Eli5 – How does the “inner eye” work?

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I have aphantasia, a mental disorder where I lack all internal visualization. I cannot “picture” things in my mind, I think in words and numbers and such. With this, I am very curious how the mental imagery works for the rest of you. Do you see it separate from your main vision? Does it get interposed? Is it like picture in picture? I’m baffled!

TIA.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

When I visualize, I don’t see it with my eyes, nor does it seem to be seen thru my eyes; I generally see the objects I’m thinking of in a more conceptual, schematic way rather than a vivid movie with all the details, unless I try hard to increase the detail level.

When I visualize things that require any significant effort, I notice my actual visual field much less, altho I’m still able to react to basic stimuli; if someone threw a pillow at me, I’d react, tho I’d be slower and might miss it.

When I was younger, my imagination was incredibly strong, and I could get lost in it and not notice almost anything that was happening around me, so deep was the fantasy. I think my visualizations were more detailed back then, tho it’s hard to recall so many decades ago.

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