Aphantasia | Heba Azmy | TEDxSafirSchool

[@lawrenceebersole9765]

Hearing your talk just taught me so much. I was run over by a car in 1985 and suffered a severe head trauma. The origin of that injury was at the point of the visual cortex and I haven't had a visual memory since. I have tried explaining it, but in the end I thought it was just me. I didn't know there was name for it or that anyone was studying it. Hear you talk about it means so much.

[@joshklein5070]

You are the first person to bring up memory and the concept of time. I don't consider this a disability but rather a different way of storing and recalling information. I was 27 before I understood that my brain was simply different. I simply thought the whole yoga picture your self on a beach thing was nonsensical because it never calmed me down.

[@taylorbarnhart9882]

counting sheep made no sense to me!!

[@Alphoric]

Tbf it’s not a disadvantage as for me anyway I don’t dream but also don’t have nightmares and can’t remember traumatic things in any visual capacity

[@beardsarejustfacepubes8620]

I never realised people could actually see the sheep! When I was a kid I was just counting and thinking of sheep...but I couldn't see them!

[@beardsarejustfacepubes8620]

And yes...my friend found out when trying yoga...I found out when meditating...I couldn't because they all want me to picture something and I can't

[@beardsarejustfacepubes8620]

@@Alphoric I find my head hurts a lot and I'm wondering if it's because I'm always thinking in words and most people think in words and pictures?

[@lostandlost519]

I stumbled across aphantasia last night. I had no idea the blackness I see when I close my eyes wasn't common. I've been like this my entire life. I thought the whole "mind's eye" was a metaphor or spiritual phenomenon.

[@Kim.Miller]

Same here. I'm sixty-one and only recently learned about it. I'm so envious of people who can close their eyes and visualize anything and anyone.

[@drrd4127]

Everyone sees blackness when they close their eyes! When you visualise the blackness is still there, the visions overlap with the blackness. We aren't seeing a TV screen in our minds although that would be really cool.

[@yo_victoria]

Same for me and I'm 37. I'm curious, do you have an inner monologue? I'm without that as well. It seems to be about 50/50 with Aphants.

[@Mein_Kek]

​@@yo_victoria i guess you are non white?

[@yo_victoria]

@@Mein_Kek I am white.

[@Maleboligia]

I have an immediate family member who has discovered they have this, I see it as others have described as a different way of thinking. Not a negative as I think it could be advantageous in many situations. Nice to see it discussed more as it seems to be a recently researched topic. Thank you for sharing this information.

[@SavannahSteel]

I can definitely recall the images in the dreams right after but of course it goes away… the one thing that I’m absolutely STRUGGLING with is trying to find a way into astral projection and lucid dreaming, since you have to “see” the dream before you enter. It all feels figurative to me, it’s also why I always struggled with visualization techniques in yoga, and even reading books compared to watching movies. I only realized I had this last year but only truly began to piece together my own “symptoms” the past few months. It’s absolutely crazy to me that people actually count sheep

[@SavannahSteel]

Also for all you who loved this video, go and watch that one dude interview someone with no internal monologue and you’ll feel just as mind-blown.

[@atticusjennison5656]

Help I'm the same and I can't joyfully meditate or anything. Makes me wanna die fr. Just found out

[@shlurrpedy]

Hi! I totally resonate either way your comment! I figured out this year that I have aphantasia! The way I found out was researching why I couldn’t dream..my whole life I’ve asked people “can you dream in colour? Or at all?” This sent me down a rabbit hole and led me to aphantasia! I’m pretty sure, at least I think I have, had some lucid dreams! I’m still figuring it out! Lately I’ve had a lot of night terrors..I’m putting that down to losing my father and dealing with grief. But I’m fascinated and will keep researching! If I find anything I’ll come back to this thread 🥰

[@shlurrpedy]

Can I ask what the video is you mentioned? The dude?🤪

[@Riuyilmistico]

You are 100% normal. You have no aphantasia symptoms

[@user-kg5lq6nd7q]

I just learned I have aphantasia and can now see clearly why I was such a slow learner in school. Also, if I could see images in my head I would be soooo good at math, for me it’s like doing math in the dark, I can’t visualize the numbers 😭

[@vineets]

Hmm I have aphantasia. I am pretty good in math though. It actually makes you use math more as you use logic more than visual memory

[@asmaaazmy1311]

Can’t be more proud ❤️❤️❤️😍😍😍

[@falgalhutkinsmarzcal3962]

My fiancee has aphantasia, but also dreams very vividly. I wonder if the lack of "waking dreams" is a safeguard adaptation for the aphantasist brain to prevent them from overlaying mental images onto actual, realtime sensory information. I hope more neurologists investigate this condition. Her sister and mother both have aphantasia, but her father and brother do not.

[@MatthewLenton]

I have aphantasia and also have really vivid dreams. I can build a whole city or shopping centre in my dreams, full of people and colour I'm not sure if I've always had it or it's something that was the result of a head trauma as I can't recall ever having visual memories

[@Dotfig]

@@MatthewLentonI am the same way!

[@lilianalechuga6733]

I just discovered I have had aphantasia my whole life but I also have very frequent vivid dreams. I also hope there is more research done with this condition!

[@einienj3281]

I'm like your husband. No visual imagination but very vivid dreams, sometimes lucid dreams.

[@byronchurch]

Thank you ! This explains why I am so immune to ptsd !

[@JamesBrownDuh]

Wow, all this time... This sparked such an interest with me. Now I know what to call it.

