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Obviously subjective but I feel I have very strong mind's eye visualization. For me it is not like AR. It is kinda like PIP. Picture in Picture. If my eyes a

Obviously subjective but I feel I have very strong mind's eye visualization. For me it is not like AR. It is kinda like PIP. Picture in Picture. If my eyes are open while while visualizing the more deeper I go into the visualization the less my true visual field is apparent. If I get really deep into a visualization my true vision fades to almost nothing unless I am jerked back to visual reality by a loud sound or if the visualization exercise is over. It seems more like working directly with the visual models that exist in my brain. For example when you see a ball you see the object and it's light rays hit your eye then it goes to your brain. Your brain says, "that's a ball". To know it's a ball the brain compares the object with it's model of ball. If it matches it must be a ball. When visualizing it's like working with the basic model of what a ball is. I can slowly increase the detail of the visualization but there is an upper bound where other details start to disappear. Honestly, after writing this I feel "simulation" is perhaps a better description than "visualization".

ncallaway 8y ago
Every time aphantasia comes up, I'm totally blown away by what people describe as their minds eye being. It's sounds...so freakin' interesting, and it's always shocking to me that I went nearly 30 years before I found out that most people have this...cool superpower I never knew about.
distantaidenn 8y ago
This is shockingly similar to my own mind's eye. In fact, I rely on it quite heavily in my day to day life. I need to visualize things in my mind in order to understand them -- whether if be a code structure, a system design, or a friend discussing their day. It's so intense that I have to exert conscious effort in order to not get locked in a reverie. If I'm too deep in thought, I literally can't see anything. Not to confuse this with some AR type overlay, just that my focus in purely on the mental imagery to the exclusion of the outside world. Come to think of it, I wonder if this is something my brain developed as a coping mechanism, as I routinely sleep with my eyes open. I also have absurdly vivid dreams that sometimes span multiple waking sessions; I liken them to movies. On the other hand, and I believe a direct consequence this: I am absolutely horrible with directions -- and let's not even get started on my attention span. I can only imagine how people with aphantasia experience the world. I wonder if they are more "present" than those without it.

ncallaway 8y ago

Every time aphantasia comes up, I'm totally blown away by what people describe as their minds eye being. It's sounds...so freakin' interesting, and it's always shocking to me that I went nearly 30 years before I found out that most people have this...cool superpower I never knew about.

distantaidenn 8y ago

This is shockingly similar to my own mind's eye. In fact, I rely on it quite heavily in my day to day life. I need to visualize things in my mind in order to understand them -- whether if be a code structure, a system design, or a friend discussing their day. It's so intense that I have to exert conscious effort in order to not get locked in a reverie. If I'm too deep in thought, I literally can't see anything. Not to confuse this with some AR type overlay, just that my focus in purely on the mental imagery to the exclusion of the outside world. Come to think of it, I wonder if this is something my brain developed as a coping mechanism, as I routinely sleep with my eyes open. I also have absurdly vivid dreams that sometimes span multiple waking sessions; I liken them to movies. On the other hand, and I believe a direct consequence this: I am absolutely horrible with directions -- and let's not even get started on my attention span. I can only imagine how people with aphantasia experience the world. I wonder if they are more "present" than those without it.