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> That's exactly what I get. I can picture an elephant, rotate it around in 3-space, imagine how it looks and how I might draw it from angles that I've never se
by gipp 5y ago
> That's exactly what I get. I can picture an elephant, rotate it around in 3-space, imagine how it looks and how I might draw it from angles that I've never seen an elephant pictured from, etc.
I can do this too, but it is not literally a visual experience, it is just engaging the higher levels of visual perception, not visual sensation in the way that a hallucination does.
Meaning like, if I picture something in my head, with my eyes open, it's not as though it could block my view of something in my literal vision. Which is what some people are making this sound like, which is why it's so confusing to talk about.
- radlad 5y agoI don't know of anyone who can summon an image such that it blocks their literal eyesight. But in my head, I can still "see" the image, with definition, color, etc. I can vividly recall photographs and "see" the colors, lines, and details of those photographs in my head. I am still also seeing what is in front of me, though in a more "out of focus" fashion - my visual concentration is elsewhere. I don't know how best to express it, but it's extremely visual. It's not just that I am recalling and describing - I am viewing and describing. Ironically, I am terrible at drawing things because I can't see past the "big picture."
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- nwienert 5y agoSuper interesting. I can't "see" concretely at all in my mind - it's essentially always the back of my eyelids. But I am excellent at imagining just about anything, including rotating it around, zooming in, animating, etc. It's not seeing, it's more feeling I guess I'd describe it. I was always great at those "rotate this shape" questions on tests. Yet there's no concrete visual of it at all. Yet I can change zoom, colors, design pretty easily and have a good idea of what it looks like. I'm terrible at drawing, but could describe any scene I'm imagining have a near-perfect idea of how it should look if someone drew for me.
- NateEag 5y agoYou might be an aphantasiac with high spatial skills. I'm an aphant with low spatial skills. Though, FWIW, it sounds like you have more internal visuals than I do.
- jacobolus 5y agoThis discussion is fascinating. The various participants describe their experience very differently, but I still have absolutely no idea whatsoever if their internal experiences differ at all, or just the verbalizations.
- ghusbands 5y agoGiven that there are people who describe having no visuals of any kind and people who describe having a 3d rotatable view in their head, you should have some idea of how their internal experiences differ.
- jacobolus 5y agoPersonally I can imagine describing my experience as either a 3d-rotatable view in my head or as no visuals of any kind, depending on differences in the definition of “visual”. But I can identify most closely with the other commenters here who describe their experience as more proprioceptive or spatial than visual per se.
- JshWright 5y ago> I can do this too Not everyone can. That's the difference people are talking about.
- gipp 5y agoRight, I think that's the case, but it's very difficult to tell where genuine difference in experience ends and difference in the way it's described begins, is the point. Language is just very imprecise in this area.
- JshWright 5y agoNo, I'm literally telling you that is the case. I cannot do anything remotely like what you are describing. The concept makes no sense to me.
- cwkoss 5y agoInteresting. When you rotate it in 3d space in your head, is the movement continuous? I can rotate things in my head, but I get a very low framerate - roughly 1fps. Its easy for me to imagine the keyframes, but the interpolation between them is much harder. I also tend to have a small rendering resolution - ex. I can render keyframes of details, but holding the entire image in my head simultaneously is difficult