Do you have aphantasia?

[@noahcrane142]

Wait, people can actually imagine what things taste smell and feel like? I thought sight was the only thing anyone could do. Man, I’m missing out more than I thought.

[@GORCDC]

Yup! I can do this! Though, admittedly my imagined sense of smell is incredibly weak.

[@sackof_cats]

Noah same

[@Plushykittie]

I can imagine smell, but nothing else

[@GORCDC]

@@Plushykittie Interesting! Smell is probably my weakest mental sense

[@ryanchungus8972]

I can imagine sound, feel, and smell, to the point where I can nearly hear people I know well. I am so curious about how my mind works, because I can't imagine sights for the life of me, if I do try and imagine(and I mean really try), it's so vague and empty that it's basically shapes at that point

[@pook5711]

I literally cannot tell if I'm picturing something. I know what things look like, but I cant really feel like I can see them together. I know what a palm tree is supposed to look like, I know what water and sand are supposed to look like, and I know what a beach looks like, but I can only think of what I know it looks like. Idk if I can picture it or think of it. Is that weird?

[@GORCDC]

Definitely not weird in any way, but your description is a bit too vague for me to give any meaningful insight. Let's see, when you think of these different things, is it a sense of what it looks like? Even if you don't physically see anything? Does it ever feel like you can *almost* see what you're thinking about? Or, are your thoughts of these different things, just like words? Simple descriptions of what those things are like?

[@Foxfalco]

@@GORCDCI'm not him but I experience the same, for me it's only descriptions, I can tell you how a thing is but I can't see them at all, I can only tell what it looks like, but can't see nothing, not a ball, not a face, not a dish or anything

[@outerspacekenz5409]

Insomniphobia Is it more like when you know your name you just know it and don’t really have to think about it it’s just something you know?

[@j8acob1]

I feel the same, I can't tell if I can picture things in my imagination or not. It's like if you take a picture and dile down the opacity until it's difficult to tell if you can still see it or not. I feel like my visual imagination is on the line between being visible and not visible. Like it's so faint that I can't tell if its there. But also its just a sense of seeing, not literally seeing things.

[@GORCDC]

@@j8acob1 Makes sense! I've worked with quite a few people who describe it exactly as you have here

[@JustT725]

I can't follow guided meditation, and i can't hold an image in my mind. I always thought it meant i couldn't concentrate. I have tried to meditate for years and have never mastered this issues.

[@GORCDC]

I feel ya, Thomas! It's important to throw out there that in order to find success in meditation, visualization is not necessary. Actually my favorite form of meditation does not involve mental imagery in any sense! It's just simple intentional breathing. That did take time to master, especially controlling my thoughts to not wander profusely, but it is still my favorite. I think success in meditation should be individually defined, as everyone will experience such a broad range of phenomenon while meditating. Just thinking out loud =^.^=

[@emmascott2117]

Whenever I meditate(Not guided, I don't like trying to visualize and failing), at ~5min I start to see colors in different cloudy shapes. Not really any specific shapes, just clouds. I hypothesize that this could be seeing my aura, so until it's scientifically proven otherwise then Imma keep saying that's what it is.

[@elaineschoepf8024]

You got it!!

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

@@GORCDC Yes, I've found that to be the case. Most of the "visualization" activities don't really require you to actually visualize per se, you can substitute other methods. For instance, most of the time when I'm "visualizing" I'm converting to something more tactile or kinetic as I use the same neurons that I'm supposed to be using for visualization for processing tactile and auditory sensations. In fact, if I'm exposed to a loud, sharp noise, I'll often completely lose vision for a second and see a blinding light as it processes. This is likely why I've gotten progressively fewer and fewer spontaneous visual images in my head over the years as I've damped down on vision in order to preserve my more useful senses of touch and hearing. When it comes to mnemonics, translating the ideas that they're describing into different, more specific words seems to get me there. It's not really the imagery that seems to do it, it's the process of generating what Harry Lorrayne refers to as "original awareness" that does most of the work. basically, once we are aware that something exists and is of importance to us, we're much less likely to forget over the short term than if we don't.

[@LadyEllesmere]

Me too 😭😭😭 I felt like I was a failure

[@tenderpr3y]

Thank god I found this video, the red star test has shattered me and made me cry for hours thinking I'm missing out on a core part of being human. Even worse, I'm an artist and I always thought my imagination was strong & strange- I just couldn't physically see anything. I still struggle a lot with visualisation, I can't rotate things or zoom very well but knowing the nuanced difference has settled me down so so much. legit was thinking 97% of ppl are prophantasic. omg.

[@GORCDC]

Yeah that red star "test" has contributed almost nothing besides confusion to the conversation of mind's eye and visualization. You're definitely not the first person to say something along these lines. I'm glad the video brought some clarity!!! Make sure to check out my more recent videos for even better descriptions and representations of these dynamics

[@CoOkieLoVerLoL2958]

When my eyes are open i can kind of see images and memories as if they were running in a background process, but If i close my eyes I can't see anything at all (in my mind or on my eyelids). And if I ever try to focus on any part of these images I can't whatsoever. It's kind of like there's a sense of them being there, but not at the same time. It's so hard to explain but it's like I'm at least aware of what they look like?

[@GORCDC]

Totally! Makes sense to me as I've heard that description many times at this point. Have you seen my keys video on not trying to see?

[@TheChiptuner]

AphantasiaMeow I have this as well. Is this aphantasia or is it normal?

[@swallowme535]

THANK YOU. this is the best comment i can find explaining my situation. But still these background thought images arent particularly clear. I cant tell if its aphantasia or not.

[@ComputerBoyVN]

Me too! Even being a very much *visual thinker*, I cannot see anything but a black screen when eyes closed! But with eyes open, I can see things from very abstract idea to very concrete details. Read more @ reddit: www.reddit.com/r/Aphantasia/comments/nkcnrf/i_still_dont_know_what_aphantasia_really_means/gzdhrai/

[@yayimprocrastinating4790]

I have aphantasia, and ever since I learned I do, it's made me really sad every time I think about it. I thought only seeing black when I closed my eyes was normal, and I used to get really confused whenever my teacher told my class to close our eyes and imagine something. I never saw the point, I thought it was just a weird thing people told me to do so I could concentrate on my thoughts better. Probably won't tell anyone, they wouldn't believe me anyway.

[@GORCDC]

I hear you. Good news is there's a growing community that can relate with you!

[@LadyEllesmere]

This really sounds simular to my experiences. 🤔

[@laniakeas92]

People with imagination don't need to close eyes to imagine. They do it with their eyes opened Closing eyes nessecary is a big fallacy

[@swampkiwi0554]

I have very very weak visual (I can only see places I’ve been and if I focus it goes away) but almost perfect sounds

[@GORCDC]

I hear ya! Good thing is all of these mental senses can be developed

[@amazingbean5916]

Wow me too

[@ranicalerp7765]

Me too! It's like a flicker of an image. But with sounds, it's so clear it's almost like I'm hearing it physically.

[@superspeed9587]

Same dude I can see in my mind a place at I saw more than twice lol

[@GeorgeTrollson]

I feel exactly the same, for me it feels like I can see images of memories or places so if I think of my bedroom I think of it as a vague image of how I remember it, I can’t really look left or right I just see it kind of from the perspective of the doorway

[@Cassia_L]

Thanks for clearing things up. I not only have aphantasia, I have it 5 times! Yay!

[@GORCDC]

Dang, Cassia! I hear you!!

[@davidhenzel]

Same here :)

[@raidervillalobos6457]

When I try to see an image with my eyes closed I cannot bring any to fruition. Instead I feel like im flipping through the ideas of memories or references of the image, as if i know what it looks like from experience, but still just darkness. Aphantasia?

[@GORCDC]

Hmmm, that depends. Are you getting a sense of perceiving what the visual associated with that image would look like? Or is the darkness you're referring to the black space on your eyelids? The main thing is even regular visualizers typically don't experience the black space changing visually.

[@raidervillalobos6457]

I guess I have phantasia then, because it feels like i can see an image but dont physically see the image. Feels like trying to recall a dream i had but its on the tip of my tongue, so to speak

[@GORCDC]

@@raidervillalobos6457 Sounds about right! And depending on how you experience that visual perception is what would determine if you were low on the visual spectrum, average, or higher up near hyperphantasia =^.^=

[@jordankay8578]

That's your library that's how.. we conjure up those images. With memory and imagination. Use what you know and expand on that. I can picture and apple. And the I might decide I was that apple under the sea and a current pulls it away and these slow sea turtles made of stone but somehow robotic powered by Ruby's... floating by.. minding their business my apple waits for them to float by. Apple gets inspired and grows legs of apple tree roots. ... and brang arms and he is a whole ass apple tree under the water floating g along a deep empty trench. Hes still an apple. Now the apple we started with has a tree trunk for a body and the apple is now the trees pot belly and booty.. I wish on could draw u a photo to see what I see..

[@Bethanywi]

So I have aphantasia, and I can't feel, smell or see in my thoughts. But I can hear!! I'm so happy I have at least one sense, It makes me so happy that I can just play a song in my head!! And it's a very strong sense too. I think I first "found out" about aphantasia when I learned how to speak to myself in my head, I told my sister and she was like "yeah, I can do that too. But I prefer to see stuff, it's more fun" and I kept asking her questions, we were about 4 and 5 at the time, so she had a hard time explaining it. She said "just close your eyes, and act like you're at the beach" and I just couldn't. I was so confused, then at 9 I had seen some videos but couldn't quite understand the concept. Now, I'm 14 and realize everyone's mind is different, and I'm just glad I have a voice in my head.

