I also see number 1. I met a man, a long time ago, with no ability to visualize, or hear music in his head, or imagine other sensory data. He said never saw anything in his head, except on rare occasions when he was stroking the trouser serpent. I thought this was interesting because in Kundalini yoga there is a connection between the Mulhadara chakra (at the base of the spine governing sexual activity) and the Ajna chakra (or third eye).
In all honesty all I can see is 5, if I try really hard I can maybe muster a light 4, but that's it. I just don't have that kind of imagination. I can come up with some real funny off the wall words sometimes that would result in a laugh from my friends, but not able to imagine pictures. I think with words not pictures.
I get a flickering of all the possibilities above and I simultaneously experience a conceptual flickering of what "apple" means.
It's neither words nor pictures, but something like code that can be easily converted into either those things, or both. If you asked me to think of the apple I held earlier today - or simply draw a specific apple - only then I would be able to lock into 1 single possibility.
This seems to be relatively common in people who identify as aphantasic. I also don't usually have inner monologues, it's a similar principle I suppose.
I see number 1. It is interesting the way by which people's conceptualization of the physical world varies so much. A big dividing line in the people think is in words or images --> perhaps this explains why some struggle with conjuring up an actual image of a physical object; perhaps they tend to be less visual in their imagination and more oriented towards words? Or perhaps they won't think of an actual realistic looking apple, but instead an abstract representation of how 'all' apples look (something approximating image (2-4 which are obviously not real-looking apples, but more symbols hereof).
Well I can't prove I'm not lying here. But can only speak as I find. What I can picture is something between 1 and 2. Wouldn't have said the clearness of the image was quite as good as what's shown in one. But other than that what I imagined was like that only the colours of the apple were different (it's not always like this when I try to imagine something in my head though, I can sometimes find it quite hard).
well i KNOW what an apple looks like. i know what texture it has (i have memory of how it feels), i know that it's usually green or red, but when i close my eyes i don't see anything. just the color orange or black depending on the lighting of the room i'm in. so basically i just see the back of my eyelids lol.
but if you mean like if there is this 2D image of a 3D shiny red apple at the back of my head... like i don't literally see it with my eyes but it's there, in my brain, then yes i "see" a pretty accurate apple. so either 1 or 5 depending on what "see" really means. BUT, i don't know if this is how i normally "see" it, because i JUST looked at those example pictures of apples. maybe the apple in my brain gets less accurate-looking depending on how recently i last saw an apple? idk
I see number 1, my spatial skills have always been higher than any other scores when I take an IQ test. Sometimes the picture can be pretty basic but there's always color involved. Temple Gradin did a Ted talk and referenced this visual ability to, though hers seems way more in depth than my own visual library. I have ADHD and not autism though.
I see the first one, #1. I heard about this not long ago as well, and I was also surprised. I assumed that everyone could visualize at least as well as I do, but I guess some do not. I picture not only and apple, but any of several varieties that I like, the visual differences between them and even tiny characteristics such as the particular sheen after washing, how juicy one is compared to another.
Another "vote" for between 1 and 2. If I focus on detail, then #1 becomes more vivid. If I focus on "the concept of apple", then it's more cartoonish and #2. Smell is not automatic, but if suggested, then yes, it becomes part of #1. Similarly for texture, if suggested then either being held in the hand or tasted and chewed.
