3 ms·

It's generally referred to as day dreaming when people do step into their 'imagination devices'. Personally I do that quite a lot, especially in dead moments li

It's generally referred to as day dreaming when people do step into their 'imagination devices'. Personally I do that quite a lot, especially in dead moments like on the bus. I find it to be more entertaining than using a mobile phone with terrible internet. Though, it's probably not amazing as you might imagine. For most people, visually imagining things isn't as vivid as real life, it lacks detail, and there aren't really any surprises in what you imagine. But most of all, if you're used to this 'power', it just feels mundane. Someone who can't walk might assume that walking is an amazingly pleasurable experience, but for someone who walks every day, it doesn't particularly feel very special. And indeed, the contents of what I imagine are rarely something I talk about. It feels private, and like dreams, it's hard to convey the experience to others. You might also not recognize it if I do share something about my daydreams. Suppose I said: 'I was thinking of going to the beach', then you might assume I was thinking more along the lines of your typical thought experiences, while I was actively visualizing said beach.

saltcured 7y ago
I would also add that day-dreaming is often discouraged in children. So, there is social pressure to conform, beyond any in-built physiological process which might also suppress this fantasy play activity as we develop. My wakeful mind's eye is very abstract, representing space, forms, concepts, and connectivity. There is almost no sensory component to it. At best, I can form a fleeting visual which I might liken to a retinal after-image (such as glancing at a bright scene and then staring at a blank, dim wall). And, like such an after-image, I cannot change my focus to attend to a part of image. Chasing the image will erase it. However, my more abstract mental visualization lets me manipulate spatial structures, rotate them, decompose them, zoom inside them, etc. It is roughly the same for me with sounds. There is an internal experience of the spectra and dynamics which is almost identical between real listing and imagination or memory. But, there is a layer of actual ear sensation which is missing. Compared to the after-images of visual imagination, I can imagine sounds closer to the real thing. They are almost like having a TV playing quietly at night. I think my other senses are similar. I can abstractly remember or imagine touch, smell, taste, proprioception, and internal senses like arousal, hunger, pain, and nausea. But, these too are a bit abstracted and at arm's length. I used to think of myself as highly visual, but my understanding of it becomes more nuanced with age, and with hearing how other people characterize themselves. I don't really think "in pictures" but I also certainly do not think "in words". I especially do not have an internal narrative nor monologue, and have to put effort into rendering my thoughts into words. When planning or anticipating, I might imagine future scenarios including what I and others would say in conversation, and I imagine those almost the same as memories described above. I might conjur a person's mood, posture, tone of voice, and word choices. But I forecast non-verbal activities in much the same way, i.e. a hike along a windy ridge with a hawk circling above, or a dive into a swimming pool with bubbles streaming along my skin.
- mrd999 7y ago
  I am confused as to the distinction between your "wakeful mind's eye" and your "more abstract mental visualization". Can you more precisely characterize their difference? Is one actually embedded in your visual field, and one not? Can they be employed simultaneously?
  - saltcured 7y ago
    Sorry, I mean the same thing by both of those. It is quite abstracted. I can, with effort, summon a fleeting visualization which is a bit more pictorial, but it is not what I would call my mind's eye. More like my mind's strobe light? By wakeful, I was trying to distinguish the day dreaming mode from sleeping dreams, which are vivid and immersive (and periodically lucid). Those dreams are like being in a simulation or virtual reality. Day dreaming may be like running a simulation, but I am outside it, thinking about it more like a script or story board.

saltcured 7y ago

I would also add that day-dreaming is often discouraged in children. So, there is social pressure to conform, beyond any in-built physiological process which might also suppress this fantasy play activity as we develop. My wakeful mind's eye is very abstract, representing space, forms, concepts, and connectivity. There is almost no sensory component to it. At best, I can form a fleeting visual which I might liken to a retinal after-image (such as glancing at a bright scene and then staring at a blank, dim wall). And, like such an after-image, I cannot change my focus to attend to a part of image. Chasing the image will erase it. However, my more abstract mental visualization lets me manipulate spatial structures, rotate them, decompose them, zoom inside them, etc. It is roughly the same for me with sounds. There is an internal experience of the spectra and dynamics which is almost identical between real listing and imagination or memory. But, there is a layer of actual ear sensation which is missing. Compared to the after-images of visual imagination, I can imagine sounds closer to the real thing. They are almost like having a TV playing quietly at night. I think my other senses are similar. I can abstractly remember or imagine touch, smell, taste, proprioception, and internal senses like arousal, hunger, pain, and nausea. But, these too are a bit abstracted and at arm's length. I used to think of myself as highly visual, but my understanding of it becomes more nuanced with age, and with hearing how other people characterize themselves. I don't really think "in pictures" but I also certainly do not think "in words". I especially do not have an internal narrative nor monologue, and have to put effort into rendering my thoughts into words. When planning or anticipating, I might imagine future scenarios including what I and others would say in conversation, and I imagine those almost the same as memories described above. I might conjur a person's mood, posture, tone of voice, and word choices. But I forecast non-verbal activities in much the same way, i.e. a hike along a windy ridge with a hawk circling above, or a dive into a swimming pool with bubbles streaming along my skin.

mrd999 7y ago
I am confused as to the distinction between your "wakeful mind's eye" and your "more abstract mental visualization". Can you more precisely characterize their difference? Is one actually embedded in your visual field, and one not? Can they be employed simultaneously?
- saltcured 7y ago
  Sorry, I mean the same thing by both of those. It is quite abstracted. I can, with effort, summon a fleeting visualization which is a bit more pictorial, but it is not what I would call my mind's eye. More like my mind's strobe light? By wakeful, I was trying to distinguish the day dreaming mode from sleeping dreams, which are vivid and immersive (and periodically lucid). Those dreams are like being in a simulation or virtual reality. Day dreaming may be like running a simulation, but I am outside it, thinking about it more like a script or story board.