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Aphantasia: I can not picture things in my mind

theguardian.com

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Re: Aphantasia: I can not picture things in my mind

#11

Post by iand »

constantcrying wrote: post #3

I still have a hard time believing this is actually real. I also don't see how you actually could do many jobs with this condition. At least I couldn't imagine doing any job I ever head without the ability to manipulate visual information in my head.

It's real and I have it. I was astonished when I discovered other people see pictures in their head. It doesn't restrict my creative thinking but I am a spatial thinker.

When I solve an imaginary logic problem such as advancing the hands on a clock I can't see the before and after states but I can infer their positions by the directions they must point and then read the new time from that.

Re: Aphantasia: I can not picture things in my mind

#12

Post by constantcrying »

floitsch wrote: post #7
constantcrying wrote: post #3

I still have a hard time believing this is actually real. I also don't see how you actually could do many jobs with this condition. At least I couldn't imagine doing any job I ever head without the ability to manipulate visual information in my head.

I have aphantasia, and I don't feel handicapped at all. The only thing where I really notice differences is when trying to describe people. Since I can't visualize them in my head, I can only describe "known facts", like "they have brown hair". I would make a lousy crime witness...

If I think of basically anything technical I get an image in my head. Any algorithm I write first exists in my head as a visualization of what I want to do. If I can't visualize what is going on I can't understand it and am in a state of confusion.

Re: Aphantasia: I can not picture things in my mind

#13

Post by shafyy »

constantcrying wrote: post #3

I still have a hard time believing this is actually real. I also don't see how you actually could do many jobs with this condition. At least I couldn't imagine doing any job I ever head without the ability to manipulate visual information in my head.

It is real. My partner has it. Interestingly, she is really good it visualizing 3D concepts in her mind, but not images. For example, when she walks through an apartment she can instantly draw a blueprint. Or when we move in multi-story building, she knows exactly where we are conceptually (I always get lost). So, these two things don't seem to be connected.

Re: Aphantasia: I can not picture things in my mind

#14

Post by constantcrying »

FeistySkink wrote: post #6
constantcrying wrote: post #3

I still have a hard time believing this is actually real. I also don't see how you actually could do many jobs with this condition. At least I couldn't imagine doing any job I ever head without the ability to manipulate visual information in my head.

Imagine thinking in concepts instead of images. I can't visualize a hammer or a face, but I don't have trouble with a multidimensional array or a graph.

>I don't have trouble with a multidimensional array or a graph.

So you can visualize a graph, as if it were drawn out on a sheet of paper?

Re: Aphantasia: I can not picture things in my mind

#15

Post by constantcrying »

shafyy wrote: post #13
constantcrying wrote: post #3

I still have a hard time believing this is actually real. I also don't see how you actually could do many jobs with this condition. At least I couldn't imagine doing any job I ever head without the ability to manipulate visual information in my head.

It is real. My partner has it. Interestingly, she is really good it visualizing 3D concepts in her mind, but not images. For example, when she walks through an apartment she can instantly draw a blueprint. Or when we move in multi-story building, she knows exactly where we are conceptually (I always get lost). So, these two things don't seem to be connected.

>Interestingly, she is really good it visualizing 3D concepts in her mind, but not images.

I don't understand what that is supposed to mean. How can you understand the blueprint of a building without seeing a representation of that building in your head?

Re: Aphantasia: I can not picture things in my mind

#16

Post by floitsch »

FeistySkink wrote: post #10
floitsch wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have aphantasia, and I don't feel handicapped at all. The only thing where I really notice differences is when trying to describe people. Since I can't visualize them in my head, I can only describe "known facts", like "they have brown hair". I would make a lousy crime witness...

This was my biggest puzzle as a child: how do all those people in crime shows describe suspects? And was it just made up?

The other ones for me:

- "go to your happy place", or "imagine you are on an island..."

- counting sheep to fall asleep. I just couldn't visualize them.

Re: Aphantasia: I can not picture things in my mind

#17

Post by FeistySkink »

constantcrying wrote: post #14
FeistySkink wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine thinking in concepts instead of images. I can't visualize a hammer or a face, but I don't have trouble with a multidimensional array or a graph.

>I don't have trouble with a multidimensional array or a graph. So you can visualize a graph, as if it were drawn out on a sheet of paper?

I can't visualize anything. If I close my eyes, I just see some vague light coming through my eyelids. I can "imagine" for a lack of a better word, the graph and all the nodes and edges "existing", and can reason about its properties based on that.

Re: Aphantasia: I can not picture things in my mind

#18

Post by cgio »

constantcrying wrote: post #15
shafyy wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is real. My partner has it. Interestingly, she is really good it visualizing 3D concepts in her mind, but not images. For example, when she walks through an apartment she can instantly draw a blueprint. Or when we move in multi-story building, she knows exactly where we are conceptually (I always get lost). So, these two things don't seem to be connected.

>Interestingly, she is really good it visualizing 3D concepts in her mind, but not images. I don't understand what that is supposed to mean. How can you understand the blueprint of a building without seeing a representation of that building in your head?

As per OP, you "visualise" concepts rather than images. A representation can be conceptual rather than visual. I don't know if I have the condition, but I can draw a shape without seeing that shape in my mind, I can see it when it's drawn though.

Re: Aphantasia: I can not picture things in my mind

#19

Post by FeistySkink »

constantcrying wrote: post #15
shafyy wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is real. My partner has it. Interestingly, she is really good it visualizing 3D concepts in her mind, but not images. For example, when she walks through an apartment she can instantly draw a blueprint. Or when we move in multi-story building, she knows exactly where we are conceptually (I always get lost). So, these two things don't seem to be connected.

>Interestingly, she is really good it visualizing 3D concepts in her mind, but not images. I don't understand what that is supposed to mean. How can you understand the blueprint of a building without seeing a representation of that building in your head?

You can have a conceptual model of how things relate in space. Something like a class diagram or a DB schema. It doesn't need to be visual.
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