[@GORCDC]

True! Everyone's mind is different!

[@neptune9839]

I'm still so confused... I can detail an object but can't exactly imagine it.... Like colours, I can say the colour, like easy, I know that colour, like green is green. But I can't see it. If you were to ask me to describe green, I just can't do it. Only words are green. Is this just phantasia? ALSO- People can smell, taste, and feel things....😕😕 Hearing I got, but really people can smell, taste AND feel things in their imagination?!?

[@GORCDC]

Hey, yes it sounds crazy but people can use all of the 5 major senses in their mind's in varying degrees. I've never been visually aphantasic, but I could barely imagine physical textures, not it's quite vivid for me. My weakest is smell, it's just barely perceivable in my thoughts. If the thoughts you're having are rolling through your head as word lists, but no actually sense of an image with them, then you most likely are aphantasic. But no worries, it's actually pretty impossible to describe colors. We can state how they make us feel, what items have specific colors, but we can't describe the colors themselves, they just... are!

[@Thorinbur]

Colors are super hard, because we learn them as labels for particular visual sensations so green is not a THING you can imagine you can imagine a "green something" like green car, or a green rectangle, but there is no way to describe it since the definition of green is "Green is a color of things that we generally agree to be green, like a cucumber or grass" you learn the colors as labels for stuff of that particular color. When you say rectangle there are rules that we can cite what constitutes a rectangle. In my case the visual imagination is tricky I do not see images, more like concepts of things. But when I probe for details I can fill them in. They kind of disappear when I "zoom out again". Also while doing that I MOST OFTEN do an internal monologue describing it all. I can skip it and operate just on abstract ideas thou it very hard an requires conscious effort to stop stating all the things I am thinking about "aloud". For other senses I have a decent auditory imagination. I often create melodies in my head. I can "hear" the next sound in a melody to the point of hearing wrong note when playing imaginary piano and getting the sequence of moves wrong. In my mind I can hear the wrong note instead of the right one and need to go back and correct it. I have no smell or taste thou in my imagination.

[@GORCDC]

@@Thorinbur Yeah colors are peculiar and in essence undefinable, since they may forever remain a subjective experience. When I imagine just a color, it's like my mind's eye is flooded with that color in a flat, even tone. But the only way I'd be able to describe it was "green", because there is no other way. I've noticed my mental sense of smell is the weakest. Though, the more I become adept in the mind's eye, the more that smell sense grows but it's still quite weak. I've enjoyed reading your comments! Keep it up! =^.^=

[@leap_dro_sousa]

I'm aphantasic and I decided to follow your tips from now on; while I don't become hyperphantasic literally, I begin this excercises by imagining myself as a hyperphantasic already.

[@GORCDC]

That's a wonderful approach! Please keep me posted on how it goes for you =^.^=

[@viktoria6717]

15:34 i didn’t even know that was possible... i seem to be missing out on a lot

[@GORCDC]

Yeah all of these senses can be perceived through thoughts. Even lesser senses like weight, balance, temperature, direction, etc. =^.^=

[@ChexNyx]

So, okay. I’m a very artistic person. I draw all the time, watch tons of Media, read tons of books, and create my own stories. Using the Apple thing, here’s my experience, as in depth as I can make it. 1. Very simply, I can imagine the Apple, standing alone in space. I don’t physically see it imprinted on my eyelids when I close my eyes, nor do I see it anywhere with my eyes open. It his there however. There is no outline, no colour, but it is there. 2. If I begin to focus more and more and distract myself from the fact that I cannot physically see it with my eyes, it becomes clearer. Outline, vague sense of colour, yet I’m not sure if I can actually see the colour or not, but I can picture 2 apples side by side, one green, one red, and distinguish the two. 3. I can move the Apple around and it will seem like it is moving if I’m focused and distracted, though typing this and thinking, not very distracted, it’s still going on simultaneously, I’m just not focusing on the image aspect. 3. I can imagine someone in 3D, hair, eyes, face shape, freckles or not, super detail, holding the Apple. Do they have gloves? Yeah, they do now. They’re metal, and have ridges. Now it’s a guy, and he’s a knight. Eating the Apple. 4. I can now picture a woman running up to him and saying something urgently to knight guy holding my Apple. I can now think of how this woman sounds, and what she’s saying at the same time as I’m typing this as well. NONE OF THIS IS IN COLOUR. 5. I can suddenly sense that I’ve decided it’s a cold winter day. I cannot feel this, but I can imagine the 2 characters shaking ever so slightly, and the paleness of their skin from the cold, and the snow gently falling, the snow their feet reside in. 6. I can now imagine them running off together towards something in the distance I am actively creating. It’s a castle in the distance. 7. The man has now tripped on a loose stone in the bridge that connects where they are standing to the castle, which under it is a deep Pit of nothingness, fog dispersing around it as the man is looking down, my eyes now his. 8. I’m back in third person. The man has caught himself on the railing. I’m now aware of what I’ve pictured him in but not mentioned to myself directly, which is a metal helmet with a red feather I can now see as red, the metal silver as I’m typing this, though these colours are not ACTUALLY able to be seen anywhere, as I am looking at my screen. 9. I now look up from my screen, (typing this in pieces) and see the knight at my door, his hand on it and a panicky look on his face, and I know this expression is because he is confused, and he must get back to the woman and to the castle. The man looks at me and walks up to me, currently on my bed laying down and typing on my phone. He gets pretty close to my face, I can see his freckles clear with my own eyes, YET. He nor they actually appear in my vision. No outline, no colour. But I can still somehow mentally see him as if he is there. I can imagine him breathing, the sound of him breathing, and the warmth of his breath, though I cannot actually feel the warmth. So.... Where do I stand then?

[@GORCDC]

WOW! Thanks for sharing! That was a lot of fun to read! So based on your experience and description, it sounds like what you're experiencing is more within the spectrum of hyperphantasia. All mental senses are present, and though the images are not in color, they are very detailed and vivid.

[@ChexNyx]

AphantasiaMeow Alright, thank you!

[@518corky]

I love some of my memories bc of hyperfantasia, but it's also crippling when I temeber trauma it's like reliving it.

[@GORCDC]

I definitely hear you there. Some things are best forgotten, but definitely hard when all the clarity and emotion is there. With healing, and training the mind, this can get easier though

[@RS-ep2ry]

Very informative video! Thanks for clearing things up. By the way, can you make a video explaining how exactly you developed prophantasia and hyperphantasia? Improving my visualization skills would be very useful as an artist.

[@GORCDC]

OH You're soooo welcome!!! It just lights me up to see feedback like this =D

[@GORCDC]

And yes, potentially I will have some videos on developing those other aspects of visualization sometime in the future =D

[@emmascott2117]

I'm an artist and I don't have any trouble at all with art. I just... draw. It's mostly muscle memory and references.

[@aksiiboy]

Fascinating to hear explained. I think I may have some degree of aphantasia. When trying to "visualize" an apple I don't "see" any shape at all, but I have a very vague sense of how it should look like. But it is more conceptual/abstract than visual. As in I can't actually imagine any specific image of an apple. To get anywhere close I would have to "trace out" the outline of the shape consciously, but even then it doesn't "stick" and fades away if I don't actively focus on tracing it. The same goes for faces. I don't have any problem recognising faces when I see someone, but if I think of them I still get no image. If I again consciously focus on the "idea" of their face I can classify pieces of information as eye color, if they have any wrinkles, how they smile, etc. But this is again not in any visual form but rather as ideas connected to the idea of the face of that makes sense. The same goes for feel, taste and smell. No matter how hard I try I can't imagine the taste of chocolate or the smell of tea etc, but I still have a vague collection of ideas/abstractions connected to each concept. When it comes to sound it is a bit different for me. I still can not spontaneously imagine a sound in my head that continues without my conscious focus. But if I focus on it I can create some version of the sound by speaking or singing or making the sound of the instrument in my mind. But to this I have to focus on creating the sound, and if I stop focusing on it it dissapears. As such I have never had a song or melody "stuck in my head" as I've heard it described. Is this possibly aphantasia? I find ot weird that I haven't really noticed this difference before recently as I've enjoyed reading, especially fantasy, my whole life. But it makes sense how when I was for example reading ASOIAF I always loved to look up illustrations or at pictures from the GOT TV show to fix my vague idea of a character or place to an actual picture, as I didn't really generate this picture myself. I think this "defect" has ironically lead me to enjoying more descriptive litterature as it gives my mind more information to work with when recreating the sequence of events.

[@GORCDC]

So, since the mind's eye operates on a spectrum, it's possible that you may have a very low functioning mind's eye. That's what I can determine just based on your description, anyways. The key thing is, are you able to conceptualize what things look like in thought form, and have that not just be a list of words / ideas? If so, then you most likely access the mind's eye to some extent. =^.^=

[@gladJonas]

This is a great description, I feel like that 100%. I think it's just a very basic level of the minds eye, since you can kind of know what it looks like in your thoughts but not clearly, people with a higher level of visualization probably see through the same process, in their thoughts, but get a more vivid image.

[@lily1495]

A comment I saw on another video described what I see perfectly. If you go into a dark room with little to no light, and stick you hand out in-front of you, you can’t see it with light... like I just kinda feel it mentally. Like I know it’s their and see it without seeing it. Same if you move you hand around. I don’t see color at all and I don’t see anything in fact, but I know what I’m seeing without seeing if that makes sense.