[@davspa6]

She's talking know about the fact that many people remember events as if it was like a video. I remember a psychology book that my counselor was trying to get me to read and it talks about visualizing events from your past running the tape through your mind. I tried but I couldn't do that because I don't remember things that way. I don't have a videotape of experiences... I remember that I have gone certain places, done certain things, but I don't have a videotape in my mind of the situation. It's more like a series of facts. But I can sometimes play back in my mind what I have seen, like a as if it were a camera. I play tennis and I can watch another person swinging, and sometimes I can play it back in my head and realize, "oh you did this wrong..." I don't have total aphantasia because I can visualize an apple, just not full color.

[@Melka04w]

A weak minds eye doesn’t count you as having aphantasia. No such thing as ‘total aphantasia, you either have it or you dont

[@Sara-fp3zv]

The intoduction was beautiful!👏👏👏

[@blueperry5409]

Is it possible that it is a means for evolving brains to store more data? In computers it takes more memory to store video and pictures than it does for text based data. So if we are living longer it may be brains are developing to retain more data. Also I have aphantasia, though I can briefly recall visual memories, I can not keep them in forefront of mind, they fade quick, and I actually have to have my eyes open to even get that little bit.

[@irajayrosen4792]

Thank you, sister aphant.

[@einienj3281]

I have aphantasia and vivid dreams. When I'm awake I can't visualize, when I sleep I can. I sometimes have lucid dreams too. Does this mean I have the ability to maybe visualize awake too? And I have seen hallucinations too.

[@juicy3712]

I have this I see darkness but I remember conversations a lot better than I do what happened but I still remember and could recall some of it it’s hard to explain

[@alreadytired6515]

Maybe the first video not trying to tell me how to fix it or that I’m lacking. I don’t feel broken. That you for saying we don’t need to be fixed.

[@beardsarejustfacepubes8620]

Sherlock Holmes' memory palace made no sense to me at all 🤣

[@einienj3281]

To me neither 😂

[@riggerman362]

100% even in crime dramas when a checkout worker describes a customer from the day before in great detail. I thought it was just a plot device

[@elmasa21]

Proud of you 😍

[@dhanashennaidoo6765]

Good info contained.

[@FustFPV]

So farfrom everyone I know like me that cant see anything but darkness, we have all had child hood head injuries. Alot of us never went to the doctors as it was "a bump on the head" that gave us a concussion or knocked us out. Like sporting injuries etc that got brushed off as no one knew how bad it actually was

[@DuyNguyen-lo2mm]

Anyone have a strategy with memory Palace with aphantasia?

[@emanmourad1903]

ماشاء الله ياهوبا 💕

[@batoulalajlani8999]

Woww 😍😍😍

[@Feelgoodvibesonly]

I have so many questions now that I know about this lol … what do people see when they visualize about or read about double entendre do two images comes up In there mind Lol 😂 .. I’m so confused

[@JP-wu8ek]

I have always had aphantasia & anauralia.

[@begumesragoktepe]

🌷🌷🌷 Canım 🤗

[@mohammedhammadi4686]

🙌👏👏

[@beardsarejustfacepubes8620]

Total blackness... 0 I can't imagine how you guys see things with your eyes closed...its as weird to me as human calculators. I have very vivid dreams and a great memory for little details...I just can't imagine things

[@brianvalenti1207]

I just found out about this. How are people functional with a second layer of visual input? I already get distracted enough with regular sight. The idea of a tv tuned to my thoughts and going on constantly inside my head sounds like a nightmare scenario. How can people drive a car with that level of distraction? I'm fairly certain it's illegal to drive with a video distracting the driver.

[@inlovewithi]

It's not a second layer of visual input, playing like a television. People can go quite a while without having an image pop in their mind. As I type this, I don't have any images in my head. I can at will have an image of a car appear, or a person running, or the movements of Michael Jordan's last shot as a Bull. But I could also not think of it, not have any images. Also, they are images that you can somehow vividly sense, but that don't exist anywhere. Though I've just learned about aphantasia, for decades I've been fascinated by the fact that the visuals in our head don't exist anywhere. You cannot pinpoint where they are.

[@Hannah-ek9mm]

If you have aphantasia you have the right to hate god.

[@likhitbedi5126]

agree with you Hannah but maybe we did stuff in the last life that we have this in this life?

[@keysandfretsmusicstudio7113]

I have aphantasia and love God very much. I don’t consider aphantasia a disability. I lived very happily with it for 60 years before I discovered I had it. Being an aphant causes me to see the world differently, but different isn’t necessarily bad.

[@Dayla1960]

I'm sorry I found it hard to understand you, to hear you. I really am interested in this topic but I can't finish. If you spoke slower maybe. Not a criticism.

[@katie_5955]

You can try turning on closed captions or maybe try slowing down the play speed

[@evilmeerkat007]

vaccine damage

[@jkramer666]

This is probably the worst TED talk I've ever seen

[@irajayrosen4792]

Why don't you like it?

[@Dedicated_.1]

I thought it was good.

[@jkramer666]

@@irajayrosen4792 I might have been a bit too harsh, but she was too nervous and it was distracting at times, the ending seemed rushed as well

[@Sticky_The_StickmanV2]

Look guys, the clown talks!

[@learningwithmscaldwell8273]

@@jkramer666 that is sad you were so rushed to judge. I am learning more about Aphantasia and found this useful. Be kind 😊