian

2 жыл бұрын

I don’t, I dream in narrative. I can hear stuff and feel myself walking but I can’t see anything in my dreams sadly

@tinamiles7324

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, aside from being able to hear songs in my head on occasion I am a full aphantasiac. I have vivid dreams with all the senses so I can see, hear, taste, smell, speak in my dreams. Some dreams I remember whereas others fade when I wake up. There are many ways to experience aphantasia so not everyone’s experience is the same.

@sumararguin986

2 жыл бұрын

I have extremely vivid quirky or strange dreams. But as soon as I become aware that I’m awake or conscious the image goes blank. And I can only recall the time line or events of the dream and the idea of who was in it. I can’t see any images in my mind. But my imagination is pretty wild so I find this all so strange. It’s almost incomprehensible to me that people actually see anything

Someone said to me "visualise a red star", I saw that I was in space and there was a dwarf star, it was red and orange and you could see the solar flares coming off the star, I also felt the heat. Then they showed me a picture of the red star they expected me to see in my mind and I realized they wanted me to just visualise a 2D red star that a child would draw 🤣😂🤣😂🤣 but I saw something way more complex and detailed. That's when I found out I have Hyperphantasia. I have always been a detailed daydreamer but I thought everyone had a rich inner life.

@nickjunes

Жыл бұрын

Yes I am the same way. My images are in 3d and are whole universes. I can imagine anything and fly through it. I make up things that never existed and can spin the world around in my head like a sculptor. What's funny is I also thought this was normal. Now I read about this condition every day because I am absolutely floored that people exist without this ability. To me that IS thought. Thought is that. What is thought if that's not what it is? To me this would be like we are two different species, like discovering aliens live among us. It makes me very grateful but also very sad. I want to give this ability to everyone because it's so important to me.

If you can't dream in images, can you be said to dream at all? Is your mind just clicked off all night?

If it is not a disorder, than why would someone be able to visualize before an accident and not after? It is not 'perception' nor is it just another way of seeing the world. It is like color blindness; a reality that some people have to live with and can be, perhaps one day, corrected same as glasses can assist color blindness. But I disagree; this is a disorder.

@Salgood

4 жыл бұрын

So a lot of this comes down to the experience of the individual. It was recognized and named as a result of a case where it was noticed when the ability was lost, but many people including myself feel we've always been like this. I'm a profesional artist, and fully aphantasic. So that might suggest to you just how NON critical to functioning literal visualizing really is. And Hyperphantasia, the other extreme, is almost as rare of Aphantasia. For some, if it's something they relied on and then lost the ability, it might seem like a disorder, but it's really more a question of not being neurotypical for most of us. We experience the world differently, but function just fine.

@ritadighent

4 жыл бұрын

I just found out that I have aphantasia a week ago and now I'm sifting through as much of my life as I can remember in light of this. So many things "make sense" now that I know. I tend to agree with @Sleeping Lioness that it's a disorder. Given there's a spectrum, I realize that people are going to view this differently. I've achieved a lot in my life, am an artist, and have several degrees, but I've been frustrated, ashamed, and felt dumb because of my limitations. I have gifts, to be sure, but forever forgetting people's faces, names, how I met them, getting lost in a familiar neighbourhood, constantly forgetting things, failing to know I have things because if they're not in front of me, they don't exist, failing IQ tests, no remembering my own history is agonizing. For me, it's a clear handicap.

@Salgood

4 жыл бұрын

​@@ritadighent That actually sounds like you have SDAM? Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory. Which is a much more profound deficit than Aphantasia alone, it includes the same lack of 'minds eye' but also is defined by the profound issues with long term memory you describe. If you hadn't heard of it, this looks to be a good short intro to it. sdamstudy.weebly.com/what-is-sdam.html So of course there's a lot of people who learn of SDAM via learning of Aphantasia first from what i've seen in suport groups, but most people with just Aphantasia don't have that profound an issue with memory. We recognize faces ok, and while not being able to visualize can be an issue if you never find ways to compensate for it, it does not typically lead to that much of a handicap for most. And it doesn't on it's own create the problem of not remembering your past or what you own and etc. I just can't literally see it in my head, but I remember a fair bit of it just fine. But SDAM definitely can be a huge one for all the reasons you mentioned.

@wittykittywoes

4 жыл бұрын

I have it, and I say it’s 100% a disorder.

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

@@ritadighent Man! Bringing up issues I have forgotten I had seemingly because of aphantasia...wow!

blows into hands.... releases... become a mind's eye for the blind. yet all the blind shall see.