[@GORCDC]

Yeah that makes sense! Some awareness of space / movement / presence

[@elthado2011]

Here from Reddit, been looking around on the internet for an hour now about aphantasia and con confirm that I don't have it. Thank you

[@GORCDC]

You're so very welcome. I'm extremely honored that I could help you clarify =^.^=

[@AbandonTheFort]

Weird-I have no visual sense of imagining things at all-things just get stored as words/idea threads/associations. In school teachers would occasionally do guided meditations and it drove me NUTS and felt not at all relaxing to try to do them because I absolutely could NOT. So I guess I’d probably be aphantasic in a visual sense? But I am DEFINITELY hyperphantasic and prophantasic for sounds. Which on one hand, it makes learning musical pieces pretty easy (and let me get away with some SLACKING on practice in college without getting yelled at by my teacher or accompanist), but damn can it be annoying when it WON’T TURN OFF to the point of disrupting my sleep-or making it hard to understand people speaking to me over my brain cranking Marcello’s concerto in C minor. It’s also nice to have some words for this because people have gotten concerned that I’m hallucinating when I’ve complained about music stuck in my head being too loud. People are not reassured if I say that hallucinations are different-they are not distinguishable from normal sensory stimuli. Well, not distinguishable other than by *content*. The zigzag lines and streaking and flashing and other migraine aura weirdness is pretty obviously not an accurate interpretation of visual stimuli present even though my visual cortex is interpreting those things as normal. And the hypnagogic hallucinations are BIZARRE and feel extremely real, but unless I’m super out of it they don’t tend to get me because I know they’re just hallucinations and the product of my sleep disorder and can be safely relegated to the category of “obnoxious shit my nervous system does because my nervous system is A Mess”. I also wonder if not being able to picture things in my mind’s eye is why I’m absolute garbage at describing my migraine aura outside of the stereotypical but atyptical-for-me zigzag lines and blind spots? Because I can’t picture it when I don’t have it (and when I have it my focus is not on taking notes of what I’m seeing because migraines are awful)? If other people describe their auras I’ve had some described that I’m like “YES I get that too!” but I CANNOT give a description of the visual components of auras on my own. I can just say that I do get them.

[@GORCDC]

Thanks for sharing! Super cool to read about your hyperphantasic / prophantasic auditory imagination..!! =^.^=

[@worthinspiringnations1309]

I THINK I have Aphantasia, in the pass I split my head open at the back of my head so I don't know if that gave me this inability. I'd love to know if there's a way to confirm I got this or something else.

[@GORCDC]

Stay tuned! My latest big project will help determine whether or not someone has aphantasia in a purely objective manner =^.^=

[@worthinspiringnations1309]

@@GORCDC Oh cool man can you tell what the big project is? P.s Your video is very informative and good. I understood it well and sat through the whole thing. Thanks 👍

[@GORCDC]

@@worthinspiringnations1309 , Thanks for the compliments! I tried my best on this one to try to dispel confusion for people! Glad you found value in it! The big project is an objective test that will be available to everyone which will measure the presence or absence of a functioning visual imagination..!!! Coming sooooon

[@worthinspiringnations1309]

@@GORCDC Oh that's really cool man! I hope it all goes well for you and the community. 👍

[@hagarhamed6892]

I think I have aphantasia too, because I can’t imagine at all only in my dreams

[@AMMA92244]

THANK YOU for this video. I worried that I have aphantasia, but when you explained what each ability is, I now understand that I am more hyperaphantasiac. I can visualize in color and detail, but cannot project an image to the black screen of my eyelids. It's like recalling/remembering scenes. I was always confused when people would describe vivid visualization and thought that I had to physically see images on the back of my eyelids. It's a relief knowing that I do not have aphantasia, though I am very interested in developing prophantasia.

[@GORCDC]

I'm glad the video helped clarify things for you! I did an even better job at describing these things in later videos. And for developing prophantasia, you may be interested in my upcoming monthly classes! I'll be running one specific to learning the prophantasia ability =^.^= Check it out on my website: www.aphantasiameow.com/

[@faithj3913]

I can very vaguely see a 2D apple if I was to close my eyes but can visualize faces no matter how well I know their face.

[@GORCDC]

Interesting! Now is this projecting an apple, or perceiving it within your mental space?

[@88yaz88]

Wish I could my mind is blank

[@bigbadgrowlybear7972]

I’m the same : very vague 2d Apple type thing. But by default I usually always see it in situational context ie in a vague 2D bowl on table, window behind etc. But opposite to you I can’t see faces in mind at all, even my wife’s (I can recognise faces no problem in real world) I just imagine her prominent details but that still doesn’t even give me a vague image. - seems to only not happen with faces for me. Brains are weird! Edit: and I believe I’m just perceiving the Apple in mind not projecting it. It’s just so vague that I don’t think I’m actually “seeing” it just imagining everything about it. Is that perceiving?

@@bigbadgrowlybear7972 Just noticed this. I'm exactly how you described too

[@Heuwelman]

I feel like I was trying to reach some form of Aphantasia when I meditate, turns out people are born with it, Fascinating.

[@GORCDC]

Nice! Yeah I can relate. Sometimes it feels so good to shut off all forms of thought during meditation

[@mikeallen8459]

This is wild as I used to visually hallucinate things while staring at my ceiling while thinking, as a kid. I didn't know it was at all desirable. As an adult I have lost some of this but can still easily picture things in what you call the "minds eye" Nikola Tesla was said to be a master of this, even working on engineering things and troubleshooting, in his own head. Very neat stuff and thanks for the video.

[@GORCDC]

You're welcome! And yes, Tesla had what we call "hyperphantasia" / "advanced prophantasia" =^.^=

[@Foxii_nico17]

I can imagine anything with my eyes open actually but not closed. my visual is still like far away from what i want to imagine. i mean that the scenes i imagine in my head are like transparent and feels… unpresent in my head but somehow still are here inside my head. i hope im not alone.

[@GORCDC]

Yeah! We call that "hypophantasia"

[@kellyriese]

I’m hyperphantasia, when I imagine things I’m gone, I totally go into my thoughts with all the senses. You talked about when people close their eyes they see black. I only sometimes see black, usually I see colors, usually with a black background but not always. Beautiful colors that can’t even really be described because I’m not sure they exist. They are fluid colors, there’s variation to the colors and they move around. I not only vividly see the colors but I also feel them too. Anyone else have this?

[@GORCDC]

Are those colors kind of swirly and rhythmic?

[@Webbyta]

One of my friends has something like that always if she hears people singing. She describes that she can see different colours, depends on the melody and person who sings. I always admired her for that. But I also never thought that it is true. Hahah. But since I know that I have apanthasia I think she really is able to. But myself I cannot picture or see anything at all in my mind. So I can only Tell you what she told me.

[@benshaw255]

@@Webbyta That sounds more like Synesthesia which is fascinating in itself. My friend has some Pro-phantasia when he goes to sleep he sees weird shit he says. Plus if he takes LSD he said he really gets it :p

[@penguin_in_a_birch_tree]

I just stumbled upon this subject and realized that I used to have prophantasia as a kid. For example, I used to imagine vivid animals running next to our car so I wouldn't be bored. I can't do that anymore and I don't know when I lost the ability. For a couple of years I have practiced imagining things more vividly in my mind because I want to get better mental images of the characters in my stories. Amazing to know some terms about this now! I think I'm on my journey between phantasia and hyperphantasia: I can imagine very vividly but I still struggle to keep up the bigger picture when I concentrate on the details. When I concentrate on the face the shirt might get blurred, for example. Thank you for this video!

[@GORCDC]

Thanks for sharing! And you're so welcome =^.^=

[@waykee33]

When you meant by seeing in the mind's eye, is it like visualising how you see in vivid dreams? Not physically seeing but sort of like imagining you are dreaming?

[@GORCDC]

Nooo, not nearly as clear as dreaming. The mind's eye can be incredibly vague. Typically it is a subtle knowing of visual information within the thoughts. Depending what state of mind I'm in, it can be anywhere from "barely perceivable" to "almost feels like I'm there". But in a vivid dream, what you are "imagining" takes up your entire vision and experience (albeit, dreams are typically distorted in some notable way when compared to our waking reality)

[@waykee33]

@@GORCDC I see. So is daydreaming (literally like a lucid dream) a kind of hyperphantasia?

[@GORCDC]

@@waykee33 Daydreaming, by definition, is simply getting lost in thought. So one could technically daydream often without any visual perception happening. However, if there is visual information that is perceivable in those thoughts, it can range from vague to incredibly vivid as in a lucid dream like you mentioned. So yes, if the daydream is incredibly vivid I would say this type of daydream falls under the hyperphantasia spectrum =^.^=

[@jasonhak4684]

I think you might be surprised at just how many people there are that are what you term Prophantasia. In the occult community everyone who wants to practice occultism is expected to be able to vividly visualise a endless variety of different shapes and colours and to be able to change the colours that they are visualising, and to be able to increase and decrease the brightness of that imagery instantly at will. As a result of this in more than 2 years of self training I am constantly having to swap from one form of occult training to another, desperately trying to find a course of practice and training that doesn't require me to have that high ability of visualization. But so far this only form of occult practice that I have been able to find that doesn't require a very high ability of visualization has been spirit evocation, but I am not ready for that, it is far too dangerous to go from my level straight into demonic evocation, you need to gain a high level of experience in other occult practices before you can safely proceed to spirit evocation, and as I said all other systems of occult training require a level of visualization skill that you term as Prophantasia... so I just don't know what to do!? I want so strongly to be a successful occultist, but how can I ever expect to make any real progress when I can't visualise... it is so very disheartening, and I just don't know what to do?

[@The_New_Abnormal_World_Order]

Maybe you need to boost endogenous DMT. Do you drink fluoridated water? Maybe you have calcification in your pineal gland. There's loads you can do to decalcify the pineal gland and increase endogenous DMT.

