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How to see bright, vivid images in your mind’s eye (2016)

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Re: How to see bright, vivid images in your mind’s eye (2016)

#121

Post by glitchc »

CommieBobDole wrote: post #4

So, wait, are people normally actually seeing images, with their eyes, when they imagine what something looks like? Like, the brown-blackness of the back of your eyelids gets replaced with something you actually see, like it's projected there? I can imagine what something looks like, and I guess I sort of 'see' it, but closing my eyes doesn't make it any more real. It doesn't seem to involve the eyes or any part of t…

Everything that physically excites the rods and cones in our eyes is perceived in the occipital cortex which is at the back of our brains, right above the medullaoblongata. It isn't surprising that it's somewhere else inside our heads.

Re: How to see bright, vivid images in your mind’s eye (2016)

#122

Post by winrid »

tjbiddle wrote: post #117
winrid wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just common solving problems while you sleep. Everyone does this. If you're having trouble with something - try a nap.

I think you missed the point.

I must. It doesn't sound like anything special.

Re: How to see bright, vivid images in your mind’s eye (2016)

#123

Post by clipsy »

krapp wrote: post #103
_dain_ wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well where is your mental imagery? can you not do it with your eyes open?

>well where is your mental imagery? In my mind. >can you not do it with your eyes open? I can. I just don't actually, physically see it in front of me. I can imagine a red apple, and I can imagine it's shape and color and the spots on its skin and I can even mentally feel it, smooth or bruised, I can even taste it, but just in my mind.

What is the difference between tasting an apple in your mind and remembering what an apple tastes like?

Re: How to see bright, vivid images in your mind’s eye (2016)

#124

Post by Jiocus »

godelski wrote: post #105
Jiocus wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I remember correctly, aphantasia is inability to visualise images, objects or memories in the mind, and this seems to be what the author actually refers to. The alternative, to actually perceive imagery with the eye that isn't there is usually called hallucination. The article doesn't get at this difference and seems to be based on Youtube videos about aphantasia. If you've ever had a dream with vivid first person…

Speaking of dreams, similar to the author's comment about needing to try a month before getting good results, I used to not remember my dreams at all. I decided to keep a dream journal. First week I only had like 3 entries with one sentence notes like "saw the color blue." But a few months in I was remembering most of my rem cycles, 6 months in and the dreams could continue through cycles (like one long epoch). I did…

I've tried journaling my dreams but I found it to be tedious due to the amount of dreams and their various contents. Some dreams consist of strong emotions and what I sense as I wake up is not the dream, but the feeling of have been separated from the dream. That's hard to put into words in the middle of the night. In the end, I tend to recall my dreams quite well, many of which have a permanent place among other episodic real life events.

I have a few dreams that are like a long running TV show, suddenly I'm in this certain universe and the plot continues, even though it's been a few years. In a single sleeping session it's often the rule that dreams continue even if I wake up in the middle. It's so consistent that waking up from a nice dream doesn't mean it's lost but gives me something to look forward to.

Lucid dreaming in my experience is very much an Inception-like (the film) experience. Once you have "woken", there's a fine line between controlling the dream, and the dream noticing what you're up to, eventually booting you from the matrix.

For something more on topic and for anyone that will be experiencing a lucid dream in the future: Take a moment to really appreciate the extreme level of graphics, and other senses the mind can render.

Re: How to see bright, vivid images in your mind’s eye (2016)

#125

Post by deadbeeves »

shawabawa3 wrote: post #119
chatmasta wrote: post #14

The thing I've never understood about aphantasia is the emphasis on closing your eyes. Does it really matter? I can visualize an apple (to borrow the example from the frequently shared meme) whether my eyes are open or closed. It's not like my eyelids are some necessary visual backdrop for visualization.

At this point I'm fairly certain aphantasia doesn't really exist (or is extremely rare), but what exists is a disconnect between what people understand the word "visualising" to mean I cannot project an image of an apple into my brain, but I can be aware of what an apple looks like and have that awareness move and rotate the apple. I would never call it visualising though

From talking to people, I would say it exists on a spectrum. I can imagine an apple, the color and texture of its skin, how it feels to touch it, its weightiness, its smell, the sound it'll make when I bite into it, as well as its taste and texture. I can imagine it at different levels of ripeness too, although I don't have the same amount of information for all of them. For me it's so clear that it's almost as good as the real thing.