@alexghous

11 ай бұрын

shed more light so those that say "I can't see.".. oh.. now I see........

I just found out yesterday that.. me and my mum both have Aphantasia. My brother and dad don't have Aphantasia. I and mum are just blank and don't get any image when we close our eyes..!

The sad thing is I can visualise everything in a book but i hate reading. I feel bad for people that can't. One question though. I can close my eyes and navigate through my house by visualising where everything is. If you attempt it, what happens?

@FranWest.

3 жыл бұрын

Take a picture of your room and put it on the pc, then turn the monitor off. That’s what people with Aphantasia see. Just black. We use our memory of what it looked like, and describe from memory only. There are no pictures.

@NaeMuckle

3 жыл бұрын

@@FranWest. I genuinely cannot understand how that works. I take a path in my head. I don't remember things by what's in it I remember it by what I see in my head. I can't pull up a memory of an area without seeing it overlaid over what I see through my eyes. Just seems so alien.

@alexistaylor9078

3 жыл бұрын

​@@NaeMuckle I don't see things at all in my mind. So the inside of my head is like a book or a phone call (I have a mind's ear) it's not like a picture or a movie. So I don't see a table, it's like I'm reading the description of a table. I can navigate a bit with my eyes closed, but I've lived in the same house for my entire life. It's not navigating based on my mind's eye but rather based on facts. Like picture if I blindfolded you led you into my house and then told you where to go... you're getting the factual information on where things are, but you aren't "seeing" it.

@NaeMuckle

3 жыл бұрын

@@alexistaylor9078 ok but if you told me where to go I would still visualise a scene. If you said to your right is a table, I would picture a table on my right. It's not like I'd take the information "table on the right" and just keep that stored in a list. I'd see a thick oak table, unless I touched it in which case I'd see it however it felt. I'm honestly struggling to know how you can be given a description and not see it. Tell me a famous person and I see them in my head. Tell me a story about them and I see them playing through it in my head.

@clairelouise4063

3 жыл бұрын

@@NaeMuckle i am a total aphant.....everything is just black. sometimes i sit quietly with my eyes closed and try to force my mind to see, but it doesnt and i am always frustrated and upset. the only way that i can think of describing it to you is like trying to think in a foreign language that you have never heard, other people can be fluent in the language but i have no understanding. years ago i had a blind dog. i had to make sure that the layout of the house never changed, like dont leave your shoes in the middle of the floor for him to trip over. he had no sight at all, but clearly had some kind of directions in his head that helped him navigate life in a trial and error kind of way, and that is me constant situations of trial and error that i try to learn from.

Images don't flash before my eyes, but I can still think of the image. I am so confused. Please someone confirm that there is a difference between seeing your thoughts with your eyes and seeing them with your brain. Because I can see a scene with my brain, but I don't "see" it with my eyes. Help. No one is differentiating this.

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

When you picture something in your mind, can you "see" it as if you were looking right at it with your open eyes/sense of sight? If you tired to imagine an apple would you just think, "apple" or could you describe it in detail and even if it's in your hand or on a table?

@anonymoususername5007

2 жыл бұрын

Pretty sure that means you're normal. I think only a genius is able to see a memory in vivid detail in front of their eyes while fully awake (I believe most people can only do this while half-asleep or dreaming). Maybe I'm wrong! I don't feel lacking in imagination, although I'm don't have a photographic memory, but the woman in the video literally can't imagine anything.

@lizicadumitru9683

2 жыл бұрын

@@anonymoususername5007 I've only once imagined something in my mind that was accompanied by an image. All I imagine is black.

@templargfx

2 жыл бұрын

Seeing it like a photo or screen or hallucination is hyperphantasia. The average person doesn't actually see it but they hold a virtual image in their mind. One that while not actually visible can be explored mentally, can have motion like a movie and various parts of that virtual image can be focused on and described in detail. People who have aphantasia like myself can't do this, instead we use memories of details that come into the mind as a narrative description. Take the example in this video of reading the harry potter books, and then seeing the movies. I recognised differences between how the actors looked and how the book itself described them in words, but the comparison was not against how I pictured them in my mind, it was a comparison between the visuals of the movie and the words I remembered from the book describing them

@andyhunjan

2 жыл бұрын

@@templargfx thanks!!! That was very helpful

My rooms are (probably) colorless.

imagine solving a rubiks cube. haha. i can't see shit with my eyes closed. but what i can do, is solve a cube.

@N0Xa880iUL

2 жыл бұрын

I can too but it's because I learnt the algorithms. Only the basic 6 ones.