[@GORCDC]

I'd say start small and slowly work your way up. Take every minor breakthrough as proof that things are changing for you!

[@abigruly]

so recently i saw this thing called the red star test and if you couldn’t see the star, which i couldn’t, it was said that you had aphantasia. but like if i read a book before it comes out as a movie and then go watch the movie, i can be like “oh that’s not what i thought the character would look like” so now i’m confused as to if i have aphantasia or not

[@GORCDC]

I'm glad you brought this up, Abigail. This is exactly the thing I'm trying to help clarify here. So if you experience thought in a more visual way, then you do not have aphantasia. Most visual imaginers still only see black in the black space when they close their eyes. Unfortunately, the "red star test" image has created a ton of confusion. I don't believe that specific image was ever meant to be a measure of aphantasia.

[@urbaninsomnia5851]

Oh wow, I joined an Aphantasia Facebook group because of the red star image.

[@hollythomason1094]

I like to imagine things with my eyes open and just in my head not paying attention to physical reality, but going through my thoughts. Images are vague unless I'm really relaxed and focusing on where the third eye would be and visualizing by feeling this imaginary eye opening as though it really was. Usually when the images start to get strong I fall asleep or start to feel it happening and snap out of it, but the black of my eyelids has often faded away to blue skies, but only when intentionally trying or actually dreaming.

[@GORCDC]

Nice! Thanks for sharing

[@asiaholdakowska2564]

I don't know if I have aphantasia or not but I definately don't have hyperphantasia and prophantasia. I can imagine something in my mind but I have to really concentrate and it is very hard for me.

[@GORCDC]

I hear you! Well, be encouraged, because if developing your ability further is something you desire to do, you absolutely can! =^.^=

[@jazzman1945ify]

After reading the report "The neural correlates of visual imagery vividness - An fMRI study and literature review", I decided to check for myself whether the dimness of image in the head changes if I try to intentionally place it in different parts of the head; in the frontal part, in the occipital and in both temporal right and left. The results were as follows: When trying to place a mental image in the frontal part (exactly what I always tried to do), the result was completely ordinary : I close my eyes - something obscure in the fog and immediately darkness. When trying to place the image in both temporal areas, I saw just a steady darkness. But now, an attempt to place the image in the back of the head gave two interesting effects: 1. the image lasted several times longer than in the first case; and its degree of opacity began to vary quite significantly , as if controlled by a dimmer ; 2. there was a feeling that the image h as retired a longer distance. What does this mean - it is worth asking professional people.

[@GORCDC]

Hey that's awesome! That technique could definitely prove to be extremely important! Thanks for sharing!

[@GORCDC]

Hey that's awesome! That technique could definitely prove to be extremely important! Thanks for sharing!

[@jazzman1945ify]

@@GORCDC Did you check it? Visual center is located at the back, isn't it?

[@GORCDC]

@@jazzman1945ify Yes, the visual center of the brain is located at the back, but it's an interesting concept to "place" the image in different areas and see if there's an increase in vividness. I've done similar things to this within my coaching sessions, but not with that exact intention

[@jazzman1945ify]

@@GORCDC It is well known that if you focus on any point on the surface of the body, then it heats up. I wonder if this also applies to the brain. Because if such an effect is real, then changes in the brightness of the mental image may be a symptom of the partial destruction of a specific neural network due to trauma or latent stroke. But this is absolute speculation ...

[@iwuvyouhekka]

I was the 900 subscriber!! Yay. Thank you for this video!

[@GORCDC]

Woooohoooo! Thanks for being a part of the journey! =^.^=

[@cryojester]

I think I have regular phantasia for sight but I can't at all imagine touch or smell or taste, didn't even know that was possible. I have a really good audio imagination though, if I remember it I can re-listen to a song in my head, and I can mentally speak using my own or even other people's voices. It's pretty useful I think as someone who wants to be a voice actor.

[@GORCDC]

Nice! Yeah my mental sense of smell used to be virtually non-existent. Interesting, too, that that is also the weakest of my physical senses..!

[@518corky]

I beleive artists must have a vivid minds eye

[@GORCDC]

A reasonable assumption to make! Though, it's not a necessity. Check this out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mX2lfWCJfZ1mpJY And what's more ironic are hyperphantasics who aren't that great at drawing... like me! XD

[@miles6778]

i'm an artist and i have aphantasia. i actually know lots of artists who are aphantasic!

[@timothylolcats8020]

i can’t even see in my dreams, my memories and my memories of my dreams are hard to describe, it’s just i know what i’m doing or had done, so like i know what’s happening but i can’t see it ever, and i can’t audiate either. i’ve never smelled or heard or tasted or felt physically ever when dreaming or anything, just know and process what’s happening and what i’m doing and other people are doing

[@GORCDC]

That's very similar to how my cousin described her dreams, too =]

[@yeahhi27]

Finally someone did this! Nice job man, thanks. I have been imagine streaming for about a week and I suppose thats a practice for prophantasia. Slight improvements did happen but nothing too big yet.. Maybe you could make a video on what you were doing for hyperphantasia and prophantasia?

[@GORCDC]

Hey Matija, thanks so much for the sentiments! I'm glad you found it valuable. And yes you're absolutely right, image streaming mainly trains prophantasia. In the future I'll for sure be making more videos which detail some of the process for growing in hyperphantasia and prophantasia, but for now I have some big fish to fry! If you catch my next video, you'll totally get what I mean =^.^=

[@yeahhi27]

@@GORCDC awesome man, can't wait! :) also good luck with the project

[@milanl4838]

I'm a little confused if this can be counted as aphantasia.I can recall things that happen in my mind,but it is always vague like a missing puzzle.The color I see wasn'y clear.Once I found the difference is when my friend told me she can even picture the texture of an apple. I also can't remember the details of events happen in life.

[@GORCDC]

Hey there! So just based on your description it sounds like you're experiencing "hypophantasia", or very low spectrum visualization within the mind's eye. So it's not fully absent, but extremely lacking in detail. Does that sound accurate?

[@milanl4838]

@@GORCDC right lol

[@jazzman1945ify]

What is the reason that I see visualize mind images with open eyes much brighter than with closed ?

[@GORCDC]

Jazzman, that's a great question. We really don't know the reasons why this would occur. I found a paper on the idea that eye movement plays a role in mental imagery, but it doesn't address the eyes being closed or not (in the abstract, anyways): psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-30113-001 My initial guess is that it has to do with the brainwave states and how your brain is naturally wired to perceive mental imagery. The brainwave state alters even by just closing the eyes, so this would inherently alter the thought ecosystem. We can add this concept to the list of fMRI studies to conduct!

[@jazzman1945ify]

@@GORCDC - My speculation: open eyes fully activate the sight centers of brain and related areas, some of which are involved in the creation of mental images; while closed eyes deactivate sight (not 100%), as well as those parts of the brain that could be involved in mental visualization, when there is some gap between neural networks - we don't know where and why.

[@GORCDC]

@@jazzman1945ify Could be! More studies needed, stat! =^.^=

[@JosephDR]

Great content! Recently before dozing off and with my eyes closed, I see vivid images like prophantasia. And I notice this and wonder to myself whether my eyes are open or closed. The moving images are very detailed and with color. So I KZbind it to develop it further and that's how I arrived at your channel.

[@GORCDC]

Nice! Yes, so those are technically called hypnagogic images. Hypnagogia is the state of the brain when it's in between awake and asleep =^.^= With practice, you can start to have those more often / control the images, too!

[@JosephDR]

@@GORCDC Thanks, Alec!

[@oliviacantu1295]

Very interesting video, I've had a very active imagination since I was a child, my aunt thought I had schizophrenia, I always thought something was wrong with me, I know I have profantasia, I stare at a picture with a straw in my hand for hours on and in deep concentration, I tried to stop but i just cant help it, it's good to know there was a answer

[@GORCDC]

Yes, and there is most likely an overlap between prophantasia and extreme cases of schizophrenia. If maladaptive daydreaming disorder is the extreme end of hyperphantasia, schizophrenia may be the extreme end of prophantasia.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

Thank you for explaining this so clearly. I've been able to get glimpses of things in my head and sometimes very vividly, but I can't access the imagery and I can't manipulate it. It's as you describe it, I'm effectively blind to it. I can see evidence that I'm generating visuals because when I'm drawing, the perspective is often times far too good to be explainable without visulization being involved, but I can't see what I'm drawing until after it's nearly done. Anybody watching me draw will know what I'm drawing when I do, I just have a vague sense of the elements I'm going to have in the picture and where they're going to be located.

[@user-vr5xo4rk8x]

I'm just more confused now lol. if people with phantasia also don't see, what do they do? I feel like when imagine something, i'm not picturing it so much as kind of remembering what it should look like.. is that the norm?

[@GORCDC]

It sounds like you do have normal functioning phantasia, just based on what you described, but there's unfortunately not a way to tell for sure (yet). Which is exactly why I made this video! Many people are under the impression that if they don't physically see something, they have aphantasia, which just isn't the case. There will be only one way to tell, though, if you truly do have aphantasia or not, we need an objective test which can measure the presence of the visual imagination!! (stay tuned... *wink wink*) =^.^=

[@DANIEL-bl9dp]

I have aphantasia in each senses, but I'm an artist, I'm drawing stuff quite well, and also I have lucid dreams, and I learned it pretty easley, it's a little confusing if you ask me.

[@GORCDC]

I can definitely understand that it's all a bit confusing =^.^=

[@meganeff]

Do you think this relates to ADHD? I always wondered if it is because I don’t have a sense of stillness in my mind.

