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Somewhat related to my comment - I'm sure that, as with most things in the human experience, there's a wide spectrum. What's the difference between imagining s

Somewhat related to my comment - I'm sure that, as with most things in the human experience, there's a wide spectrum. What's the difference between imagining something and seeing a picture? That's kind of rhetorical, and kind of not. The article that this page links to from 2005 says: "Asked to imagine a familiar item or recall a recent event, most people can call to mind an image that is less vivid than the original but has a visual ‘feel’. This expresses our capacity to experience visual mental imagery." Which is still super vague as to what people do when they "call to mind" something, or what a visual feel is...

feanaro 7y ago
> Which is still super vague as to what people do when they "call to mind" something, or what a visual feel is... I think it's pretty easy to explain relatively unambiguously though. When you're looking at an object, let's say an orange, you are experiencing a unique, particular sensation which usually only happens when you're looking at an orange. Being able to visualize things is to be able to create the same sensation wilfully even when you're not looking at an orange (albeit of perhaps a lesser intensity).
- codezero 7y ago
  That's a good description, and seems to align with what I think I feel - a sensation, I tried to think of examples that weren't images for me, but just a sensation, but I think, at least in my 30 second brainstorm, I always got an image, but it was always a very simplified one, and the more complex the idea, the shorter the sensation. This was not done scientifically at all, but what I'm trying to say is thanks: that's a pretty succinct description that I can get behind.
- Ill_ban_myself 7y ago
  Most people who suffer from this could be shown a 3d modeling or CAD tool. I would explain it as having access to this when you close your eyes, except its hazy and comes in and out of focus. It can also be used to conjure a short movie like sequence or animation as well. I most frequently use it to plan routes in my mind whether its in the car or how I'm going to move through a particular space it helps orient you and improves reaction speed and can be tied to muscle memory. It takes some focus and is rarely used simultaneously with other activities. It's more like a planning or focusing activity for brief bursts before you take action. Its actually quite like those slow motion 360 sequences in the matrix. I think that's probably why that film technique gained such traction, as its a slowed down version of what our brains do when we use our visual memory to navigate our movement.
itronitron 7y ago
A useful analogy is that 'call to mind visually' is to seeing as thinking something is to hearing yourself say something. The calling to mind is necessarily less intense as seeing because while you are calling to mind your visual system is preoccupied with other visual stimuli.
rtkwe 7y ago
It's not terribly surprising it's vague as it's an entirely internal mental experience that has no hard external effect like other mental differences (I hesitate to say issue or problem since) and the description in both directions is hard.

feanaro 7y ago

> Which is still super vague as to what people do when they "call to mind" something, or what a visual feel is... I think it's pretty easy to explain relatively unambiguously though. When you're looking at an object, let's say an orange, you are experiencing a unique, particular sensation which usually only happens when you're looking at an orange. Being able to visualize things is to be able to create the same sensation wilfully even when you're not looking at an orange (albeit of perhaps a lesser intensity).

codezero 7y ago
That's a good description, and seems to align with what I think I feel - a sensation, I tried to think of examples that weren't images for me, but just a sensation, but I think, at least in my 30 second brainstorm, I always got an image, but it was always a very simplified one, and the more complex the idea, the shorter the sensation. This was not done scientifically at all, but what I'm trying to say is thanks: that's a pretty succinct description that I can get behind.
Ill_ban_myself 7y ago
Most people who suffer from this could be shown a 3d modeling or CAD tool. I would explain it as having access to this when you close your eyes, except its hazy and comes in and out of focus. It can also be used to conjure a short movie like sequence or animation as well. I most frequently use it to plan routes in my mind whether its in the car or how I'm going to move through a particular space it helps orient you and improves reaction speed and can be tied to muscle memory. It takes some focus and is rarely used simultaneously with other activities. It's more like a planning or focusing activity for brief bursts before you take action. Its actually quite like those slow motion 360 sequences in the matrix. I think that's probably why that film technique gained such traction, as its a slowed down version of what our brains do when we use our visual memory to navigate our movement.

itronitron 7y ago

A useful analogy is that 'call to mind visually' is to seeing as thinking something is to hearing yourself say something. The calling to mind is necessarily less intense as seeing because while you are calling to mind your visual system is preoccupied with other visual stimuli.

rtkwe 7y ago

It's not terribly surprising it's vague as it's an entirely internal mental experience that has no hard external effect like other mental differences (I hesitate to say issue or problem since) and the description in both directions is hard.