@sirlofty

2 жыл бұрын

@@N0Xa880iUL you can solve a cube with beginner algorithms in 30 seconds if you learn enough. so learn more. it feels fucking amazing to solve a cube.

@N0Xa880iUL

2 жыл бұрын

@@sirlofty 30 seconds is impossible for me with basic method. I've done 1 min 15 sec best time on my cube. Didn't even cut the one minute mark. Maybe with a professional cube. My cube is very basic and frictional.

@sirlofty

2 жыл бұрын

@@N0Xa880iUL i got 45 secs on a tiled rubiks cube that had a shit ton of friction.

@N0Xa880iUL

2 жыл бұрын

@@sirlofty Congrats. You must be a pro.

I searched it cause i have problem that you explained

I'm 90% convinced this isn't a real thing and is just latched onto by narcissistic attention seekers who want to feel special. I certainly get that vibe from this lady.

i feel like there is just a blocker in your brain wiring that still fires up when u try to imagine, but is barred from being seen or heard. rhats why you would be able to remember visual details but not see them

So aphants, when you heard the expression"mind's eye" what'd you think it meant?

@critterkllr

3 жыл бұрын

I thought it was a metaphor for creativity and/or imagination, but it never made complete sense. I can use memories and my other senses to imagine what something would or could be like, but there's no visual aspect to it when I close my eyes. It's almost like pretending to have a memory of something that doesn't exist in order to predict what it could be like. I do this same thing when I run pretend conversations through my head before an interview, or think of details that I might do in an emergency situation. I assumed this was all under the "minds eye" blanket.

@stephanieb663

3 жыл бұрын

@@critterkllr you know I just spoke with someone recently about the Harry Potter phenomenon and how alot of adults are really into it, and I couldn't understand because when I watched it with a friend it was like utter nonsense, and they were telling me how they can visualize everything that's happening and hold all the details in their mind , and I wondered if I was like, more aphantasiac then her because I literally can't keep up with all of the details which mostly seem to be aesthetic details but some people are able to hold all of those details ... And I wonder if this is kind of who the fantasy genres appeal to like people who can paint these worlds in their heads but I dunno

@critterkllr

3 жыл бұрын

@@stephanieb663 I absolutely love fantasy. HP, LOTR, Game of Thrones, I love a lot of it. I'm in awe of people that can create those worlds and try to submerge myself in them as much as possible. I have a harder time with the books, but they are the only books I can read without becoming bored after a few pages.

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

Same as Frankie here and a fan of fantasy works. Just never paid much attention to the visual or asthetic details.

@stephanieb663

2 жыл бұрын

@@lauriekittle9459 my mom is like this i just discovered. i guess everyone has different thinking styles! do you have creative hobbies?

OMG/ i fuck have this! All my dreams are black!

so no dreams or day dreams?

@Salgood

4 жыл бұрын

No, not necessarily, the lady in the article says she has no images when she dreams but i'm fully aphantasic, meaning I have no mental images while awake or smells, re smelled when I recall them, etc. No sensory illusions while awake. I can day dream, but I don't do it with pictures. I just think. But I dream when sleeping just fine, only when I wake up I don't have a visual recall of that, just my own word for it. Just like I only have my own word for it that I saw my wife while we ate dinner a few minutes ago at the table. When you dig into this it gets pretty fascinating. First the experience of seeing, what I call the live feed when talking about aphantasia, is largely itself an illusion. We have a very small are of fine in focus full colour vision, the fovea is a tinny area in the retina and that's the only area where the receptors are capable of capturing anything like the details the average person thinks they see in their full field of sight. We also don't often see when we blik, or when our eyes jump around taking in different details, but it happens all the time unless you consciously try to stop it. That's our brain using the eyes to collect data and construct the illusion of persistent vision in the visual cortex. So what we really see with is a model built by the brain, updated by data from the eyes when you are awake but really one step removed from your actual eyes process wise. So, in REM sleep anyway, when we dream our brain waves look nearly identical to not only being awake but awake doing a very focused task. In your dreams you're using the same vision model built by your brain, but now it's not getting actual real time updates from the eyes, so it's built enterily out of assumptions, which is why probably it's always so mutable and easy to change. No reality checks to keep it in line, literally. So apantasics like myself, we can see fine, that means that mental model of the world is there. What's fascinating is when I remember things, I don't seem to use it at all. I only use it when I'm looking at stuff while awake, and in my case i dream fine so I use it while asleep too. There are probably multiple causes and degrees of aphantasia, so it's likely there's some who don't dream too, it may or may not be tied to their aphantasia. But it's really pretty fascinatingly specific to just one kind of 'imagining', and while it's early days likely will lead to some major insights into how the brain works.