[@GORCDC]

At this point, there's not enough data to say one way or another. I've heard from people experiencing aphantasia that they experience ADHD, but also those that don't. So it's still up in the air! It could be!

[@bigbadgrowlybear7972]

I asked my mother and sister today about their inner sight. They see everything in vivid detail down to colors and patterns. I see vague blobs so thought “yep I’m Aphantasic” but from your descriptions I may be normal and they are the weirdos ( contrary to their rude questions on my planet of birth! “ ) they May have hyperphantasia. I know what things look like but can’t see a whole picture or it’s not detailed. I have a sense of what it looks like. People are very vague and well blob like - even my wife of 20 years ( I got in trouble for that one - wives don’t like being called a blob! ) Eg My car I know well but I see a general non colored ( b&w maybe) image of a car sitting in my driveway with objects I know are around it. But to see detail I need to “move” around my car in my mind and sort of fill in the details that I know. The tow bar sized dent in the side , the branch shaped scratch on the roof. It’s almost like I’m having to draw it in in my mind. Then after Ive filled in the details, it’s a slight bit more vivid but still no color or nice picture of it.

[@GORCDC]

Hey that's a great description! Yeah, just from your description and my vague understanding of you and your families subjective experience, I'd say that they are most likely a bit high on the spectrum, and you are a bit lower, but it does sound like mental imagery is not totally absent for you =^.^=

[@businesslady861]

I have phantasia. Can you please work with me I'm trying to go to actually see images. But each step closer I'm happy with that . Baby steps.

[@GORCDC]

Hey hey! Thanks for sharing! Yes, I'm still open to working with people, however, I need to finish a huge project first, which should be done and ready in the next few weeks. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to me via my website (www.aphantasiameow.com) and schedule an orientation call =^.^=

[@rochdmel357]

so I have aphantasia,too. despite the bitterness of this truth, there's something good about,I recently learned to name. I am not alone that's a relief

[@GORCDC]

You're certainly not alone =]

[@elliott9084]

Wow just realized I have prophantasia

[@GORCDC]

That's awesome! Would love to hear how you experience this ability. How detailed are the images you are able to project? Are they in color? Can you do so with your eyes being shut as well as open?

[@elliott9084]

@@GORCDC oh wow, it's amazing. I can experience it with my eyes closed and open, it's in full colour and it's pretty detailed. I don't know why but I tried imagining a sword slicing the curtain and it looked real but also not at that same time it was so strange. Thanks for making this video this is super cool!

[@GORCDC]

@@elliott9084 , can you see these vivid images in the natural world around you with your waking eyes?

[@elliott9084]

@@GORCDC yes I can, if its say a butterfly I can see it flying around the room, almost like a hallucination but I created it. Super cool and freaky

[@GORCDC]

@@elliott9084 ZOMG Wonderful. Is it semi-transparent, or fully opaque?

[@rr8323]

Thank you for this video & description. I came across this term today. I am a little confused where I fall, within the categories. When asked to imagine eg a beach, or apple, or rainbows, or an elephant; the images tend to be hazy & quite fleeting, not really able to sustain the visual for more that a cpl seconds, and it can feel taxing. My mind tends to try refering to a memory/picture/experience that I had relating to what I'm trying to see, as opposed to trying to imagine a bespoke one. I'm quite aware of looking at my closed eyelids. With the rainbow, it's fleeting, and as if seen from a distance, in 360p lol. I tried a "meeting your spirit guide" meditation guide once, and the narrator described the scene in depth, and I was kinda-sort of able to follow along in the imagination of their description, albeit in low resolution, but when it came time for me to look & see what my guide looked like, I couldnt picture anything, not even what the narrator had previously described. Just looking at my eyelids. Sometimes before sleep, I try to imagine a story I'm involved in, maybe something feel-good or romantic, and once again it can be somewhat difficult to do so. Say eg meeting someone at a bonfire on the beach; I run out of imagination within seconds it seems, and I give up n go to sleep lol, but maybe that's a different topic. Wishing you all the best. Kind regards,

[@GORCDC]

Thanks for sharing! Since aphantasia exists on a spectrum, you may very well be within the aphantasia end of the spectrum. Even the original case, "patient MX", had fleeting imagery, but it typically wasn't voluntary =^.^=

[@natasha8007]

I have hyper realistic visuals, smells and touch. Music is hazy though. Very helpful when comes to filmmaking, but leads to many sleep issues as I see horrible stuff in front of me if I’m stressed. Edit: In addition, when I was a kid I would see my nightmares in front of me in a specific part of the house even when awake. This subsided with age but if I’m very stressed I still see things for a split second.

[@GORCDC]

Thanks for sharing! =^.^=

[@Thorinbur]

Ok, I can imagine things. I do this most of the time when reading or listening to basically anything. It is not words on the page I see when reading. Not exactly images as well. It is as you described it ideas of concepts. I can do a generic cat. It has no distinct features, unless I probe myself for them, and whoop, I suddenly know the cat is black with white belly. But I am not describing what I see. I am creating it as I go any time I try to go for any kind of details. Now the interesting bit. I cannot do this AT ALL for people and faces. I can think of the clothes, poses and gestures but never actual look of anyone, including close friends and family. I cannot recall mental image of anyone ever. And it will be that person But the mental image for it is completely blank, devoid of any details., I can recall a concept of particular person, I recognise them on a street just fine. I can make something up like create a long hair or Elvis hair on top of that Idea of particular person, but never recall actual persons image and than describe it. If I ever get robbed and asked to create a police sketch I would say it was a rather big, male person. I think he had hair, but not sure. That is about all the details I remember of people. Where does it leave me? Unless I consciously STUDY the face I see and convert that to list of points I can remember I just cannot remember people and faces. I can do abstract ideas or often even animals. I can recall more details about friends dog I have seen twice, than a friend I am seeing once a month on average.

[@GORCDC]

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing! Have you ever tried growing your visual recall for faces?

[@Thorinbur]

@@GORCDC I did try a little bit. When I was sitting at the bus for example I would look at fellow passengers and in my internal monologue I would say "aloud" the distinct features, follow the lines and try to create mental description of the person. It want very structured and I did it just a few times so probably not enough to matter.

[@GORCDC]

@@Thorinbur That sounds like a very good start! Using the descriptive language is absolutely key!

[@JeskaDax]

According to the definitions given in the video, I have been prophantasic for the majority of my life, and I'm somewhere between phantasic and hyperphantasic... Thanks for giving definitions and terms to these things!

[@GORCDC]

You're very welcome! I'm glad you found the info valuable! =^.^=

[@JeskaDax]

@@GORCDC BTW, you're the only other person I've seen that makes that small text kitty the exact way I do. =^.^=

[@GORCDC]

@@JeskaDax Haha, glad to find a fellow meow =^.^=

[@sp88der]

Now I'm frickin jealous

[@GORCDC]

I hear you! Which category to you consider yourself in? =^.^=

[@sp88der]

@@GORCDC I'm not really sure, I can imagine what something looks like, without color but I can't physically see it There's not really a vague image either I can just imagine shapes or outline

[@GORCDC]

@@sp88der You may be low functioning within the visual imagination, then! Of course, I wouldn't know for sure unless we got you into an fMRI trial =^.^=

[@anonymousmouse4124]

This is fantastic. Thank you so much for this video and all you learned and practiced and worked on to make it. 💜

[@GORCDC]

Thanks for the kind words, Melody! Make sure to check out my more recent series, because I did an even better job describing all these aspects =^.^=

[@kacey4k]

This video gave me a context to what it is not and answered that no, I do not have it. I can mentally visualize my cat, in full vivid description though I see (visually with my eyes) nothing but my eyelids. All other sources have been incredibly fuzzy and vague and made me think that I had it because I could only visually see my eyelids with my eyes closed. Thank you for this explanation of what aphantasia is not.

[@GORCDC]

You're so welcome! That was exactly the hope behind me creating this video, to help clarify what aphantasia is and isn't. It does my heart good to know this helped you =^.^=

[@saiello2061]

I really don't understand how one cannot visualise. This is a phenomenon that is new to me. I thought it was necessary, automatic and a consequence of natural interaction with the world. Personally, I can visualise things very clearly, the objects themselves and their dynamic physical and spatial interactions. It makes no difference whether I close my eyes or not. I would say my touch visualisation is much more vivid, immediate and ever present and provides the function as if one were blind and uses touch to 'see' the world around them. In terms of imagining, its effectively my primary sense with sight being second. My visuals and touch are inextricably linked, so much so that if I'm just looking at things around me I'm also feeling every detail as if I were physically touching it, whether its an object close to hand or a tree in the distance. I can touch things in my minds eye as if it were real, objects such as an apple, its shape, its waxy texture, biting into its crisp interior, etc, or running my hands on over an imagined landscape scene, touching the trees, mountains, etc. Same with sound. Taste and smell are more vague, and only relate to strong smells like coffee, flowers, pine resin, etc, such that I can at least differentiate between them. Same applies to sharp tastes like lemons. As a kid I was often accused of daydreaming in class or at least not paying attention to a boring lesson and I would drift off imagining other things... 😉 As I said, I really thought that what I experience is what everyone else experiences without exception and although I was aware of an amount of variation such that one could be deemed more of a "visual" person or a "language" person, this Aphantasia is a complete and utter mystery to me... 🤔

[@GORCDC]

Yeah, prior to hearing that my roommate experienced aphantasia in 2011, it had never occurred to me that someone wouldn't be able to think visually

[@sahm22kids]

I can imagine touch, sounds, smell and taste but I'm not sure about sight. I know what things look like or are supposed to look like but I have a hard time picturing them in my head and extremely hard time if someone were to ask me to describe them! I have always been very artistic but ask me to draw something and its impossible unless I actually see it. I could draw a realistic looking rabbit if I looked at a picture of it... but if my kids ask me to draw a rabbit it would look like a second grader's drawing. If you ask me to describe a close friend or family member I can't. I can't really picture people's faces in my mind.. I know what they look like, but I can't see it or describe them. I could tell you if they are tall or how they are built. Hair sometimes but that could be very vague. I can't describe their face or see it in my head. I can't picture my parents or sisters in my head- even though I know what they look like if I were to see them again. Even my husband and kids- I can't close my eyes and picture what they look like. I could tell you about my girls hair (maybe bc its a touch thing bc I brush it) but to picture their faces, even seeing them every day it's hard- I know what they look like but I can't close my eyes and see them. I feel like I might see things more as an "outline" of images- like shapes, not so much details. Also, not sure it's related but Ive always chalked myself up to being a very unobservant person- like I would not notice if someone came over and cut down the trees in front of my house.

