3 ms·

>No. ahem. yes we do. we really, really do.

by _dain_ 3y ago

krapp 3y ago
Really? Like you literally see the things you imagine? How do you function? How do you manage to drive, without your thoughts blocking your view? How can you even tell if anything you see is real or a product of your imagination? I feel like if that's what is actually happening you should see a professional.
- _dain_ 3y ago
  >How do you manage to drive, without your thoughts blocking your view? They don't block the view, in the same way that the image from your left eye doesn't block the image from your right eye, even though they're overlaid on the same "mental space". Hold up your finger in front of your eyes, and focus on a distant object. You can see two images of the finger, but also see straight through them simultaneously. It's kinda like that. And it usually doesn't manifest when I'm intensely concentrating on one task (unless deliberately imagining something is part of how I solve the task). At any rate, driving is mostly a system 1 activity, carried out autonomically. In real life, people's thoughts drift all the time when they drive. It's unavoidable and mostly not a big deal. >How can you even tell if anything you see is real or a product of your imagination? Because they're on different channels. Like stdout vs stderr. >I feel like if that's what is actually happening you should see a professional. Again, most people are like this. You are the one who is unusual. You probably have aphantasia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia It's common for aphantasics to be initially completely incredulous at the concept of mental imagery, so you're not alone here. See this: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/baTWMegR42PAsH9qJ/generalizing-from-one-example https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/baTWMegR42PAsH9qJ/generalizi... >Galton gave people some very detailed surveys, and found that some people did have mental imagery and others didn't. The ones who did had simply assumed everyone did, and the ones who didn't had simply assumed everyone didn't, to the point of coming up with absurd justifications for why they were lying or misunderstanding the question. There was a wide spectrum of imaging ability, from about five percent of people with perfect eidetic imagery1 to three percent of people completely unable to form mental images
  - krapp 3y ago
    I don't profess complete incredulity at the concept of mental imagery. My experiences don't match those of people who claim to have aphantasia at all, I'm capable of imagining objects, events, actions, etc. in my mind. I just don't actually see them as if they were there. That's the part that seems unusual to me.
    - _dain_ 3y ago
      well where is your mental imagery? can you not do it with your eyes open?
      - krapp 3y ago
        >well where is your mental imagery? In my mind. >can you not do it with your eyes open? I can. I just don't actually, physically see it in front of me. I can imagine a red apple, and I can imagine it's shape and color and the spots on its skin and I can even mentally feel it, smooth or bruised, I can even taste it, but just in my mind.
        clipsy 3y ago
        What is the difference between tasting an apple in your mind and remembering what an apple tastes like?
        4star3star 3y ago
        I think I have the same kind of garden variety visualization experience that you have. There is bound to be a spectrum where some people's mental imagery is virtually non-existent on one end, and it's very lucid and persistent on the other. The people who come out of the woodworks online claiming they have a mental heads-up display, like AR superimposed on their vision, make me raise an eyebrow. I'd be more inclined to believe that a child had such an experience, but by the time we're adults, our brains have normally found it more advantageous to be squarely grounded in baseline reality.
    - geoelectric 3y ago
- coumbaya 3y ago
  Well it's not like it's blocking your view, it's kind of a separate thing, you know it's not real and you retain the entierty of you eye's information.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

>No. ahem. yes we do. we really, really do.

by _dain_ 3y ago

>No. ahem. yes we do. we really, really do.

Really? Like you literally see the things you imagine? How do you function? How do you manage to drive, without your thoughts blocking your view? How can you even tell if anything you see is real or a product of your imagination? I feel like if that's what is actually happening you should see a professional.

_dain_ 3y ago
>How do you manage to drive, without your thoughts blocking your view? They don't block the view, in the same way that the image from your left eye doesn't block the image from your right eye, even though they're overlaid on the same "mental space". Hold up your finger in front of your eyes, and focus on a distant object. You can see two images of the finger, but also see straight through them simultaneously. It's kinda like that. And it usually doesn't manifest when I'm intensely concentrating on one task (unless deliberately imagining something is part of how I solve the task). At any rate, driving is mostly a system 1 activity, carried out autonomically. In real life, people's thoughts drift all the time when they drive. It's unavoidable and mostly not a big deal. >How can you even tell if anything you see is real or a product of your imagination? Because they're on different channels. Like stdout vs stderr. >I feel like if that's what is actually happening you should see a professional. Again, most people are like this. You are the one who is unusual. You probably have aphantasia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia It's common for aphantasics to be initially completely incredulous at the concept of mental imagery, so you're not alone here. See this: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/baTWMegR42PAsH9qJ/generalizing-from-one-example https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/baTWMegR42PAsH9qJ/generalizi... >Galton gave people some very detailed surveys, and found that some people did have mental imagery and others didn't. The ones who did had simply assumed everyone did, and the ones who didn't had simply assumed everyone didn't, to the point of coming up with absurd justifications for why they were lying or misunderstanding the question. There was a wide spectrum of imaging ability, from about five percent of people with perfect eidetic imagery1 to three percent of people completely unable to form mental images
- krapp 3y ago
  I don't profess complete incredulity at the concept of mental imagery. My experiences don't match those of people who claim to have aphantasia at all, I'm capable of imagining objects, events, actions, etc. in my mind. I just don't actually see them as if they were there. That's the part that seems unusual to me.
  - _dain_ 3y ago
    well where is your mental imagery? can you not do it with your eyes open?
    - krapp 3y ago
      >well where is your mental imagery? In my mind. >can you not do it with your eyes open? I can. I just don't actually, physically see it in front of me. I can imagine a red apple, and I can imagine it's shape and color and the spots on its skin and I can even mentally feel it, smooth or bruised, I can even taste it, but just in my mind.
      - clipsy 3y ago
        What is the difference between tasting an apple in your mind and remembering what an apple tastes like?
      - 4star3star 3y ago
        I think I have the same kind of garden variety visualization experience that you have. There is bound to be a spectrum where some people's mental imagery is virtually non-existent on one end, and it's very lucid and persistent on the other. The people who come out of the woodworks online claiming they have a mental heads-up display, like AR superimposed on their vision, make me raise an eyebrow. I'd be more inclined to believe that a child had such an experience, but by the time we're adults, our brains have normally found it more advantageous to be squarely grounded in baseline reality.
  - geoelectric 3y ago
coumbaya 3y ago
Well it's not like it's blocking your view, it's kind of a separate thing, you know it's not real and you retain the entierty of you eye's information.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]