@ST0RM1H0R1Z0N

3 жыл бұрын

Sometimes you will get dreams, very rarely, when I get dreams I see darkness with neon blobs all over and a voice of the person who is speaking in my dream.

@Ominious

3 жыл бұрын

Very vivid dreams here, but when i try to recall them after waking up its vague, I know a lot, just cant see anything

2% of the population ? Hmm…. That’s the same as the percentage of geniuses there are. I’m both. I wonder if there’s any correlation? I have a Mensa tested IQ of 148 and I don’t have the ability to picture any images in my mind. I do see images when I dream - but not when I’m conscious. If a surgical procedure can take this ability away, perhaps there’s one that can give it to those of us who have never had it - although that might be kind of terrifying - to all of a sudden start seeing images when my eyes are closed? Sounds like hallucinating to me. Maybe we call this a handicap and use the good parking spots? (Kidding) But I also didn’t realize this condition wasn’t normal until a couple of months ago and I was shocked to find out most people really can see images when their eyes are closed.

We sure it's not a disorder?

Just thinking.. 20 grams of psilocybin and a blindfold could possibly change this

I have aphantasia and i also can't see like you if you have any kind of information please contact me

It's not just two percent, probably at least 50%.

@anonymoususername5007

2 жыл бұрын

I've never met anyone who couldn't picture things in their mind.

I find it hard to comprehend that you can't picture your old house when asked to describe it. 4:17 I don't understand how you can think being able to imagine something visually while 'reality is unfolding' (aka: you are sitting somewhere in a room with nothing going on.) It's not scary at all to remember how to say a word. Why would it be scary or confusing to remember how to see a picture?

@Salgood

4 жыл бұрын

It's pretty straightforward, if you can't see ANYTHING in your minds eye, that includes the house.

@2beJT

4 жыл бұрын

@@Salgood I just can't even imagine not being able to imagine it. The human mind isn't really that straightforward is it? I used to never be able to remember things. Started PRACTICING (I can use caps too) and learned to use The Memory Palace Technique. It gets easier the more you try to do it. So, I hope people don't give up trying to visualize better when they maybe could.

@Salgood

4 жыл бұрын

@@2beJT Nope! I'd also qualify that, i can't speak for Aileen, but I can imagine a place I've been, I just don't do it visually. But I'm a professional artist so I've put a lot of time into thinking about how things look and being able to draw them from memory, all that time while not seeing them when I do. I think it's a lot like how many people write. They don't mostly tend to 'see' the words letter by letter as they write them, they just remember how to write the things they are thinking about. For me drawing is much the same as is recalling places and people and things.

@2beJT

4 жыл бұрын

Interesting. Are you able to recreate a photo realistic image without visualizing anything in your mind? Or is your art style more stylized and free-hand.

@Salgood

4 жыл бұрын

@@2beJT I don't do photo realistic, but it is highly representational, there's quite a bit I can draw from memory, much like I know mostly how to spell these words - though i'm dyslexic so i'm not fantastic at that. Also there's nothing wrong with using reference, both to study and doing work. It's been done forever, be it models or photos or sketches done in advance from things you can go see in person, all kinds. I get ideas about what I want to draw, but it's a process of mostly discovering how that's going to look exactly on the page. Just like with writing, editing is a key part of complex illustration work that goes into story telling and graphic novels. I've got a video up about one aspect of this for the classes I teach here. kzread.info/dash/bejne/g6ikxLOIncnNaMo.html

Please provide references for the 2% of the population that is reported to have it. How did they come up with this figure? It seems from all the comments and forum that a whole bunch of people have this. Everyone in the world hasn't been tested so how do we know it's 2%?

@FranWest.

3 жыл бұрын

It’s very new to science, and they are just recently doing more research on it. I assume the percentage is based only off of known cases they have studied. I’m sure the number is far greater! There are billions of people, practically none have done any kind of study or report on it. There are also a lot of people who don’t even know they have it. I myself didn’t find out about it till I was 49yrs old. It could very well be 1/2 the population for all we know right now.

@ashleywilliams4149

3 жыл бұрын

@@FranWest. Yes, that's what I was thinking!

