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My girlfriend is one of those. And I’m one of the opposite. I can visualize building an engine in my head step by step. Even going to get the parts if I want t

My girlfriend is one of those. And I’m one of the opposite. I can visualize building an engine in my head step by step. Even going to get the parts if I want to. My girlfriend can’t even visualize the car. Or the garage, or anything. She thinks in concepts, and understanding stuff like abstract things is much easier for her than for me. If I don’t see the process or make some visual analogy, it’s hard for me to get it.

sillysaurusx 5y ago
Ditto. You older than 33 or younger? I ask because mine was more vivid in my early 20’s. Was the same way as you. One Twitter thread in particular messed with me: visualize a bright red star. Do you actually see the color? Are you sure? For me, it felt (and feels) like I can’t actually picture a red star. This is highly disconcerting because I used to be able to, I think. However, if I picture a red star next to a blue star, it’s clearly distinguishable in my mind. Maybe the mind’s eye operates in YCrCb, and the CrCb can get kinda crappy. :)
- Terretta 5y ago
  “Visualize a red star, do you see the color?” feels a little waffly. I’d think you’re likely to get yes, as people imagine they “see” the way others “see” and respond similarly. By contrast, as seen in an article mentioned here on HN previously (5 years back?), and trialed any number of times since, you can ask them to “picture” or “visualize” something then surprise ask a different attribute that would have to exist if pictured literally. If someone isn’t expecting this, asking most people “picture a red triangle” … “ok?” … “which way is it pointing?” will elicit an immediate direction (up, down, left right). In a small subset of people, when not expecting it, the second question gets a long pause, a “What?”, or some other manifestation of not having a literal triangle envisioned with a preexisting direction. Those metaphorically “picturing” the concept of a red triangle seem to be taking time to decide and layer into their model what concept of direction it should have, while those with aphantasia seem to come back with “what, literally?” or similar indications that “picture” is a figure of speech. For myself, that HN discussion is the first time I gathered that for other folks “counting sheep” when they were kids wasn’t a metaphor.

sillysaurusx 5y ago

Ditto. You older than 33 or younger? I ask because mine was more vivid in my early 20’s. Was the same way as you. One Twitter thread in particular messed with me: visualize a bright red star. Do you actually see the color? Are you sure? For me, it felt (and feels) like I can’t actually picture a red star. This is highly disconcerting because I used to be able to, I think. However, if I picture a red star next to a blue star, it’s clearly distinguishable in my mind. Maybe the mind’s eye operates in YCrCb, and the CrCb can get kinda crappy. :)

Terretta 5y ago
“Visualize a red star, do you see the color?” feels a little waffly. I’d think you’re likely to get yes, as people imagine they “see” the way others “see” and respond similarly. By contrast, as seen in an article mentioned here on HN previously (5 years back?), and trialed any number of times since, you can ask them to “picture” or “visualize” something then surprise ask a different attribute that would have to exist if pictured literally. If someone isn’t expecting this, asking most people “picture a red triangle” … “ok?” … “which way is it pointing?” will elicit an immediate direction (up, down, left right). In a small subset of people, when not expecting it, the second question gets a long pause, a “What?”, or some other manifestation of not having a literal triangle envisioned with a preexisting direction. Those metaphorically “picturing” the concept of a red triangle seem to be taking time to decide and layer into their model what concept of direction it should have, while those with aphantasia seem to come back with “what, literally?” or similar indications that “picture” is a figure of speech. For myself, that HN discussion is the first time I gathered that for other folks “counting sheep” when they were kids wasn’t a metaphor.