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I am very interested in the topic, and have been looking into it for ages. I think most people vastly exaggerate their ability to visualize anything. Most peopl

I am very interested in the topic, and have been looking into it for ages. I think most people vastly exaggerate their ability to visualize anything. Most people can't really hold a square or a sphere in their mind, rotate it, or change colors. The only people who truly can are really good artists. My point - you may be mis-diagnosing yourself, especially since aphantasia doesn't seem to have clear tests or definitions. How could it, if a verifiable test would be to ask a person to draw what they see, and obviously that confuses the whole test with one's art skill.

ThalesX 5y ago
Could be that I am mis-diagnosing myself. I've never seen a mental image in my mind. I've never been able to conjure one and I've been trying for years before falling asleep to conjure even a sense of color. Nothing. Black. To be honest, it doesn't feel like such a handicap to my life that I would start submitting myself to clinical trials. If the worst to come out of my mis-diagnosis is this post, I can live with it.
dqpb 5y ago
I’ve always thought of myself as being fairly good at visualization. For example, I can imagine multiple 3D shapes at one time, rotate them, keep track of which direction a face is pointing on each one, etc. However, I don’t really “see” any image. It’s more like a feeling of seeing it. Now I’m wondering to what extent other people actually see things they imagine…
- thinkingemote 5y ago
  a good test would be: Look at this thing, and describe what you see Now, close your eyes and imagine another thing and describe it comparison of imagery in reality and visualised. This presupposes people describe things visually even when directly seeing them, and not in other modes (texture, sound, smell , etc)
Workaccount2 5y ago
I am an atrocious artist who absolutely kicks ass at those mental object rotation tests. I can very easily manipulate objects in my head, but draw a picture? It's an ugly mess.
copperx 5y ago
Is it really unique? I can visualize a sphere, rotate it, rotate the "camera", see it in wireframe, apply any kind of texture, reflections, make it bounce, like working with CAD software. I can picture the image through a fishbowl lens, or through telephoto. However, I do not believe, for example, the reflections or the light sources to be realistic. I can "see" the effect of changing the lenses, but I don't think they correspond to reality. I think that's where people exaggerate. The dimensions, light sources and reflections are not based on reality. I can picture anything that I want. Movie scenes with my friends faces in them. I always thought everybody could do this. If it's somewhat unique, can I use it for something?
- throw1234651234 5y ago
  This is absolutely exceptional if true. As far as I am concerned you should be a good artists out of the box. The argument that "well, it's drawing the line well" is mostly bs - it's being able to visualize proportions, distance between things, etc. Most artists actually don't - they follow rules. A person starts as a square and gets broken into quarters with each quarter denoting say the middle of the chest, the groin, the knees, etc. Each box is then broken down more (eyes in the middle of the top box, etc). If you can actually visualize things accurately, especially "wiremap it", you should be able to draw a portrait from memory in 3D. Otherwise you are lying to yourself. As far as use - Tesla was said to have "run" schematics in his head to see what would break. I believe it. This allowed him to rapidly prototype. Also, your working memory should be off the charts, which should be indicative of a very high IQ
quickthrower2 5y ago
I could do all that as a kid. Was almost a hobby. Not so much now.

ThalesX 5y ago

Could be that I am mis-diagnosing myself. I've never seen a mental image in my mind. I've never been able to conjure one and I've been trying for years before falling asleep to conjure even a sense of color. Nothing. Black. To be honest, it doesn't feel like such a handicap to my life that I would start submitting myself to clinical trials. If the worst to come out of my mis-diagnosis is this post, I can live with it.

dqpb 5y ago

I’ve always thought of myself as being fairly good at visualization. For example, I can imagine multiple 3D shapes at one time, rotate them, keep track of which direction a face is pointing on each one, etc. However, I don’t really “see” any image. It’s more like a feeling of seeing it. Now I’m wondering to what extent other people actually see things they imagine…

thinkingemote 5y ago
a good test would be: Look at this thing, and describe what you see Now, close your eyes and imagine another thing and describe it comparison of imagery in reality and visualised. This presupposes people describe things visually even when directly seeing them, and not in other modes (texture, sound, smell , etc)

Workaccount2 5y ago

I am an atrocious artist who absolutely kicks ass at those mental object rotation tests. I can very easily manipulate objects in my head, but draw a picture? It's an ugly mess.

copperx 5y ago

Is it really unique? I can visualize a sphere, rotate it, rotate the "camera", see it in wireframe, apply any kind of texture, reflections, make it bounce, like working with CAD software. I can picture the image through a fishbowl lens, or through telephoto. However, I do not believe, for example, the reflections or the light sources to be realistic. I can "see" the effect of changing the lenses, but I don't think they correspond to reality. I think that's where people exaggerate. The dimensions, light sources and reflections are not based on reality. I can picture anything that I want. Movie scenes with my friends faces in them. I always thought everybody could do this. If it's somewhat unique, can I use it for something?

throw1234651234 5y ago
This is absolutely exceptional if true. As far as I am concerned you should be a good artists out of the box. The argument that "well, it's drawing the line well" is mostly bs - it's being able to visualize proportions, distance between things, etc. Most artists actually don't - they follow rules. A person starts as a square and gets broken into quarters with each quarter denoting say the middle of the chest, the groin, the knees, etc. Each box is then broken down more (eyes in the middle of the top box, etc). If you can actually visualize things accurately, especially "wiremap it", you should be able to draw a portrait from memory in 3D. Otherwise you are lying to yourself. As far as use - Tesla was said to have "run" schematics in his head to see what would break. I believe it. This allowed him to rapidly prototype. Also, your working memory should be off the charts, which should be indicative of a very high IQ

quickthrower2 5y ago

I could do all that as a kid. Was almost a hobby. Not so much now.