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.
In: 55
You have *memories*, right? Like— you remember what someone said, or what you read, don’t you? (please tell me if you don’t).
All right, so: if you can remember what someone said… imagination is like memory plus. Those of us with imaginative ability can call up extremely detailed memories from any one of our senses… and direct them, change them.
Right now, I can call up the sense memory of biting into a cracker with peanut butter on it, while petting my late cat’s ear, and hearing Bach playing on the stereo, as I look at a Smiths “Louder than Bombs” poster. And now I will direct my mind to add basil to the peanut butter, and my fingers will move from my cat’s ear to his head to feel the longer, harsher coat there, and there will be sunglasses on the girl in the poster, and the Bach will change to bluegrass music. All of this is as atrongly real and experiential as real memories. When I write a song or story, or draw, or decide to add an ingredient to what I’m cooking, I consult these “inner senses” and they seem about 80% real to me.
However, there are things I know my mind doesn’t do. I have no immediate grasp of calculations or numbers. To do any kind of arithmetic I have to literally and laboriously sense-imagine amounts of stuff and divide, multiply, add and aubtraxt from the stockpiles of stuff. I can absolutely lose count of it, as if it were real. I also am shit at imagining games, strategies, physical movements I’m not familiar with mking etc. (you will notice that artists often make the facial expression they’re drawing)
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