Some people I've talked to said they couldn't do most of that. They said they could think of an apple, but couldn't tell me much more about it, other than that it was an apple. Now, obviously I can't peer into their heads. Were they actually imagining more but were unable to put it into words? Were they underestimating the vividness of what they were imagining? Or were they accurately describing what was in their minds? Although I can't directly experience their minds, there were certainly differences between what each of us could describe.

Re: How to see bright, vivid images in your mind’s eye (2016)

#126

Post by bstnbstn »

chatmasta wrote: post #14

The thing I've never understood about aphantasia is the emphasis on closing your eyes. Does it really matter? I can visualize an apple (to borrow the example from the frequently shared meme) whether my eyes are open or closed. It's not like my eyelids are some necessary visual backdrop for visualization.

There are some articles and ”quick tests“ that ask you to close your eyes, which can be quite confusing. Some people find it easier to visualise with their eyes open, others with their eyes closed.

Additionally, aphantasia often is represented by a black image, which also is misleading. Some people think they have aphantasia because they see black or Eigengrau behind their eyelids.

But aphantasia has nothing to do with physical seeing with your eyes.

Re: How to see bright, vivid images in your mind’s eye (2016)

#127

Post by corysama »

laserbeam wrote: post #95

I hate the writing style. This is the kind of text you normally see from scam artists: "this cool techinque that I'm going to tell you about", "here's a personal story/testimonial", "soon I'll tell you how I did it", "watch this video if you want to learn more", and there's usually also a "buy my course if you really want to learn about it". This is not how one shares knowledge, this is how one sells snake oil. Thus,…

The “Long Form Landing Page” is a science that has been popularized and refined since the dawn of the consumer internet. It’s all about slowly building emotional investment from the user to trick them into pressuring themselves to engaging the eventual “Call to Action”.

Re: How to see bright, vivid images in your mind’s eye (2016)

#128

Post by naruhodo »

iseanstevens wrote: post #10
CommieBobDole wrote: post #4

So, wait, are people normally actually seeing images, with their eyes, when they imagine what something looks like? Like, the brown-blackness of the back of your eyelids gets replaced with something you actually see, like it's projected there? I can imagine what something looks like, and I guess I sort of 'see' it, but closing my eyes doesn't make it any more real. It doesn't seem to involve the eyes or any part of t…

I don’t even need to close my eyes and the images are fairly vivid. AR before AR. I thought for a long time that’s how it was for everyone. Anyone else have that?

Yep. Super helpful for visualising structures of source code and other things. Don't close your eyes, just patch your brain output back to brain input. Same as when you're dreaming.

Re: How to see bright, vivid images in your mind’s eye (2016)

#129

Post by loosetypewriter »

_dain_ wrote: post #61
krapp wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Like you literally see the things you imagine? How do you function? How do you manage to drive, without your thoughts blocking your view? How can you even tell if anything you see is real or a product of your imagination? I feel like if that's what is actually happening you should see a professional.

>How do you manage to drive, without your thoughts blocking your view? They don't block the view, in the same way that the image from your left eye doesn't block the image from your right eye, even though they're overlaid on the same "mental space". Hold up your finger in front of your eyes, and focus on a distant object. You can see two images of the finger, but also see straight through them simultaneously. It's ki…

Can people who literally "see" clear mental images look at a blank piece of paper, imagine an image, and then just trace it out? I have never seen anyone do this, but based on the way mental imagery is described online by people who claim other people are aphantasiac, I don't understand why it's not a very common ability.

Re: How to see bright, vivid images in your mind’s eye (2016)

#130

Post by hansvm »

ogig wrote: post #94

This one is curious; >Q. If I use a voice recorder, do I have to listen back to what I’ve said? No. I’m not going to pretend that I understand why but it seems that your mind just needs to know what the words are being recorded. You can, of course, listen to the recordings if you want to. Personally, I didn’t bother.

A priori it sounds plausible. Their explanation is that you're exploiting plasticity (neurons that fire together wire together), so the whole point of the exercise would be to ensure you're thinking the right thoughts. Moreover, we know minor differences in circumstances do have huge effects on how we think in a given moment.

To the extent the advice is valid though, I imagine there's some significant set of people for whom it won't work. Voice teachers and math professors have a similar task in coming up with metaphors and situations to provoke the right thought patterns and give new ideas a place to take hold, and a defining characteristic of both of those professions is that people are very heterogeneous and aren't usually amenable to a one-size-fits-all metaphor.

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