Must be a boring wank.
The question is: why is there so much porn out there at all, if most people can visualize it in their heads?
Some people can't see mental images
341–350 of 388 posts
Re: Some people can't see mental images
#342I do have the "second visual canvas" people here are talking about, but the thing about mine, and I haven't seen anyone say this yet, is that I don't have full control of it.
For example, I have a memory from childhood of visualizing a yellow bucket, and it showed up in my mind's eye with big cartoon eyes. I tried to delete the eyes because I just wanted a normal yellow bucket, but they kept coming back.
Also, when reading Harry Potter as a kid, Severus Snape always showed up in my mind's eye with the head of a crocodile. I remember telling my brain, no, he's just a guy, just give him a normal man's head, but it never worked. Even now when someone mentions Severus Snape I see him with the crocodile head.
Anyone else, or am I just nuts?
Re: Some people can't see mental images
#343I have aphantasia. Like many others, I am able to see images when I dream and very rarely in a hypnagogic state. My partner is on the opposite side of the spectrum; she can conjure mental images with ease. Our differences in that respect have led to a lot of interesting conversations. I think aphantasia is quite misunderstood by people able to visualize. I can remember how things look, have no issues identifying face…
Instead of the whole image, you just visualize the main aspects as vectors?
My brain is like a vector database, it stores the "feelings" of information, not the actual information - if that makes sense?
I can make lightning fast connections in my head when something happens, like when something breaks in production, I see the symptomps and the vectors just connect from effect to the cause.
Can I explain to others why and how I know where the problem is? Nope. ...Or yes, but it'll take a long time for me to follow the feeling-vectors and put them into words I can actually communicate to other people.
For actual people and characters in books I also retain the shape and ...something about them, but I couldn't explain how most people in my life look like to a sketch artist.
From a previous comment of mine[0] on this subject:
> When I read a book, I kinda retain the "feeling" of the characters and maybe one or two visual traits. I can read thousands of pages of a character's adventures and I can maybe tell you their general body type and clothing - if they have an "uniform" they tend to wear.
> I've read all 5 books (over 5000 pages) of The Stormlight Archive and I couldn't tell you what Kaladin (the main character) looks like. I have no visual recollection of his hair colour, eye colour, skin tone or body type.
Re: Some people can't see mental images
#344Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’ve interrogated people about this but can never get a straight answer. —— “So you can really see things in your head when your eyes are closed?” Yeah! “And it’s as though you’re seeing the object in front of you?” Yeah, you don’t have that? “So it’s like you’re really seeing it? It’s the sensation of sight?“ Well… it’s kind of different. I’m not really seeing it. —— …and around we go. Personally, I can see images w…
Here is some context: Early in the aphantasia discourse, someone asked a group I was in to do a mental exercise: Imagine an apple. Can you tell what color it is? What variety? Can you tell the lighting? Is it against a background? Does it have a texture? Imagine cutting into it. And so on. For me, not only was the color, variety, lighting, and texture crystal clear, but I noticed that when I mentally "cut into" the a…
When you image slicing, does the video your head renders smooth or jittery string of pictures strung together?
Re: Some people can't see mental images
#345Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep. Problem is that there's actually a spectrum of vividity of mental imagery, but in popular discussion it's always seen as a binary on/off thing. An old post by Scott Alexander (16+ years, mind blown) discusses this, long before the term "aphantasia" became a thing [1]. There was a debate about what "imagination" actually means already in the late 1800s; some people were absolutely certain that it was just a metap…
Comically, though, programming communities really seem to have a statistical over representation of both aphantasics and hyperphantasics. One of these articles comes out every few years and I've witnessed at numerous workplaces how quickly a large portion of the engineers realize they're aphantasic and everyone else is aghast that they can't rotate complete architectural diagrams etc. That said, it really is binary o…
> I think it's pretty important to realize you are if in fact you are---ideally as early in your educational process as possible.
Is that because it’s hereditary or instead something that was missing in early childhood? Like as a toddler you were never given one of those games where you fit shapes into different sized holes for example?
Re: Some people can't see mental images
#346Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about people who can look at something and then draw it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Wiltshire Do they have to recall specific areas, or do they perceive the entire thing as a fully instantiated mental image.
Glad that you used this exact example! This guy doesn’t have a photorealistic memory. At least it’s far from as good as it’s claimed to be. He’s an artist proficient in a particular style - better than most, but not superhuman. When he’s not drawing from a direct reference, he’s simply making up details based on assumptions, not on photorealistic memory. Here’s a good example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyPqQIHk…
but what we see in the first place is not what's out there. a lot of it is generated by the brain. (same for what we hear)
Re: Some people can't see mental images
#347Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have so many questions to ask people with aphantasia related to sex, but it would get uncomfortably personal, so maybe best not to. The best I can do: do people with aphantasia only get aroused if the stimulus is present? Can't they not get horny just imagining things, like I imagine most people can? Does steamy literature do anything for them? I imagine it doesn't, since if you cannot imagine things then words on…
> In my opinion, the fact erotic literature exists is proof aphantasia is not normal. Words cannot be arousing if you cannot imagine things "in your mind's eye". The opposite seems to follow? erotic literature is proof you don't need images to be aroused.
Hmm, no? The words must elicit images and sensations, otherwise they wouldn't work as erotica. Words are just words. If you cannot picture what they are describing, you cannot get aroused.
Re: Some people can't see mental images
#348Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have so many questions to ask people with aphantasia related to sex, but it would get uncomfortably personal, so maybe best not to. The best I can do: do people with aphantasia only get aroused if the stimulus is present? Can't they not get horny just imagining things, like I imagine most people can? Does steamy literature do anything for them? I imagine it doesn't, since if you cannot imagine things then words on…
Good erotic literature does not only describe images, but also desires, emotions and sensations, all of which I think have different channels of imagination/recall.
I didn't mean it describes images, I meant it elicits them. If you cannot imagine what's happening, you cannot get aroused. Words are just words, they must conjure an image.
Aphantasiacs often cannot imagine sensations either (at least, my friend doesn't. He cannot imagine the smell of coffee either).
Re: Some people can't see mental images
#349Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because the shape is a physical thing, it's perceived by your senses. I meant remember, not understand. You can understand something, but I specifically mean remember.
I can prove I can remember the shape, because I can draw it. I think you're putting too much importance on the ability to visualize it. I can have a high-resolution image of a candle, but it's not useful for understanding that there's a candle in the picture - for that, you need to have parsed the image and understood what it contains. The visualization is just the source material. Similarly, when you read a book, yo…
> I think you're putting too much importance on the ability to visualize it.
Almost all artists will tell you the ability to visualize is critical to be a good artist...
Re: Some people can't see mental images
#350Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can _remember_ the properties of an apple - approximate size, weight (my hand does not instantly drop to the floor due to its weight), etc. I can't _imagine_ an apple in my hand if you defined the colour, size or weight (for example, purple, 50cm diameter and 100Kg). In my mind I am recalling a _memory_ of holding an apple in my hand - not imagining the one according to your specifications. One example I can give i…
> I can't _imagine_ an apple in my hand if you defined the colour, size or weight (for example, purple, 50cm diameter and 100Kg). I think most people couldn't imagine holding an apple specced like a washing machine in one hand. :-)
That'd be a tiny washing machine, to be fair. That said, a 50cm diameter apple would weigh maybe half that, unless it's made entirely of water ice.