I "see" 5. Nothing. If I try really hard then I can visualise the shape but it's more like a drawing of an outline. I think Apple and I get memories. My memories aren't visual like movies. More like a list of facts. Memories like how I taught my kids about fractions by cutting one up and visually showing them. A memory of last week buying 7 different types of apples with my son so we could compare the tastes. An apple tree we bought instead of a Christmas tree then planted it. How the Apple tree can be grafted and how it's pollinated. The temperature they like to grow in. Different ways it will die. None of it is visual. Yet for me to be able to learn anything I need visual cues. I will read something then translate it onto YouTube for a visual explanation. I don't usually understand anything without visuals. But I 'think' in darkness 🤷🏼♀️
Honestly, I can see number 5, the image. Better than that...I can also "smell" it exactly, I can visualize it as a green apple instead and "smell" that as well, I can "feel" the weight of it. I can't ALWAYS do this, not at all. The "conditions" have to be right for me. I can literally go an entire day without visualizing anything at all in my mind's eye, that's basically my default mode. As a kid I really struggled to enjoy books because I could barely "see" what was happening. I just read it, and understood it. I could barely visualize the characters, let alone "hear" their voices. Nowadays it all comes pretty easy to me as long as I can concentrate. But yeah, number 5 for me lol.
Before I even scrolled down, I imagined a red, shiny apple, like nr 1.
Had I seen anything other than nr 1 or 2 (especially 5!), I think I'd be freaked out.
This was really cool. I read somewhere, last year I think, about inner monologues. I have an inner monologue, constantly. Like I'm narrating myself in a weird sense. And then I read that some people have no narrating monologue. No inner dialogue. (I can find the link if you want to read.)
"The way people perceive the world fascinates me"
This sentence sums it up so well. There's a reason I really like reading your stuff, beside the fact that I think you write good, and that's because so much of it is simply so alien to me. It's riveting.
Versions of #1 in my case. Depending on the day, it will be a full picture where I can see it all at once in great detail, or I will only be able to focus in some specific parts, still detailed enough.
Also, sometimes the image can be clear and "crispy", while at times it can be faded / clouded.
All but smell. It's funny because I have a strong sense of smell, but my imagination is not great at replicating it! (the same happens with taste). The other senses I can imagine well enough.
Also for me, there's no need to close my eyes. It surprised me to learn that for some people, triggering their internal visualizations needs them to have their eyes closed; if I close my eyes it is actually harder for me!
I also see number 1. I met a man, a long time ago, with no ability to visualize, or hear music in his head, or imagine other sensory data. He said never saw anything in his head, except on rare occasions when he was stroking the trouser serpent. I thought this was interesting because in Kundalini yoga there is a connection between the Mulhadara chakra (at the base of the spine governing sexual activity) and the Ajna chakra (or third eye).
In all honesty all I can see is 5, if I try really hard I can maybe muster a light 4, but that's it. I just don't have that kind of imagination. I can come up with some real funny off the wall words sometimes that would result in a laugh from my friends, but not able to imagine pictures. I think with words not pictures.
Oh, the Aphantasia debate.
I get a flickering of all the possibilities above and I simultaneously experience a conceptual flickering of what "apple" means.
It's neither words nor pictures, but something like code that can be easily converted into either those things, or both. If you asked me to think of the apple I held earlier today - or simply draw a specific apple - only then I would be able to lock into 1 single possibility.
This seems to be relatively common in people who identify as aphantasic. I also don't usually have inner monologues, it's a similar principle I suppose.
I see number 1. It is interesting the way by which people's conceptualization of the physical world varies so much. A big dividing line in the people think is in words or images --> perhaps this explains why some struggle with conjuring up an actual image of a physical object; perhaps they tend to be less visual in their imagination and more oriented towards words? Or perhaps they won't think of an actual realistic looking apple, but instead an abstract representation of how 'all' apples look (something approximating image (2-4 which are obviously not real-looking apples, but more symbols hereof).
