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What I find interesting is that people with aphantasia still dream like everyone else but can't voluntarily evoke images in their mind.
by TomMasz 2y ago
What I find interesting is that people with aphantasia still dream like everyone else but can't voluntarily evoke images in their mind.
- Semaphor 2y agoWhich is why I thought I was completely normal, because when I remember them, I have very vivid dreams. When I found out about that, I did get a bit sad and jealous that there are people who can essentially do that at will, while awake. Sounds close to magic to me.
- avalys 2y agoYou're not missing much. As far as I know, I have a very good ability to visualize things mentally. I can picture objects and scenes vividly, with good detail, rotate objects in my mind, etc. However, there's one critical aspect of this that I don't see people talking about - if I picture a scene that is "pleasing" to look at, like a beautiful sunset - I get absolutely no pleasure or enjoyment from doing so, like I would if I saw it in real life. Somehow the fact that it is a deliberately imagined scene bypasses whatever part of my brain would react with pleasure. Part of this is that there's no novelty to it - I know what I'm imagining, so there's no sense of "Oh wow, look at that!" So for me, this is a purely practical ability - I can go to Ikea, look at lawn furniture, and pretty easily picture how it will look in my backyard - but that's it. If I lost this ability, I do think it would make some everyday tasks difficult that I take for granted, but I wouldn't be sad about losing the ability itself.
- theogravity 2y agoI believe I have complete aphantasia - I can't form any images at all with any detail. When I dream, it's conceptual with no images, like reading a story out.