4 ms·

I’ve become very interested in the phenomenon of hyperphantasia recently, or the degree to which people are able to conjure various senses in their imagination.

by jtr1 3y ago

I’ve become very interested in the phenomenon of hyperphantasia recently, or the degree to which people are able to conjure various senses in their imagination. My wife is able to envision spaces well enough to recall where most things are in the house, a friend can nearly taste a flavor she’s only encountered in a dream. For myself, I can recall music or sounds quite vividly, and on occasion this manifests as aural hallucinations (often with fatigue). If you don’t mind me asking, I’m curious if you feel that your visual and aural imagination are very strong and if so, do you believe there’s any connection with the additional sights and sounds you encounter out in the world?

FollowingTheDao 3y ago
I have a strong imagination and make connections easily that people have a hard time seeing until I explain it. I believe most hallucination are the result of a creative predictive mind that is trying to understand patterns. Like I can often feel like I understand the meaning behind some of my schizophrenic friends hallucination. I think that they are speaking in stories and metaphors.
- LoganDark 3y ago
  I've never once in my life been able to have a hallucination or truly imagine what something would really feel like. Even taking psychedelics doesn't seem to help. I just don't hallucinate, I don't get psychosis, and I don't get any symptoms of schizophrenia, despite having a long family history of it. Yes, those are not necessarily nice things to live with. But it feels terrible and suffocating to have never had a taste of any of it. To be so stuck in this reality that I can't create any reality of my own. Sure, technically the reality that I see is just part of my mind. But it never gets extended, never gets modified or anything. Not even if I stay up for 4 days straight do I ever see or hear anything atypical. I've never had sleep paralysis. Never had a lucid dream. Never even had a lucid daydream. What infrequent daydreams I do have, I get stuck inside because I think they're real and forget all about actual reality. Because it's so difficult and so infrequent for me to ever experience anything else with my senses, my brain has been wired to believe my senses as the one and only source of truth. It feels so claustrophobic. I'm so jealous...
  - FollowingTheDao 3y ago
    > To be so stuck in this reality that I can't create any reality of my own. You are still creating your own reality. It is just more stable. The point is not for me to live like you or for you to live like me. The point is to be OK with your own life and learn what you can from others. We need each other, but we do not to be each other. You have a gift of your own. To not be able to trip from psychedelics is a super power. You are just as much a genetic freak as I am. In the past I would have looked at your life and been just as jealous as you are of me.
    - LoganDark 3y ago
      > You have a gift of your own. To not be able to trip from psychedelics is a super power. You are just as much a genetic freak as I am. Weeeellll... I totally can trip. I actually have been, for around the past 7 hours or so. I find it just as wonderful as any other to get lost in pretty art <3 I just don't experience any psychosis or schizophrenia symptoms. And I don't trip for that purpose, but psychedelics just happen to be a thing I've tried that doesn't result in any of those symptoms. Oh well~

by jtr1 3y ago

FollowingTheDao 3y ago

I have a strong imagination and make connections easily that people have a hard time seeing until I explain it. I believe most hallucination are the result of a creative predictive mind that is trying to understand patterns. Like I can often feel like I understand the meaning behind some of my schizophrenic friends hallucination. I think that they are speaking in stories and metaphors.

LoganDark 3y ago
I've never once in my life been able to have a hallucination or truly imagine what something would really feel like. Even taking psychedelics doesn't seem to help. I just don't hallucinate, I don't get psychosis, and I don't get any symptoms of schizophrenia, despite having a long family history of it. Yes, those are not necessarily nice things to live with. But it feels terrible and suffocating to have never had a taste of any of it. To be so stuck in this reality that I can't create any reality of my own. Sure, technically the reality that I see is just part of my mind. But it never gets extended, never gets modified or anything. Not even if I stay up for 4 days straight do I ever see or hear anything atypical. I've never had sleep paralysis. Never had a lucid dream. Never even had a lucid daydream. What infrequent daydreams I do have, I get stuck inside because I think they're real and forget all about actual reality. Because it's so difficult and so infrequent for me to ever experience anything else with my senses, my brain has been wired to believe my senses as the one and only source of truth. It feels so claustrophobic. I'm so jealous...
- FollowingTheDao 3y ago
  > To be so stuck in this reality that I can't create any reality of my own. You are still creating your own reality. It is just more stable. The point is not for me to live like you or for you to live like me. The point is to be OK with your own life and learn what you can from others. We need each other, but we do not to be each other. You have a gift of your own. To not be able to trip from psychedelics is a super power. You are just as much a genetic freak as I am. In the past I would have looked at your life and been just as jealous as you are of me.
  - LoganDark 3y ago
    > You have a gift of your own. To not be able to trip from psychedelics is a super power. You are just as much a genetic freak as I am. Weeeellll... I totally can trip. I actually have been, for around the past 7 hours or so. I find it just as wonderful as any other to get lost in pretty art <3 I just don't experience any psychosis or schizophrenia symptoms. And I don't trip for that purpose, but psychedelics just happen to be a thing I've tried that doesn't result in any of those symptoms. Oh well~