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
I am on the other end of that continuum, hyperphantasia. But that’s usually a conscious thing. My default state I think is more normal.
So normally, if, e.g. I am reading a book, I casually might imagine the characters and scene. It might be rather low on details, depending on my mood and the writing. But it is much like a 3d animation, or play, being created in my head. Separate of my real vision.
If I am not distracted, I might lose consciousness of seeing the words and the imagery becomes more detailed. Like I’ll add plausible objects not described in the scene.
But in to hyperphantasia, if I really want to, I can imagine something I am reading (or daydreaming about) in essentially full cinematic detail. I can do it hard enough that I no longer really see anything around me. At least not in more than a peripheral sense. So then it takes on something more like a projection.
Still, that is very active and I would always be aware it is my imagination, it will go away as soon as I stop actively projecting it. In contrast to, e.g. hallucinations Ive had on substances. Or in contrast to my sound > sight synesthesia which is very mundane but solidly projective..i.e. I see sounds not like they are in my mind’s eye, but like a translucent overlay in 3d around me.
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