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I have this too. If I try to recall images of people close to me, I get an instinctive flash, which is like an outline. If I try to focus in on the detail, the

by dcw303 11y ago

I have this too. If I try to recall images of people close to me, I get an instinctive flash, which is like an outline. If I try to focus in on the detail, the image disappears. Happens in dreams to some extent too - I generally dream normally (?) but if I become lucid then everything I try to look at disintegrates. For the record, I'm a programmer who always wanted to do something artistic. Coming to the realization that I just wouldn't be very good took a long time to accept.

Nav_Panel 11y ago
I'm pretty sure it's common for programmers to be below average visualizers. I was interested in this topic in college and asked around in my software developer friend group and many also didn't visualize well. My unscientific hypothesis is that programming requires a much larger language based memory than visual memory, so people sort themselves based on their skills. However, this doesn't disqualify you from the arts under any circumstances! You might never be a photorealistic painter, but you might be better at, say, photography, as it's more about elimination of elements, or certain types of illustration (or music but I assume by "artistic" you meant visual arts). And, as usual, it's mostly hard work and only like 10% talent...
meric 11y ago
I can recall anyone in a scene. I think it's a detailed image I can zoomed in, and I think I have all their details (eyes, hair, eyebrows, etc) down. It's a full color scene where the person of interest can be moving in their characteristic walking style, waving their arms the way they wave their arms, and talk the way they talk. However if I try to focus on the details, it's all a blur. It's like when you have a small 50px by 50px photo, and it looks sharp. Zoom in, and you realise it was an illusion. That's exactly it for me. I can imagine my girlfriend's foot a little more in detail, e.g. changes in skin tone, but I can't remember the shape of her individual nails. Some of the details of my girlfriend's, I can see in my mind, the others are mostly a blur. I can't see in detail what I haven't noticed in real life. The details I see are because there was a scene where she made a very appropriate facial expression in response to a situation and I remember that detail very clearly - like the way she smiled and tried to convince me everyone said she had a beautiful smile on our second date. Also - I notice the images I conjure in my mind are always a lot dimmer in brightness than when seeing images with my eye. I can remember them being bright, but I see them as dim - even when imagining the sun and the sky. It's like looking at a computer screen in bright sunlight. It still doesn't seem that vivid to some of the people described in the article.

by dcw303 11y ago

Nav_Panel 11y ago

I'm pretty sure it's common for programmers to be below average visualizers. I was interested in this topic in college and asked around in my software developer friend group and many also didn't visualize well. My unscientific hypothesis is that programming requires a much larger language based memory than visual memory, so people sort themselves based on their skills. However, this doesn't disqualify you from the arts under any circumstances! You might never be a photorealistic painter, but you might be better at, say, photography, as it's more about elimination of elements, or certain types of illustration (or music but I assume by "artistic" you meant visual arts). And, as usual, it's mostly hard work and only like 10% talent...

meric 11y ago

I can recall anyone in a scene. I think it's a detailed image I can zoomed in, and I think I have all their details (eyes, hair, eyebrows, etc) down. It's a full color scene where the person of interest can be moving in their characteristic walking style, waving their arms the way they wave their arms, and talk the way they talk. However if I try to focus on the details, it's all a blur. It's like when you have a small 50px by 50px photo, and it looks sharp. Zoom in, and you realise it was an illusion. That's exactly it for me. I can imagine my girlfriend's foot a little more in detail, e.g. changes in skin tone, but I can't remember the shape of her individual nails. Some of the details of my girlfriend's, I can see in my mind, the others are mostly a blur. I can't see in detail what I haven't noticed in real life. The details I see are because there was a scene where she made a very appropriate facial expression in response to a situation and I remember that detail very clearly - like the way she smiled and tried to convince me everyone said she had a beautiful smile on our second date. Also - I notice the images I conjure in my mind are always a lot dimmer in brightness than when seeing images with my eye. I can remember them being bright, but I see them as dim - even when imagining the sun and the sky. It's like looking at a computer screen in bright sunlight. It still doesn't seem that vivid to some of the people described in the article.