Anyone familiar with Aphantasia?

[Ooh-Rah]

In a nutshell, when you read a book, or try to imagine something, can you actually “visualize and see it“ or are you just taking in facts and see nothing but black?

I am the latter, I have a crazy bit of imagination, but I see nothing. I can close my eyes and think about an apple, I can describe what an apple looks like, but I could never actually see that apple.

Up until this week, I thought that’s how everyone was, one of my kids did a paper on Aphantasia for school and after reading it learned that he is the type of person that when he reads a book, he essentially sees a movie in his head with vivid colors and detailed descriptions.

I think that is one reason when I see the movie adaption of a book, I rarely get bent out of shape over who plays a character, because I’ve never been able to really visualize what they look like.

My son‘s twin brother, is like me, he sees nothing. One of the most entertaining arguments I’ve ever heard, was this weekend when both of them were trying to make the other one admit that they were making up what they see or do not see. It was inconceivable to them that not everyone “saw“ like they do.

When I take the red apple test, I’m somewhere between 4 and 5.

 

[Locksteady]

In a nutshell, when you read a book, or try to imagine something, can you actually “visualize and see it“ or are you just taking in facts and see nothing but black?

I am the latter, I have a crazy bit of imagination, but I see nothing. I can close my eyes and think about an apple, I can describe what an apple looks like, but I could never actually see that apple.

Up until this week, I thought that’s how everyone was, one of my kids did a paper on Aphantasia for school and after reading it learned that he is the type of person that when he reads a book, he essentially sees a movie in his head with vivid colors and detailed descriptions.

I think that is one reason when I see the movie adaption of a book, I rarely get bent out of shape over who plays a character, because I’ve never been able to really visualize what they look like.

My son‘s twin brother, is like me, he sees nothing. One of the most entertaining arguments I’ve ever heard, was this weekend when both of them were trying to make the other one admit that they were making up what they see or do not see. It was inconceivable to them that not everyone “saw“ like they do.

When I take the red apple test, I’m somewhere between 4 and 5.


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It would be interesting to see the correlation between this trait and rates of additional language acquisition, considering how deeper/more innate understanding is linked to connecting the second+ language words directly to the idea/thing itself versus to the first-language words for that idea/thing.

 

[Stretcher Jockey]

For me it depends on the author. There have been quite a few books where I can see the images that are being described and experience them. I’ve also noticed that if I slow down my reading just a hair (especially when characters are being described) it tends to trigger seeing it in my mind more. But for most books I don’t see anything.maybe it’s a lack of vivid descriptions or it’s missing some combination of words but it’s not common anymore. And now that I’m thinking about it it’s been happening less and less as I get older….

 

[AWP]

I rarely read fiction and one complaint I have with much of the genre is "flowery language." Flowery language is an elaborate, ornate, and overly descriptive way of writing or speaking. It is marked by the excessive use of complicated words and figurative language in an attempt to sound poetic. Flowery language is a characteristic of purple prose and the opposite of plain language.

I detest Clive Cussler's style because I think it falls into that category whereas GRRM provides detail that is easily processed if one wants to picture a scene or clothing or whatever.

Generally, I don't think about an image, but I can if I want to add that to the story or especially if I'm trying to understand something. A recent one is reading a book on Waterloo as the author describes the layout of the battle, villages, building types and styles, etc. That is something I took the time to picture, but I reinforced or changed that image based on maps and photos. Now I have a clear idea of what's going on. Same with say, dogfights, uniform/ camo patterns, something I'm not familiar with, any image to help understand the material. Subconsciously, naturally? They're words to understand and process. For me, imagery is a very conscious process and never applied to common items.

 

[Dame]

In a nutshell, when you read a book, or try to imagine something, can you actually “visualize and see it“ or are you just taking in facts and see nothing but black?

I am the latter, I have a crazy bit of imagination, but I see nothing. I can close my eyes and think about an apple, I can describe what an apple looks like, but I could never actually see that apple.

Up until this week, I thought that’s how everyone was, one of my kids did a paper on Aphantasia for school and after reading it learned that he is the type of person that when he reads a book, he essentially sees a movie in his head with vivid colors and detailed descriptions.

I think that is one reason when I see the movie adaption of a book, I rarely get bent out of shape over who plays a character, because I’ve never been able to really visualize what they look like.

My son‘s twin brother, is like me, he sees nothing. One of the most entertaining arguments I’ve ever heard, was this weekend when both of them were trying to make the other one admit that they were making up what they see or do not see. It was inconceivable to them that not everyone “saw“ like they do.

When I take the red apple test, I’m somewhere between 4 and 5.


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When I read "Imagine a red apple," I immediately see this:

Color striations, light hot spot, and everything.
Now, having said that, I think most people here know I am autistic. I sometimes smell colors, almost always feel sounds, and have music running through my head.
ETA: I didn't know that others don't hear the music until my youngest was 5.

 

[AWP]

I hear voices.

 

[Marauder06]

Based on the name, I thought this thread was going to be about a stripper.

 

[Blizzard]

I'm not familiar with the term Aphantasia, but wonder if the visualization is somewhat tied to left-brain, right-brain bias?

Do people who are generally more artistic have an easier time with visualizing stories?

Does the author play a role, as AWP eluded to?

I definitely visualize, but for me it's dependent on the author and content. This is also viewed through the bias of my own personal experiences. This may explain, at least in part, why I'm such an incredibly slow reader; I'm working up scenes in my mind.

I wonder if this ability ties to other types of visualization exercises that are done with certain tactical planning activities, particularly big in certain sports, like auto racing and alpine skiing?

 

[policemedic]

Self: imagine an apple.

Result: image that can’t be posted here. But Flo Rida did a song about it in 2008.

 

[BlackSmokeRisinG]

This is weird. Falling somewhere between 3 and mostly 5. I catch a glimpse of a red apple and then it disappears. For books I can see glimpses of scenes though, and sit here and think of some. I can visualize guys running through a shoot house, not memory, or moving through brush on patrol, but not red apple or blue car, or pencil.

Even though I have a degree and score high on aptitude tests I just realized why I was a bonehead soldier, now a contractor, and never anything else.

 

[Gunz]

I detest Clive Cussler's style

I picked up one of his books, read three pages of his sophomoric prose--can't even call it "style"--and never bothered with him again. I know bad writing when I see it.

In good fiction, there should be no noticeable writing "style" to interfere or detract from content. It's called mannered writing. When the reader's mind is distracted from what he's reading and instead becomes aware of the way it's written.

 

[Dame]

This is weird. Falling somewhere between 3 and mostly 5. I catch a glimpse of a red apple and then it disappears. For books I can see glimpses of scenes though, and sit here and think of some. I can visualize guys running through a shoot house, not memory, or moving through brush on patrol, but not red apple or blue car, or pencil.

Even though I have a degree and score high on aptitude tests I just realized why I was a bonehead soldier, now a contractor, and never anything else.

But I'll bet you aren't gullible either. You have "street smarts" beyond other people I'm guessing.
My first husband used to mess with me knowing I saw everything I heard or read. I'd call him at work and say, "What'cha doin'?"
"Eating goldfish."


Oh. right. crackers. You asshole.