[@GORCDC]

Thanks for sharing! What you're describing is very much in line with the common experience of aphantasia. And as far as the art topic goes, you'd think that a vivid mind's eye translates well into having artistic prowess, but this isn't necessarily the case. Coming from a hyperphantasic, my artistic ability is no where near what I can formulate in my mind. Also, I've heard from quite a few regular visualizers that they also need a reference while drawing. So this is shared between aphantasics and phantasics. I'm guessing, having access to a mind's eye would absolutely help the planning phase of the artistic process, though! =^.^=

[@hypersonicmonkeybrains3418]

That prophantasia, i can do it open eyed since that you mentioned it and i tried it. its still vague and sort of transparent to my actual field of vision but i can do it, i can imagine any object even animated projected a few meters infront of me... But its not strong enough for me to call it a visual hallucination.

[@GORCDC]

Well, that's neat =^.^=

[@BlitzPong]

I see nothing in my mind's eye. I am fine with it. I am 61 years old, and I would freak out if I started seeing images. I guess the one advantage I have is that I do not relive a bad image. We need all types of people and I am glad the world is filled with many types.

[@GORCDC]

I hear you! Although the majority of my work is helping people to visualize more vividly, I see a lot of value in different types of thinkers. So I hope some people who experience aphantasia choose not to try to overcome it =^.^=

[@ladyseshiiria]

I guess I'm confused how we can quantify something like this.

[@GORCDC]

It's very challenging to quantify, all we can do is try to gather common experiences around as-clear-as-possible terminology

[@jeninegrasc8414]

I just found out yesterday I have this. I found out because my daughter told me my son was upset because a few months ago he discovered he had this. I didn’t even know this was a thing. I see absolutely nothing in my minds eye no colour or pictures, only greys, and bubbling, like snow blindness. Even now, I remember when I was a kid( I’m 59) and I couldn’t sleep, and my mom would say “ count sheep”, I had no idea what she was talking about, because I could not do anything remotely like this. This is all very strange. Is this genetic?

[@GORCDC]

I hear you! The data is inconclusive so far, as to whether or not it has to do with genetics. We'll need a lot more data before coming to any conclusion there

[@YoshiWonKenobie]

definitely helped to clarify completed understand. I'm regular Phantasia, and have had very few awesome moments of hyperphantasia while reading a book, or driving and forgetting about the ride completely and finding myself farther towards my destination.

[@GORCDC]

That's awesome! I'm so glad I could help clarify that for you! And yes, those moments are where you experienced brief hyperphantasia because you're in a light trance, when the visual imagination becomes more pronounced. Knowing this, you can start to grow into hyperphantasia, like I did! =^.^=

[@KodKomplex]

I think I USED to have hyperphantasia and then I smoked Salvia and I think it blinded me. Or maybe it was the ayahuasca? I don't know but I've got nothing going on up there now. I haven't even really dreamed in months.

[@GORCDC]

That's very interesting! Do you ever have fleeting moments of visualization?

[@KodKomplex]

yes but the vividness is very low

[@GORCDC]

@@KodKomplex Take heart! It seems it's a skill which can be grown. So you can take what you have now and make it more vivid =^.^=

[@hansjohansson66]

Never heard about this before, but I have been painting for a decade, but I cannot paint anything without having what paint from directly in front of my eyes. If more than a couple of seconds passes I have to look at the original again. Could that be a mild form of aphantasia perhaps?

[@GORCDC]

From what I understand, the ability of the mind's eye and the ability to draw from memory are not necessarily related. Me for example, I experience hyperphantasia, yet drawing from my mind's eye is near impossible.

[@jam3278]

I think I have very weak visual. I can see memories. But it’s difficult to imagine new things off the spot. Like if someone were to ask me to imagine a ball roll off a table. I probably couldn’t tell you what the type of material the table was made out of or the color of the ball. Also when I day dream it is very vivid. I feel like when I try to imagine something new it doesn’t go well but when I dose off and day dream it’s very vivid including when I day dream about something that isn’t a memory.

[@GORCDC]

Nice! That makes total sense. This could have to do with your conscious mind relaxing enough to "get out of the way", so to speak, and when the conscious mind isn't in the process as much there can be room for other types of thoughts to take place.

[@Lime.-.Leaf.]

Cover your palms with your eyes open, make sure no light seeps through & that’s what I see when I close my eyes. I cannot voluntarily imagine any visual data or audio. When I’ve done copious amounts of drugs, I’ve closed my eyes & had some data but it’s debatable whether or not, that’s voluntary because it’s an outside source. My sober attempt to experiencing voluntary imagination is breath work for 1-2hr, which gave me color & slight movement idk it was hard & difficult. I haven’t practiced breathwork in awhile I’ve been discouraged at all my attempts but I haven’t given up just letting burn out play out so I can come back with more energy stronger & ready than ever!

[@GORCDC]

I talk about an odd visual phenomenon that I've lovingly called "blobulars" in other videos. That may be along the lines of what you've experience before. Check this video out to see: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZyZeZecq69qh9U

[@Lime.-.Leaf.]

@@GORCDC Thank you so much for the reply!! I’ll definitely check out the video!

[@GORCDC]

@@Lime.-.Leaf. For sure! Let me know what you think =^.^=

[@litigioussociety4249]

I have hyperphantasia, and I would have thought any one who can see vividly could easily perceive the other senses. Touch, smell, and taste seem more primitive and simpler than the others. Not to mention, they're the reason when you think you're drinking one thing, and it's another, for a moment you taste the one you perceived; the same can happen with smelling a flower, or thinking something is going to be slimy, hot, cold, etc. I'm guessing like with aphantasia, people who don't actually experience touch in their mind only conceptualize the idea of something like Patrick Star saying, "Aagh! It burns!"

[@GORCDC]

Wild!

[@JaneDoe-zk4uk]

Thank you. It is really fascinating to learn that people process stuff differently. I guess I am mostly hyperphantasia (and I'm an artist) with a lean toward prophantasia, however, the prophantasia I have no control over, so is that technically prophantasia in the way you describe?. For example I went through a period of creating a person with my imagination. I gave him a name and a certain look. One day, he randomly popped into my head without any prompting from any source. He was so hyper real and detailed in the way that I couldn't make up using will power alone. Interestingly, there was another 'layer' to the visuals and that was that he was also made of fabric, kind of like a patchwork (hard to describe, he was both a patchwork and a real person at the same time). I thought that was even more interesting, because he was a fabrication of my own imagination. Does anyone else relate to this?

[@GORCDC]

Hey there! I'm sure that individuals in the Tulpa scene would absolutely relate to your account of this imagined character! And what you described could very well be prophantasic experience, but it just lacks the intentional control that comes with the classification =^.^=

[@valentecg8518]

one of the typical excercices to detect Aphantasia is this: "Close your eyes and imagine a red star. Which image do you see? - test result says that if you´re not able to physically visualize a RED star in detail (shape and color) you have aphantasia... I am a little bit confussed here

[@GORCDC]

Yep! That image was actually never intended to be passed around as an aphantasia test, but it made mega rounds on the internet as such. For an even clearer differentiation on different types of visual imagery, check out my "Prophantasia" Playlist

[@hypercubemaster2729]

I have total aphantasia for sure... it feels very empty and depressing.....

[@GORCDC]

I hear you Philip! I'm sorry that it feels that way =[

[@hypercubemaster2729]

@@GORCDC what is crazy, is I can solve any rubik's cube to the nth dimension of space (lifetime permitting), have solved rubik's cube blindfolded, and now am teaching myself blindfold chess. But as strange as it may seem, I am not able to visualize the cube or the chessboard in my mind; all of my moves and strategies with both are numerically and alphabetically based... 🤔🤔🤔

[@SiriusA111-08]

If I'm thinking about what to have for dinner, and I think pizza, I know my thought are coming from my head. But, I can't see the pizza. Can I really call that dark black void in my mind for a pizza?! When you ask me to visualize a something, I feel like I can't! But what makes this so difficult to understand for me, is that I do have the blueprint of everything I try to imagine, which is why I feel like maybe I do visualize something in my mind after all! However, allthough the blueprint is there, I can't say it's available in a visual way. It's like having it behind a no-see-through glass wall. The blueprints I have for anything I try to imagine is there though so I have a sense of what is going on. I'm fully swimming in the ocean, collecting shells on the beach, having an icecream. It's like, even if I can't visualize in my mind my own room, I still know where everything in my room is located when I close my eyes. I have a memory, but minus any visual imagery. There's nothing wrong with my ability to make up stories in my mind. But at the same time, where is actually the ocean, the beach, my icecream?! Trying to imagine a mountain is nothing but a big black screen with nothing. Maybe it's more like feeling rather than visualizing, remembering how something would feel like? I sometimes feel I have a sense of shape and movement. I feel as if I see a smiling face, a laughing face, someone dancing. But again, everything just feels like a black void, where is everything, actually? I know I rely a lot on inner dialogue, or else there would just be a darkness going on in my mind. It's easier to imagine doing something with an inner dialogue, although inner dialouge does not help even having an extremely vague sense of visual imagery. Maybe my brain have learned to imagine things in a non-visual way, but it feels like visualizing somehow? I at least have no idea what it means to actually visualize something in my mind, I try so hard to understand what is going on in my mind, so hard to try see anything, or trying to understand what is actually having a minds eye is like. Even if people try to explain Aphantasia and visual imagery, I'm still as confused as ever 😭 I have a feeling I'll never figure out if I have Aphantasia or just incredible bad vizualization skills!

