4 ms·

I don't see anything. I feel like we're talking past each other. I am skeptical that "visualize an apple" to some people gets them the mental equivalent of a

by costco 2y ago

I don't see anything. I feel like we're talking past each other. I am skeptical that "visualize an apple" to some people gets them the mental equivalent of a Blender model where they get a 360 degree view of the image and from there they are able to apply arbitrary transformations. I can "replay" songs in my head with pretty good fidelity to the original if I remember enough of it, but I think that's fairly common.

czbond 2y ago
I have come to believe there are different type of intelligences, we all have a few, just different. I do believe a subset of humans can rotate a mental image in their head. I know an accomplished UI / UX artist who would do just this. He'd create an image in his head, observe and critique it from angles and then create in "reality" I can listen to a song 100 times, and not tell you more than 5 words in a song, nor the beat. My early teen son (a sensor) can sing the entire song after a few listens. I used to think the only intelligence sign was being highly logical or able to solve complex problems. Because that is what I know. However, I've come to learn there are large swath of intelligences I don't have, and have not personally valued in the past, but others have them and can do great things with them. This awareness has even allowed me to believe in a wider growth of intelligences at the spectrums, even to a type of supernatural gifts.
- anthonypasq 2y ago
  i think calling those things different types of intelligence is dumb. those are just skills.
cucustiuc 2y ago
I am exactly the opposite, I can very easy imagine an object in my mind and apply a texture, color skew it, rotate it. I can easily visualize a chessboard with pieces that I can change colors and even move. I can visualize moments from past, faces, places, I can even draw them to some degree however without much talent. But for the life of me I can't remember my favorite music unless I start hearing it and then it comes to me, just to fade away seconds after I finish listening to it I can remember lyrics but without the music. I think that I kind of remember (chorus) national anthem and some children songs 1-2 of them, but I can sing along once the music starts. I have a very good memory otherwise, never had to use a todo list for my daily routine.
- Crosidelm 2y ago
  Does that mean you don't remember "catchy" music/songs from advertisements/tv/radio? That is a huge gift
hexaga 2y ago
I can confirm it's basically a blender model in my head I can ~arbitrarily transform at will. Worth noting it's not just visual, I can 'touch' the surface of the imagined object(s) or whack two together and 'hear' what that sounds like.
- costco 2y ago
  OK maybe I'm just jealous. I've only asked my siblings about this but none of them see anything either.
  - smokel 2y ago
    Ask these people to actually draw or paint the apples, and it quickly shows that they do not do lighting and shading correctly. Even with a lot of training. Just look at art history. Only very few people managed to render things somewhat accurately before the invention of photography. And the consensus is that these exceptions (such as Holbein or Vermeer) used technological tricks to aid them. My hypothesis is that people have an internal imagery that is extremely realistic and detailed, because they perceive the actual world in exactly the same way, using the same processes. One does not "see" the image on the retina in their mind's eye, one "sees", if I'm allowed to use the metaphor, the vector embedding somewhat further down the line. Now, if people train their mind to actually see more detail, they find out that the brain is actually rather limited in comparison to a camera.
- dgfitz 2y ago
  Yeah I am in this camp as well. I can also do things like, after the apples are smashed together I can see heir bruises, rotate them, make 2 more bruises, etc. while keeping the bruises in their same spots. It’s actually really annoying because when I’m stuck on a problem I essentially solve the whole thing in my head. I just see all the issues with possible solutions and back them out. I wonder if it drives my boss nuts because I can go a whole day basically committing nothing, and then bang out the solution very quickly. I actually have been actively trying to “just start writing, see what pops out” and it isn’t coming very naturally, which is kind of obnoxious.
- 2y ago
beaugunderson 2y ago
Can you change the songs you replay in your head? I think there is a spectrum of audio imagination as well. For example, I can speed up/slow down, add reverb, change pitch, remix, change lyrics, etc.
- costco 2y ago
  Yeah I can do pretty much all of those. I'd prefer being able to do this sort of thing with images though :\

by costco 2y ago

czbond 2y ago

I have come to believe there are different type of intelligences, we all have a few, just different. I do believe a subset of humans can rotate a mental image in their head. I know an accomplished UI / UX artist who would do just this. He'd create an image in his head, observe and critique it from angles and then create in "reality" I can listen to a song 100 times, and not tell you more than 5 words in a song, nor the beat. My early teen son (a sensor) can sing the entire song after a few listens. I used to think the only intelligence sign was being highly logical or able to solve complex problems. Because that is what I know. However, I've come to learn there are large swath of intelligences I don't have, and have not personally valued in the past, but others have them and can do great things with them. This awareness has even allowed me to believe in a wider growth of intelligences at the spectrums, even to a type of supernatural gifts.

anthonypasq 2y ago
i think calling those things different types of intelligence is dumb. those are just skills.

cucustiuc 2y ago

I am exactly the opposite, I can very easy imagine an object in my mind and apply a texture, color skew it, rotate it. I can easily visualize a chessboard with pieces that I can change colors and even move. I can visualize moments from past, faces, places, I can even draw them to some degree however without much talent. But for the life of me I can't remember my favorite music unless I start hearing it and then it comes to me, just to fade away seconds after I finish listening to it I can remember lyrics but without the music. I think that I kind of remember (chorus) national anthem and some children songs 1-2 of them, but I can sing along once the music starts. I have a very good memory otherwise, never had to use a todo list for my daily routine.

Crosidelm 2y ago
Does that mean you don't remember "catchy" music/songs from advertisements/tv/radio? That is a huge gift

hexaga 2y ago

I can confirm it's basically a blender model in my head I can ~arbitrarily transform at will. Worth noting it's not just visual, I can 'touch' the surface of the imagined object(s) or whack two together and 'hear' what that sounds like.

costco 2y ago
OK maybe I'm just jealous. I've only asked my siblings about this but none of them see anything either.
- smokel 2y ago
  Ask these people to actually draw or paint the apples, and it quickly shows that they do not do lighting and shading correctly. Even with a lot of training. Just look at art history. Only very few people managed to render things somewhat accurately before the invention of photography. And the consensus is that these exceptions (such as Holbein or Vermeer) used technological tricks to aid them. My hypothesis is that people have an internal imagery that is extremely realistic and detailed, because they perceive the actual world in exactly the same way, using the same processes. One does not "see" the image on the retina in their mind's eye, one "sees", if I'm allowed to use the metaphor, the vector embedding somewhat further down the line. Now, if people train their mind to actually see more detail, they find out that the brain is actually rather limited in comparison to a camera.
dgfitz 2y ago
Yeah I am in this camp as well. I can also do things like, after the apples are smashed together I can see heir bruises, rotate them, make 2 more bruises, etc. while keeping the bruises in their same spots. It’s actually really annoying because when I’m stuck on a problem I essentially solve the whole thing in my head. I just see all the issues with possible solutions and back them out. I wonder if it drives my boss nuts because I can go a whole day basically committing nothing, and then bang out the solution very quickly. I actually have been actively trying to “just start writing, see what pops out” and it isn’t coming very naturally, which is kind of obnoxious.
2y ago

beaugunderson 2y ago

Can you change the songs you replay in your head? I think there is a spectrum of audio imagination as well. For example, I can speed up/slow down, add reverb, change pitch, remix, change lyrics, etc.

costco 2y ago
Yeah I can do pretty much all of those. I'd prefer being able to do this sort of thing with images though :\