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I see it, but on a different "channel" than my main vision. It's like this old idea where there is a little humunculus in your head viewing the output of your e

I see it, but on a different "channel" than my main vision. It's like this old idea where there is a little humunculus in your head viewing the output of your eyes on a screen - imagine a second screen for imaginations beside it. But I don't see it spatially next to my normal vision, maybe overlaid or "somewhere else". The resolution of the elephant is initially bad, my head doesn't bother to fill in all the details at once. But if I concentrate on a specific part, say the ear, it will fill in all the details like the hairs and the texture of the skin. I think I could say each of the answers would be correct to me. Of course I don't see an image like I would see of a real elephant. I see black with occasional colorful noise. So does that mean I have aphantasia? On the other hand, I can "consider" the image in any detail in this part of my mind that is similar but distinct from my regular vision. Is that seeing? I would speculate here that maybe people don't have different experiences, but they just describe the same complex thing in very different ways...

jryan49 3y ago
This describes mostly what I'm experiencing. Its kind of like remembering a dream. The elephant is in a black void for me (kind of above my forehead?). And the details of what I'm imagining is like LOD in a video game.
- malux85 3y ago
  I’m the same as you, except for me, the position is directly behind my eyes in place of my main vision, it is in a black void for me too If I switch to my minds eye, the LOD res’s up and I see it in full cinematic 4k, textures, shadows, everything but my normal vision “switches off” (I’m aware there’s light there, but no more detail than that) Seems like for me it’s one or the other
  - jryan49 3y ago
    Yeah I can do both at the same time. It takes me more effort to add details to things.
  - bemmu 3y ago
    Elaborate "switch to my minds eye"? How do you do that? I don't think I have such a mode. Sometimes when I'm bicycling for ~20 minutes with nothing happening, I'll involuntarily switch to some enhanced-imagination mode for a moment, but I can't do that on demand.
    - malux85 3y ago
      Hmmm, good question, I don’t know how to describe it other than it “feels” like my consciousness which normally occupies my head totally and equally, “pulls back” to the back of my head, my vision switches off (it’s not dark it’s just I’m not paying attention to it) and then the imagined imagery takes centre stage in my “vision” or whatever word describes my synthesised imagination theatre. To turn this on it takes effort and directed focus - the action is voluntary and feels like it takes effort, every time I do it my eyes lose focus and look straight ahead, I cannot do it while I’m looking up/down etc (I just tried). It’s a mental only exercise, it’s almost like you know when you move the muscles behind / beside your ears and you can wiggle your ears a little? That pull-back sensation is just like that. To turn it off and return to normal takes no effort, it’s almost like dropping a ball and it falls to the ground, I just release and normal vision and stream of consciousness resumes. I probably did a terrible job of explaining that, sorry

jryan49 3y ago

This describes mostly what I'm experiencing. Its kind of like remembering a dream. The elephant is in a black void for me (kind of above my forehead?). And the details of what I'm imagining is like LOD in a video game.

malux85 3y ago
I’m the same as you, except for me, the position is directly behind my eyes in place of my main vision, it is in a black void for me too If I switch to my minds eye, the LOD res’s up and I see it in full cinematic 4k, textures, shadows, everything but my normal vision “switches off” (I’m aware there’s light there, but no more detail than that) Seems like for me it’s one or the other
- jryan49 3y ago
  Yeah I can do both at the same time. It takes me more effort to add details to things.
- bemmu 3y ago
  Elaborate "switch to my minds eye"? How do you do that? I don't think I have such a mode. Sometimes when I'm bicycling for ~20 minutes with nothing happening, I'll involuntarily switch to some enhanced-imagination mode for a moment, but I can't do that on demand.
  - malux85 3y ago
    Hmmm, good question, I don’t know how to describe it other than it “feels” like my consciousness which normally occupies my head totally and equally, “pulls back” to the back of my head, my vision switches off (it’s not dark it’s just I’m not paying attention to it) and then the imagined imagery takes centre stage in my “vision” or whatever word describes my synthesised imagination theatre. To turn this on it takes effort and directed focus - the action is voluntary and feels like it takes effort, every time I do it my eyes lose focus and look straight ahead, I cannot do it while I’m looking up/down etc (I just tried). It’s a mental only exercise, it’s almost like you know when you move the muscles behind / beside your ears and you can wiggle your ears a little? That pull-back sensation is just like that. To turn it off and return to normal takes no effort, it’s almost like dropping a ball and it falls to the ground, I just release and normal vision and stream of consciousness resumes. I probably did a terrible job of explaining that, sorry