[@GORCDC]

It can be considered visualization if you have visual elements to the thoughts you're having. In other words, visual impressions outside of lists of words

[@caramelpocky3309]

I definitely did the mistake of going down the rabbit hole of reading countless of blogs on the internet. Reddit definitely was the main source that confused me to the point of amping up my already bad anxiety hahaha. I even convinced myself for a minute that I had aphantasia because the red star test confused me so much. But this video helped clarify and take away some of my anxiety. I’m pretty sure now that I have regular phantasia and I may have even underestimated my visualization ability. I can remember memories and videos I watched really well and replay them in my head. I also sometimes even do tours of places that I’ve been to many times. I see colors, but because it’s in my mind, I sometimes get confused if I even see them. I definitely don’t see anything physically with my eyes, but it feels like I’m having a visual thought in the back of my brain. It’s really hard to explain but I think this is what phantasia is (at least I hope so). Only thing which still confuses me until this day is that I can visualize with my eyes open way better than when I have them closed. Maybe it’s just a focus problem, as my thoughts start to wander or my focus starts shifting to the back of my eyelids.

[@GORCDC]

Glad to help! And yesss, the red star test is the source of much confusion! =^.^=

[@sanderlmgent]

Do people with a mind's eye able to visualize a picture they have never seen before? And If you feel only the present and but not the past or present as it was you do have aphantesia? I have never seen a visualization of something but I do have memories of what things look like. But am 100% am unable to make something I have never seen before. And what does it mean to hear, smell, taste and feel with the mind's eye? You gave to example of sandpaper, I remember what it looks and some facts about it. Red, rough, paper thin and when you use it you get white dust. This video gave me more questions than answers 😅

[@GORCDC]

You're grappling with understanding the concept of a "mental sense", being something which is perceived within the mind but isn't physically experienced. So, when thinking of a song in an auditory sense, the individual will get a weak or strong sense of what that song sounds like, but of course will not physically hear the sound of the song in their ears. And in terms of visualizing something you've never seen before, this is somewhat impossible. Our imagination tends to be the coagulation of content we've seen in the past.

[@sanderlmgent]

@@GORCDC Thank you for your response. I think I don't have complete Aphantasia. When I try really hard there is a sometimes a frame for like a millisecond what would not happen with 100% aphantasia. You probably know those questionnaires where people refer to but these are not really a good way to see if I/you have aphantasia because it has a lot interpretation. What I know for sure is that I don't have an inner monologue, and a very weak to no mind's eye. Is there a better test then these Questionnaires with less interpretation?

[@GORCDC]

@@sanderlmgent You mean the issue of subjectivity with our current selection of tests / quizzes? Unfortunately, no, there's no real objective way to measure the presence of aphantasia as of now. But Dr. Reeder and I are working to solve this! We need two more hypophantasics for a current study we're running, you're welcome to participate if you'd like!

[@sanderlmgent]

​@@GORCDC Sure count me, I like to help people with their studies especially if it has to do with Apgantasia. Where can I sign up? :D

[@GORCDC]

@@sanderlmgent www.aphantasiameow.com/research (the study I'm referring to is the 2nd one down that page)

[@linabingbing3881]

I doubt I have this. The only thing I suddenly realized was. I LOVE making avatars..I can make them for hours. One day I was explaining to my mom I was making myself and I chose a certain set of eyes. She laughed and said,"Girl! You eyes are not small,they're huge!" I'm like confused so I look in the mirror and am like oh yeh you're right. She was like why u look in the mirror...IL said because I don't remember my facial features or what I look like almost all the time. She was astonished.she asked me..(*I'm a homebody. ..only am around my 5 friends from church and my parents husband and kids.so I am around them daily.daily.) well you do remember what yours kids faces n hubby and dad n mine looks like.im like..kinda.i always know who they are.but I'll visiualize them wayyyy different than I was thinking even if I saw them 25min. Ago. Husband kids. It's so weird.and if I try to imagine people,I can remember like.....the shape of something about their face......like poofy hair or a mustache,bad teeth,big nose etc. But aside from that one feature they may have,all else is jumbled and inaccurate. ....some of my strategies through the years (I never realized ANY of this)I imagine a photo of them or an exact facial expression they made recently or in the past that stands out to me. Like laughing hard.il I talked with my mom about this i had no idea that wasn't normal .my kids I saw the 8 year old about two hours ago. She made a facial expression that literally caused me to say to herr awwww. U look like this one picture from when u were little. That....is normal. But isn't normal for me to try to imagine her face and only see that one moment where her face basically froze in time for me. Idk man. Freakin. Weird. I can recognize people with no problem...actually I can recognise people I haven't seen in years even,and I know that's normal. I always tell people I can recognise faces better than names.this is true for me. But the people I see everyday or my family. See evert now and then or neighbors or whomever,especially hubby and kids facial featurres. Thays not normal.i have a problem describing how someone is to someone else.like....character. If someone asks me on the spot a characteristic (I'm a stay at home mom.... I'm alwYs eith my kids) of my kiddos I jave to always pull from my mirroring coping mechanisms. If I can't think of a coping mechanism when put on the spot I'll vlurt out something like. .my kid is hyper. When my kid may have been hyper last Tuesday but hardly ever.they may be known for being mega chill.idk.

[@GORCDC]

Hey!! Thanks for sharing all about your internal visual thought process! Really interesting! It's fun to kind of dissect all these things you haven't thought of until now, right?? =^.^=

[@linabingbing3881]

@@GORCDC woot. ;)

[@joshuachicaroni8174]

I need to know if I do because I can say the stuff in my head but its pitch black if I'm trying to think of it but when I open my eyes I see colors on the wall and when I keep blinking it moves around. Please replie if you understand what im talking about

[@GORCDC]

Yeah it sounds like you're able to visually imagine in your mind, but then you're also projecting basic colors into your physical vision

[@TheWorldsStage]

There's also Fantasia, which is a 1940 American animated musical anthology film produced and released by Walt Disney Productions, with a sequel titled Fantasia 2000.

[@GORCDC]

So true

[@SamGarcia]

How do we know if these definitions are objective references? For example, because of the limited and vague language, how does one know that phantasia is just a vague sense (and even that is vague, does that mean only feeling or blurry?) to one person, but is normal detail to another person? How do we know it isn't just a mild form of aphantasia? Also, I think the best way to find the differences is for someone who had phantasia and lost it. Often people who take drugs or have had surgery experience some form of loss or gain with perception.

[@GORCDC]

Great question, and the answer is a bit undesirable... In short, we don't know yet. And even when someone looses their phantasia, there's still no way to accurately measure their experience up with someone else's... yet!

[@amandaholland6491]

I beleive I may have this although I do want to be hopeful and look further into it. I just learned all my family members can "see everything I cant not. I realised today why I didn't read a single fiction book from age 11 and just so so may things...even taste and colours, it's a little overwhelming to come to a relisation that your literally"in the dark" compared to everyone else and there levels of imaginary perception of sight, taste and smell, sound

[@GORCDC]

I hear, you! I'm sure it's quite the shock to find out! Great news though, you're not alone =^.^=

[@allygambling5738]

Huh. I definitely think I'm prophantasic but my eyes don't need to be closed. I'm sitting here painting, listening to this video and going on brain adventures which are beautifully described by you as like VR experiences. I can eat/drink etc too

[@GORCDC]

Are you still aware of your physical environment when this happens?

[@allygambling5738]

@@GORCDC yes! I'm absolutely present and aware of my physical surroundings. I can 'zone out' slightly but I'm always 'there' if that makes sense

[@brookemakesstuff]

As an artist, I feel like I’m handicapped by my lack of a minds eye. I would do anything to be able to visualize my work before I put it on paper, or to create something truly unique without use of reference. I have total aphantasia of every sense, along with a lack of an internal monologue. I am just my experiences and feelings and impulses, and the only way to sort through everything is to get it down on paper either through artwork or writing. My memory is trash and if I don’t write something down or do it immediately then I’ll completely forget. It’s incredibly frustrating.

[@GORCDC]

I hear you! How long have you been aware that you didn't have a sensory thought life?

[@brookemakesstuff]

AphantasiaMeow I’ve been aware of it for as long as I can remember, but as many have said before me, I thought that the way I thought was normal. I went through many forms of therapy throughout the years and whenever a therapist would use visualization techniques I thought they were just hypothetical. I didn’t get why others seemed moved by scenarios that didn’t seem to hold any weight. At one point I even wondered if I had sociopathic tendencies bc I just couldn’t relate to certain things like other people.

[@GORCDC]

@@brookemakesstuff I hear you Brooke! It must have been quite a shock to find out that it wasn't the norm..!