@alexistaylor9078

3 жыл бұрын

For most things we haven't tested everyone in the world. For example we can say "1 in 3 men will develop cancer in their lifetime". That doesn't mean we've tested every single person in the world. There are a lot of undeveloped countries where people never see a doctor and their cause of death remains unknown. That being said based on people who do see doctors and countries where autopsies are routinely done we can safely say that in these areas 1 in 3 developed cancer, thus if we assume the cancer rates are the same in these areas without doctors (which generally it can be, since we have yet to find a human population immune to cancer) then the number probably holds true globally. That being said this disorder/condition is much more difficult to pinpoint because it's so understudied and underreported. People who have never heard of aphantasia typically don't realize they have it (they just assume they're normal), so how could they report it? I expect the number is significantly higher than the 2%, they're just basing that off current (small) studies.

@ashleywilliams4149

3 жыл бұрын

@@alexistaylor9078 Yes, I was thinking that too.

@AmyMichelleMosier

3 жыл бұрын

A tulpa is a creature that comes into existence as a result of someone or many people imagining it. Kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is literally the Tibetan word for “emanation”.

I can picture whatever I want very real and vibrant, just I don't do it bcz I'm too lazy.

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

It takes effort?

@xartx1168

3 жыл бұрын

@@lizicadumitru9683 yeah, if you want to have good visualization you should practice and stimulate your neurons, for example every day with your morning coffee you can spend 5-10 minutes to visualize some basic stuff like geometric figures and etc. After you notice you doing good you can start visualize physical objects like glass or table etc. Next animals and etc., but don't visualize people cuz that can complicated your visualizations too much. Maybe first week you won't notice much improvement but if you do that for a month your visualization skill will got better for sure. Also your visualization skill depends on other stuff like your age, education, gene, your thought as general. My suggestion is to learn more about yourself, there's no other way around.

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

@@xartx1168 I can't see that working seeing how I can't will my non physical mind to do something but I may try it.

you guys shouldn't hunt goblins, because according to goblin slayer imagination is the most powerful weapon

Robotoid simulated humans.

@wittykittywoes

4 жыл бұрын

Cool you think I’m a robot?

So, it's like the opposite of autism?

@Salgood

4 жыл бұрын

No, in fact there's a fair bit of comorbidity with autism. I'm not autistic, but along with aphantasia I also have a few other non neurotypical traits. And I'm not sure what you think autism = that makes you think this but autistic people have a pretty wide range of internal mental visual experiences including aphantasia. Typically for them the issue is more about being overwhelmed by 'live' sensorly stimulus and not being able to processes it all easily. Aphantasia has very little to do with the 'live' feed from your senses, it's only about recall and imagining things, and that not including a recreated sensory experience when you do. When I think about a place I've been, I can think about a lot of information about what it looked like, smelled like, felt like. But none of that is actually visual, or smells or real touch. More like the notes or raw data of it.

@mmatrainee

4 жыл бұрын

@@Salgood thank you for your time and information. I am autistic, so I am pretty familiar with the experience. I didn't know about the condition in the video, before watching the video, but I felt like experience I was listening, to, was the opposite of what goes on in my head at the time of my comment. I have not done further research since watching the video, but your reply prompted me to do just that. I may reply again when I get out of this rabbit hole, but if I don't, thanks again for the time.

@Salgood

4 жыл бұрын

@@mmatrainee No problem, yeah from those I've talked to before autistic folks seem to run the gambit from hyperphantasia to ahpantasic, being non neurotypical seems to be the only constant between them and this.

@Salgood

4 жыл бұрын

@ateb3 Sorry but no, schizophrenia isn't just seeing things in your head, hyperphantasia is the opposite. Hyperphantasia and Aphantasia are both just simply types of neurodiversity. Normal well people who can literally visualize, a lot, or not at all. Schizophrenia is a condition in which people see or hear things they don't experience being of them, from their mind. They feel haunted and harrased, and tortured by what is often their own anxieties and fear, giving voice and form in the bodies of hallucinations. Very different thing from simply visualizing or not.

Really? Actual sheep?!

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

Actual sheep!

These people have no souls

@lizicadumitru9683

3 жыл бұрын

We are souls...😎

It's because there are too many bodies, and not enough souls to inhabit them. ;-)

I wonder if aphantasia people are more likely to be atheists?

@Rick-ve5lx

2 жыл бұрын

@UCZA8eCdlKzCRLoM2i9V9Spg Cheers

Fortunately, I can not relate...

@GamingWithMasrurElahi

4 жыл бұрын

Me too. I can't see crystal clear picture but I can see little bit for a few seconds.

I just found out about this today. 2% of population. So I couldve been born with IQ of 130 or the ability to mimic voices. No. I was born with the ability to NOT visualize things.

I also have it....

I wasn't surprised to have aphantasia because screening tests for autism recommend that I should do a diagnostic test. I've known that for a very long time.

@N0Xa880iUL

2 жыл бұрын

Yep definitely some correlation with ASD