4 ms·
> People who don't have aphantasia see objects in their visual field, occluding reality? That sounds like hallucination, and very unsafe unless you have a high
by UncleOxidant 2y ago
> People who don't have aphantasia see objects in their visual field, occluding reality? That sounds like hallucination, and very unsafe unless you have a high degree of control over it...
> The actual experience is that people don't see stuff pop up in their visual field; the imaginary objects are seen in a separate field, and yes they are "seen" in a visual way, but not in the visual field; the imaginary objects are fleeting and morphing. The degree to which you can persist an imaginary object is highly dependent on the ability to focus attention
I have on a few occasions woken from a dream, opened my eyes and seen the image from that dream persist for a second in my visual field. It's a pretty freaky experience - probably very much like a hallucination.
I've also been walking, deep in thought and then looked up and not known where I was because I had a different picture of a different place in mind.
How do those with aphantasia dream? Do they not see any visuals? (the article says that some do)
- mondrian 2y ago> How do those with aphantasia dream? Do they not see any visuals? Pretty sure that they have vivid dreams like everyone else. The aphantasia is limited to the topic of conjuring visual imaginations while awake.
- fzzzy 2y agoNah. Some people don't remember dreams.
- idunnoman1222 2y agoAll right, how about when you’re tired or drifting off to sleep? I can certainly see things vividly in my mind I during those times. It seems to me that being awake suppresses such visualizations, and that this is adaptive.
- zaphoyd 2y agoI have complete aphantasia when awake, but I do have visuals when dreaming. I can tell when I cross some threshold of awake-ness because the visuals of the dream I am having disappear (the dream usually continues, without visuals for a bit longer until I am more awake). It is a weird experience.
- jdbernard 2y agoNo. I replied in a sibling comment, but even in the few dreams I remember there is no visual image at all.
- jdbernard 2y agoI have complete aphantasia. I do dream, but rarely remember them. The dreams I do remember have the same quality as my imagination when reading a book. Meaning, I don't see anything when I dream. I know the story, I can feel the place setting, and recognize the actors involved (even to the point of knowing their internal motivation like my own), but there is no visual component whatsoever.