[@FurtivePigmy]

I would love to hear what you or other people in this comments think about this, i am sorry this is a very long comment and I think I left out some key parts of it in describing my situation but they don't come up to mind in this moment I just started writing and I couldn't stop 😅. To be honest i was full convinced that i had aphantasia but after this video i am even more confused than when I started questioning myself. I mean, i can think of an object and describe it and draw it, but I can't say that the image itself is in my head all i know is that the object is in it, like when you tell a computer program how a square is made, you would say every side is the same size and there are only four sides at a 90 degree angle from each other in total and the same goes for sensations besides my hearing in a sense. I can "hear" my voice in both languages i speak and I used to actually hear songs that were very familiar to me if I thought about them for long and with that purpose although the emotions of wonder upon hearing them would quickly bring them back to just the thought itself. Although sometimes I have big and very darn quick flash of the image that takes over even with my eyes are open and very rarely i lose myself into those images or thoughts as if I was there when I deeply think about them casually. I am not able at all to control my thoughts when in this state and I am working towards what you call prophantasia. I close my eyes and try to see an object (usually my ring spinning slowly) and after months I can now see it very very faintly in a very dark blue hue and if I see a detailed image or even faint image it is a random thing that is unrelated to what I am thinking and out of my control and could last for a few seconds to just "a blink of an eye".

[@GORCDC]

It sounds like you're experiencing aphantasia, but with moments of hypophantasia sprinkled in. Though, we'd have to speak more in-depth to get a better idea =^.^=

[@K.T.0]

I can only visualize things a little with my eyes open but, when they are closed l only see black with white windows ( The ones from my school when the sun shines into them, l always looked at them when l got bored in class ).

[@GORCDC]

Oh, so even if you're not in that space, you can still see the windows when your eyes are closed?

[@spider_broken0546]

I thought everybody can't visualize image Clearly,because all I see I black when I close my eyes. This is so fascinating

[@GORCDC]

Glad you find it interesting! Yeah, it seems most people, even visualizers, still just see black when they close their eyes.

[@The_New_Abnormal_World_Order]

Occasionally when I imagine a scent I start to smell it in real life. I would say that my mind's eye is sometimes very vivid but I have no concentration so I'm not great at visualizing!

[@GORCDC]

Interesting! You sound like you have the projected version of smell

[@nobull772]

I’ve used prophantasia all along and had no idea. I usually do it when I close my eyes in my room and see the outline on the room, and I can visually walk around the whole house sometimes, but it “disappears” and I have to restart again, and like you said you get better as you practice.

[@GORCDC]

Totally!

[@nobull772]

@@GORCDC this isn’t some sort of code word for schizophrenia in therapy, right??😂

[@chrisbecke2793]

I can imagine things. But I can't see them. the best way I can describe it is... When your eyes are open and things go behind you, you cant see them, they still have presence. When I imagine things they have an existence in a non visual space.

[@GORCDC]

Makes sense! To me anyways 😅

[@imbored3063]

i cant visualize anything i cant imagine things, i still have memories but no more than words

[@GORCDC]

I hear you Shannon! Thank you for sharing

[@SkepticalTeacher]

I have ADHD, so my working memory, both visual and non-visual, is impaired. I remember things like a video in my head from when I was a child, but when i try to "pause" the video, it just disappears because of a poor short term memory or mind's eye. Taking methylphenidate has helped me to visualise things better if I want to, because I'm not as distracted. I can sort of draw some things now from my visual memory, which I couldn't do before.

[@GORCDC]

Well, neat! Congrats on making some slight progress!

[@LadyEllesmere]

I can't imagine smells,tastes or how something feels. I know what it feels like but I can't say I feel it? I can hear Songs though,in my head. This is alot...I keep going back and forth between phantasia and aphantasia.-. I know vaguely what things should look like but I can't describe to the T how they look. When I try to imagine things, I don't see anything closed or not closed. I think the issues I'm having (I'm tired mind you) is the part about knowing how it should look. Idk ima come back to this when I have more sleep...

[@GORCDC]

=^.^=

[@isabel7124]

Oh wow, finally i find what I’ve been looking for after days, thank you for the explanation. I couldn’t understand what it meant to “see” in the mind at all, because I don’t see anything anywhere, I just feel the image in the back of my mind, I don’t see it but I feel it, and now I know that’s phantasia, just not prophantasia. I described my thoughts as “the negative of a photograph” or the “negative space” of something. Like I don’t see the apple, but I feel the space an apple occupies, not with any details, mainly it’s like a negative of something as representation of its most basic semantic features. Another example I found was thinking about a ball rolling off a table, while apparently some people thought about the material and size of the table and the color of the ball (my mom saw a round wooden table and a ball with many colors - she might have hyperphantasia), all I had was the “feel” of them, and the space of a ball (round, small) over the space of a table (flat surface, legs) in the back of my head. But that’s still like, a vaguely sense of sight, a rudimental visual representation I guess. Thank you again!

[@GORCDC]

What you're experiencing here may indeed be rudimentary visual thought. However the way you described it here it could also be spatial awareness / processing, which could actually lack the visual components entirely. One thing to ask yourself is "do I have sense of perspective (angle) and color?". If so, then it's likely the thoughts you are having in that moment are visual in nature. Glad you found the video helpful! =^.^=

[@kiosfriend]

This video was actually exactly what I needed. I have a friend who I now think is prophantasiac who was trying to figure out if I have aphantasia by describing what he sees. I wasn't understanding it at all, so we were thinking I had aphantasia. Nop. Pretty sure I'm just a regular old phantasiac without prophantasia. Thanks!

[@GORCDC]

You're welcome! Glad I could help clarify =^.^=

[@dragonunderfire4977]

This was very informative! I'm in the process of trying to figure out if I have aphantasia and this has helped. Currently I'm not really sure if I do because of some of this information. But the way I "visualize" is by shaping it with my mind. It's weird but the best way I can describe it is like a artist who had sight but now is blind. As they try to make an apple out of clay they use what they know about apples to do it. They shape it with the knowledge that apples are normally circular and have bumps on the bottom. They are able to think of ways to describe the apple but they mold it without seeing it. That's what it feels like to think. I think about characteristics of an object or try and mold my thoughts into the shape of an object using what I know. I think maybe I am tricking myself because I KNOW what it looks like and I FEEL like I can see it but that;s just because I am thinking about it. That reminds me of back before I knew about it and had to sit through a guided meditation. I got bored because it was all "visualize a tree with a bird on it" and "visualize you taking deep breathes". I remember thinking thoughts like "wow, she acts like we're supposed to see something. The tree is brown there is a blue bird in it my breathing is slow. Can we be done, I can't see anything so why does it matter?" I've since (obviously) found out about aphantasia and I'm still not sure if I have it. Sidenote: I can dream really vividly and I remember once when I was younger I woke up from a dream but could still see it happening even though my eyes were open and it had ended. It only lasted for a few seconds but I still wonder if that was what it was like to visualize.

[@GORCDC]

Dreams are not a good measurement to mind's eye activity, since they'll inherently be more vivid and first-person. Mind's eye activity will be more vague. Also, if you're getting the "feeling" of sight without actually seeing something, it may be that you're using your mind's eye to do so.

[@Dvergenlied]

I am definitely fighting with aphantasia. About the only thing I *can* experience in my thoughts is an overwhelming jukebox. All other “sense” are currently nil, except if I’m dreaming. I can recall having experienced vivid dreams, but am not currently able to recall them back to mind. Recollections are conceptual and verbal, so I can recall how I would describe something but it’s like you would describe a picture to someone who can’t see what you’re looking at. It was definitely a shock when I found out that wasn’t the standard. 😂

[@GORCDC]

I hear you! It's quite shocking to find out about all this for the first time.

[@nonofyb]

I always thought I have aphantasia, because can't see anything, but I know how thinks look like and I can somehow "look" at thing i.e. focus on a specific part but I don't ~see~ anything, so I'd say that's definetly more regular phantasia than prophantasia, but when I actively try to imagine something I try to imagine it in a prophantasiac way i.e. I try to project the image on the back of my eyelids or I unfocus my eyes and try to imagine something in front of me. I can still not ~see~ anything but I move my eyes around as if I am and it helps me to focus🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ Now I tryed to imagine something with my minds eye but I have no clue what so ever how to even start doing that🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ I am very confused.

[@GORCDC]

I suggest watching the series I did on Prophantasia, since it has the most accurate visual representation of these dynamics: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oF7RfqKKZrKmhpo Let me know if you have any questions!

[@brookecasteel2648]

I believe i have aphantasia, i cant visually see anything nor imagine what anything could smell, feel, hear, or taste like. Its been this way every since i was young and i just thought it was normal. I just kinda grew up with. Nothing happened to damage my brain, so i think i have congenital aphantasia. I thought everyone was crazy when they told us to actually visualize yourself in five years or mentally see some sort of object. I just thought they were crazy.

[@GORCDC]

I hear you!!

[@30110CKs]

I've never been able to visualise, at best I get the vaguest impression. I can however play music in my head and it's almost as good as hearing it, and replay conversations etc. When my daughter was young however she used to draw things by putting the pen on the paper and drawing all the way round the outline like a plotter. Better than I could ever draw. When we asked her about it she said she was just drawing round what she could see.

[@GORCDC]

That's pretty cool about your daughter 😶

[@magicman1006]

I think I have prophantasia, I'm an artist, so when I draw sometimes I try to visualize the idea on the paper, to an extent I can see an image, but the lines are vary faint, there is no color, and it seems that I can only imagine certain parts at a time, for example a skull (💀), when I imagine a skull while looking at paper I see a vague eye sockets, cheek bones, and the upper jaw, the rest of the skull fades out, and I can't imagine vivid backgrounds, they're just vague shapes

[@GORCDC]

Sweet! Yeah that would be low-level prophantasia