Well I can't prove I'm not lying here. But can only speak as I find. What I can picture is something between 1 and 2. Wouldn't have said the clearness of the image was quite as good as what's shown in one. But other than that what I imagined was like that only the colours of the apple were different (it's not always like this when I try to imagine something in my head though, I can sometimes find it quite hard).
well i KNOW what an apple looks like. i know what texture it has (i have memory of how it feels), i know that it's usually green or red, but when i close my eyes i don't see anything. just the color orange or black depending on the lighting of the room i'm in. so basically i just see the back of my eyelids lol.
but if you mean like if there is this 2D image of a 3D shiny red apple at the back of my head... like i don't literally see it with my eyes but it's there, in my brain, then yes i "see" a pretty accurate apple. so either 1 or 5 depending on what "see" really means. BUT, i don't know if this is how i normally "see" it, because i JUST looked at those example pictures of apples. maybe the apple in my brain gets less accurate-looking depending on how recently i last saw an apple? idk
I see number 1, my spatial skills have always been higher than any other scores when I take an IQ test. Sometimes the picture can be pretty basic but there's always color involved. Temple Gradin did a Ted talk and referenced this visual ability to, though hers seems way more in depth than my own visual library. I have ADHD and not autism though.
I see the first one, #1. I heard about this not long ago as well, and I was also surprised. I assumed that everyone could visualize at least as well as I do, but I guess some do not. I picture not only and apple, but any of several varieties that I like, the visual differences between them and even tiny characteristics such as the particular sheen after washing, how juicy one is compared to another.
Another "vote" for between 1 and 2. If I focus on detail, then #1 becomes more vivid. If I focus on "the concept of apple", then it's more cartoonish and #2. Smell is not automatic, but if suggested, then yes, it becomes part of #1. Similarly for texture, if suggested then either being held in the hand or tasted and chewed.
What have you discovered from this data? 🤔
I "see" 5. Nothing. If I try really hard then I can visualise the shape but it's more like a drawing of an outline. I think Apple and I get memories. My memories aren't visual like movies. More like a list of facts. Memories like how I taught my kids about fractions by cutting one up and visually showing them. A memory of last week buying 7 different types of apples with my son so we could compare the tastes. An apple tree we bought instead of a Christmas tree then planted it. How the Apple tree can be grafted and how it's pollinated. The temperature they like to grow in. Different ways it will die. None of it is visual. Yet for me to be able to learn anything I need visual cues. I will read something then translate it onto YouTube for a visual explanation. I don't usually understand anything without visuals. But I 'think' in darkness 🤷🏼♀️
Honestly, I can see number 5, the image. Better than that...I can also "smell" it exactly, I can visualize it as a green apple instead and "smell" that as well, I can "feel" the weight of it. I can't ALWAYS do this, not at all. The "conditions" have to be right for me. I can literally go an entire day without visualizing anything at all in my mind's eye, that's basically my default mode. As a kid I really struggled to enjoy books because I could barely "see" what was happening. I just read it, and understood it. I could barely visualize the characters, let alone "hear" their voices. Nowadays it all comes pretty easy to me as long as I can concentrate. But yeah, number 5 for me lol.
Before I even scrolled down, I imagined a red, shiny apple, like nr 1.
Had I seen anything other than nr 1 or 2 (especially 5!), I think I'd be freaked out.
This was really cool. I read somewhere, last year I think, about inner monologues. I have an inner monologue, constantly. Like I'm narrating myself in a weird sense. And then I read that some people have no narrating monologue. No inner dialogue. (I can find the link if you want to read.)
"The way people perceive the world fascinates me"
This sentence sums it up so well. There's a reason I really like reading your stuff, beside the fact that I think you write good, and that's because so much of it is simply so alien to me. It's riveting.
I see 1
Versions of #1 in my case. Depending on the day, it will be a full picture where I can see it all at once in great detail, or I will only be able to focus in some specific parts, still detailed enough.
Also, sometimes the image can be clear and "crispy", while at times it can be faded / clouded.
All but smell. It's funny because I have a strong sense of smell, but my imagination is not great at replicating it! (the same happens with taste). The other senses I can imagine well enough.
Also for me, there's no need to close my eyes. It surprised me to learn that for some people, triggering their internal visualizations needs them to have their eyes closed; if I close my eyes it is actually harder for me!
I see number one too. I think most people see between number one and number three.