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> a navigator with aphantasia Curious what you think aphantasia has to do with this?

by jakear 4y ago

renewiltord 4y ago
Probably a malapropism. s/aphantasia/amnesia Just for my own personal interest, did you already know the two words aphantasia and amnesia? If so, would you mind rank-ordering the following three possibilities in your mind when you posted the comment: - GP comment mixed up the two words - GP comment intended aphantasia in a way that makes sense but you do not yet know how - GP comment intended aphantasia but that does not make sense
- KMag 4y ago
  I make heavy use of mental imagery while navigating. Is that not the case for most people without aphantasia?
- jakear 4y ago
  I knew the words. I did not expect it to have been a mixup as amnesia is a much more commonly used term. I posted the comment because I am aphantastic as well but have no difficulty navigating, in fact I am typically delegated to for the task (across urban, cross-country, and backcountry environments).
  - renewiltord 4y ago
    Thank you! Good point.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
KMag 4y ago
I thought my wife's aphantasia is related to her difficulty in orienting a map and figuring out where she is on the map. If GPS is off by half a block and/or the magnetic compass has the map mis-oriented by more than 45 degrees, then it's very difficult for her to compensate. Certainly, when I navigate by map, imagining the street scene overlaid when looking at the map and imagining the map overlaid when looking at the street scene are huge aids to navigation. She's not able to generate that augmented reality in her imagination, and I attributed that lack of mental augmented reality to her difficulty in using maps. Generally, I'd prefer to navigate and let my wife drive, but she's used to driving in countries where they drive on the left, and I'm used to driving in countries where they drive on the right. Also, if a manual transmission is significantly cheaper to rent, then I end up driving, regardless of which side of the road the locals drive. More than once, I've down-shifted while turning on my wipers instead of my turn signal while entering a roundabout. At least car manufacturers don't flip the shift pattern right-to-left when changing which side the steering wheel is on.

> a navigator with aphantasia Curious what you think aphantasia has to do with this?

by jakear 4y ago

> a navigator with aphantasia Curious what you think aphantasia has to do with this?

Probably a malapropism. s/aphantasia/amnesia Just for my own personal interest, did you already know the two words aphantasia and amnesia? If so, would you mind rank-ordering the following three possibilities in your mind when you posted the comment: - GP comment mixed up the two words - GP comment intended aphantasia in a way that makes sense but you do not yet know how - GP comment intended aphantasia but that does not make sense

KMag 4y ago
I make heavy use of mental imagery while navigating. Is that not the case for most people without aphantasia?
jakear 4y ago
I knew the words. I did not expect it to have been a mixup as amnesia is a much more commonly used term. I posted the comment because I am aphantastic as well but have no difficulty navigating, in fact I am typically delegated to for the task (across urban, cross-country, and backcountry environments).
- renewiltord 4y ago
  Thank you! Good point.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

KMag 4y ago

I thought my wife's aphantasia is related to her difficulty in orienting a map and figuring out where she is on the map. If GPS is off by half a block and/or the magnetic compass has the map mis-oriented by more than 45 degrees, then it's very difficult for her to compensate. Certainly, when I navigate by map, imagining the street scene overlaid when looking at the map and imagining the map overlaid when looking at the street scene are huge aids to navigation. She's not able to generate that augmented reality in her imagination, and I attributed that lack of mental augmented reality to her difficulty in using maps. Generally, I'd prefer to navigate and let my wife drive, but she's used to driving in countries where they drive on the left, and I'm used to driving in countries where they drive on the right. Also, if a manual transmission is significantly cheaper to rent, then I end up driving, regardless of which side of the road the locals drive. More than once, I've down-shifted while turning on my wipers instead of my turn signal while entering a roundabout. At least car manufacturers don't flip the shift pattern right-to-left when changing which side the steering wheel is on.