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Would aphants be better served with an academic pipeline that minimizes reliance on visualizing, especially when it comes to classes like geometry or trignometr

Would aphants be better served with an academic pipeline that minimizes reliance on visualizing, especially when it comes to classes like geometry or trignometry? Perhaps a mechanism like this could identify aphantasia in early childhood and use this to provide a more optimized academic pipeline.

khazhoux 5y ago
Aphantasic here. Math concepts are not difficult to visualize, because they exist at the edge of abstraction.
mkoubaa 5y ago
It's not an issue at least for me, the only problem I've had as an aphant is descriptive writing of scenery.
srcreigh 5y ago
Triangles are super easy to draw (ie see) and the math is usually very simple. If there's an associated formula, working with formula is also very possible without visual skills. Trickier problems involving several shapes like a puzzle might be harder, though that's not usually curriculum.
sethrin 5y ago
I didn't have a problem with geometry or trig, but I was always angry at visualization exercises. "Imagine your pain as a ball of healing light..." But in general I think it would be like optimizing academic pipelines for being left-handed.
doliveira 5y ago
I don't think aphants have problems with these classes, at least not from what I read. I think I'd qualify as aphant, but I had no problems at all in Engineering or Physics (at least, not coming from aphantasia)
- wallacoloo 5y ago
  yeah but classes like geometry? i remember our section on conical slices. like, cool, you can make an ellipse by intersecting a plane with a cone, but (for someone with limited mental imagery: ) isn't that just a really tortured way to go about the task?
  - doliveira 5y ago
    I can't see it as if it were a hologram in front of me, but I never had trouble conceptualizing. It's like I feel the shape as a sonar sense
hnbad 5y ago
I don't think those are good examples. I'm almost certain I have aphantasia but I think spatially. I don't "see" things around me in my "mind's eye", it's more like how you're aware of a nearby hot stove because you feel its heat, or an electrical device that gives off a low hum. When programming, I have the code "mapped out" around me but likewise not optically but more "intuitively". I might be able to tell you in which direction a given piece of logic exists relative to me but it's more like how you can gauge what direction a sound comes from than having an image in my head that would allow me to tell you a specific place or distance. Note that I use sound to describe this but I don't have particularly exceptional hearing as far as I'm aware (e.g. no musical skills whatsoever). I suppose I should also add that I don't have an "inner monologue". In fact I always thought references to the "voice in your head" were entirely metaphorical. This often makes it hard for me to explain my thoughts as I first need to try to find the right words to put them in language.

khazhoux 5y ago

Aphantasic here. Math concepts are not difficult to visualize, because they exist at the edge of abstraction.

mkoubaa 5y ago

It's not an issue at least for me, the only problem I've had as an aphant is descriptive writing of scenery.

srcreigh 5y ago

Triangles are super easy to draw (ie see) and the math is usually very simple. If there's an associated formula, working with formula is also very possible without visual skills. Trickier problems involving several shapes like a puzzle might be harder, though that's not usually curriculum.

sethrin 5y ago

I didn't have a problem with geometry or trig, but I was always angry at visualization exercises. "Imagine your pain as a ball of healing light..." But in general I think it would be like optimizing academic pipelines for being left-handed.

doliveira 5y ago

I don't think aphants have problems with these classes, at least not from what I read. I think I'd qualify as aphant, but I had no problems at all in Engineering or Physics (at least, not coming from aphantasia)

wallacoloo 5y ago
yeah but classes like geometry? i remember our section on conical slices. like, cool, you can make an ellipse by intersecting a plane with a cone, but (for someone with limited mental imagery: ) isn't that just a really tortured way to go about the task?
- doliveira 5y ago
  I can't see it as if it were a hologram in front of me, but I never had trouble conceptualizing. It's like I feel the shape as a sonar sense

hnbad 5y ago

I don't think those are good examples. I'm almost certain I have aphantasia but I think spatially. I don't "see" things around me in my "mind's eye", it's more like how you're aware of a nearby hot stove because you feel its heat, or an electrical device that gives off a low hum. When programming, I have the code "mapped out" around me but likewise not optically but more "intuitively". I might be able to tell you in which direction a given piece of logic exists relative to me but it's more like how you can gauge what direction a sound comes from than having an image in my head that would allow me to tell you a specific place or distance. Note that I use sound to describe this but I don't have particularly exceptional hearing as far as I'm aware (e.g. no musical skills whatsoever). I suppose I should also add that I don't have an "inner monologue". In fact I always thought references to the "voice in your head" were entirely metaphorical. This often makes it hard for me to explain my thoughts as I first need to try to find the right words to put them in language.