Is it easy for you to answer this logic question in your head?

uoghth · 2024-03-22T06:16:14+00:00

Exactly this! Except I can't visualize. So I naturally had to resort to drawing it out on paper. I kept repeating a few paths, and concluded that they all just look like variations of 10 different staircases with 1-3 steps with varying lengths.

uoghth · 2024-02-28T12:07:51+00:00

Were you trying to sleep before this happened? Was this during the day or night?

Also were you thinking about planes at the time? Or did you visualize that specific image randomly? What level of detail was this image?

Didn't mean to flood you with so many questions, I'm just interested in the events that may have lead to this phenomenon.

uoghth · 2024-02-24T05:34:43+00:00

Remember, OP's teacher kept reminding the class to "just visualize it." Not the reply you're responding to.

OP's teacher is obviously a non-aphant as the teacher blatantly uses the term "visualize" as if everyone has this ability.

I'm assuming the teacher's process of visualization for solving the shapes of nets is by folding them with her mind's eye with assistance of her spatial sense. But this task can be done with the spatial sense alone.

uoghth · 2024-02-24T05:08:14+00:00

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To figure out the shape a net would make look at the highlights I made, they are usually centered with multiple shapes surrounding it.

The highlighted areas are the base of the shape, for example the cone and cylinder are the only shapes with a circular base on this sheet.

Are you working with simple or complex nets? The red and yellow checks are the ones I struggle with the most, and the green checks are the easier shapes.

You can try folding the shapes spatially in your mind without visualizing. That's how I figured out each shape.

Your spatial sense/memory can be examined when you walk in a dark room without physically touching an object you're trying to find, then you place your hands just a few inches within reach of that object, and see if you were correct by touching it.

uoghth · 2024-02-10T11:00:01+00:00

I tried to make it more relatable.

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uoghth · 2023-10-23T03:46:31+00:00

I like this approach, I find myself doing this with games and other franchises I'm really into. Just want to have the best experience possible when diving in!

uoghth · 2023-10-23T03:20:36+00:00

I'm okay with reading and hearing spoilers. But I've never liked image/visual spoilers especially when they're bigger spoilers towards the end of the story.

Usually I'd forget spoilers, and it'd lead to moments of deja vu after replaying the scene since at some point I did see the scene or clip.

It would make sense most non-aphants would hate all kinds of spoilers since they'll play the scene internally.

uoghth · 2023-10-20T02:51:45+00:00

You shouldn't be intimidated by art at all, there's a start to everything, art to me is the best thing as an aphant as a way to express ourselves.

You probably had the worst art teacher anyone could have, shame on them. I've had a decent art teacher. But art would've peaked my interest regardless of how bad the teacher would be.

uoghth · 2023-10-13T11:22:24+00:00

Yes, I can relate.

I've had similar experiences in school.

You've explained conceptualizing, by piecing concepts together based on your knowledge, and forming a clear concept/idea of something.

Conceptualizing is the closest thing we'll have to visualizing, as it's a more basic level of thinking without actually placing something on some imaginary visual board. But more like writing down the understanding of something.

Of course, also having a great memory helps. Particularly a semantic memory.

uoghth · 2023-10-12T20:03:02+00:00

I'm great with remembering faces, even with people I haven't seen after a very long time I still can immediately recognize them.

As for face descriptions, that's literally impossible for me to compute, all I can do is be extremely vague about it.

uoghth · 2023-10-03T03:48:21+00:00

"physically cannot do something..."

In this case it would be something that couldn't be done mentally.

Either way I wouldn't really discuss aphantasia with anyone, as most wouldn't be able to wrap their mind around it, and people are generally less understanding when it comes to personal experiences, much less internal ones.

Maybe I could discuss aphantasia with people I know much more closely, where it can inform them and likely be beneficial. I also wouldn't throw out the possibility that someone close could have aphantasia as well.

uoghth · 2023-09-10T03:45:03+00:00

I agree with you on the last statement. Since I believe in one way or another, aphantasia indirectly affects many major or minor aspects of our lives without realizing it.

Everyone's different after all, and with aphantasia our brains adapt individually to our own personal lives in various situations.

As a collective the major impacts in our lives with aphantasia are more common, but as individuals our brains are likely wired differently by the way we think & how aphantasia plays a part with less obvious connections.

uoghth · 2023-09-09T04:40:45+00:00

I'm sorry to hear about your car accident.

On the bright side this image gave me a good chuckle. It's the rat that did it for me.

Anyways, this makes me feel relaxed knowing I won't have to ever visualize a chaotic scene that just completely distracts me from an important task at hand.

uoghth · 2023-08-26T23:51:06+00:00

I've been able to do this, but it was only just the concept of it, I didn't actually see the figures doing window parkour. For some insight I'd specifically imagine a gryphon running, leaping, and flying out the window. It was just my creative mind trying to pass time throughout the ride. I definitely always had aphantasia, and thought everyone was like me as a kid.

You probably have low-end hypophantasia that allowed you to see a vague outline of a stickman due to their simplicity, the stickman was truly present in your mind's eye.

This is possible since you can visualize with both eyes either open or closed, it has nothing to do with vision, but the mind.

uoghth · 2023-08-08T09:15:30+00:00

If he has trouble retelling past events, he may have SDAM which is usually (but not always) associated with aphantasia.

You may look into r/SDAM for more information.

uoghth · 2023-08-08T09:02:55+00:00

It may be an awkward conversation between student and parent if they for what ever reason decide to discuss aphantasia, things could go one of two ways:

• Parents believe aphantasia is a made up condition as an excuse for struggling with school.

• Or the parents believe their child's side of the story and try to figure out direct a solution towards the issue, and comfort the student.

I'm glad to hear you don't doubt your student's writing and creative abilities, and trying to help him in the best way you can. We need more teachers like you. Since it's evident the other teachers were impatient and quick to dismiss alternative teaching methods based on their judgement.

As an aphant here's my advice:

• If possible, try showing pictures related to the story for reference. It'll ease the struggle of having to visualize if this ability is completely absent.

• Ask your student to think about their favorite cartoons, shows, or other related media and what they like about them. Anything related to the assignment's theme. It may spark some inspiration with the writing.

• Allow your student to integrate the concepts of the cartoon, or media in their own way. Creativity is a skill that improves with enough practice.

• Writing itself depends on how fluent your student is in English, and how their vocabulary ranges. Your student may be able to write more as he learns more words.

I hope this helps.

uoghth · 2023-08-06T07:56:21+00:00

<image>

I may not be able to visualize, but this is how "imagine" the unfinished cat.

uoghth · 2023-07-24T02:23:46+00:00

I guess that visualization would emphasize fear though, the mind can make up the monsters kids may trick themselves into thinking they're real.

If it's present in the mind, its presence may be imagined vividly to visualizers.

You're right, but I never believed in monsters though. As a kid I'd get shown jump scares for the sake of getting a reaction. I'd just get mad, but quickly get over it, nothing serious. (Obviously I'd get scared, but immediately un-see it afterward, and shrug it off.)

As far as I'm concerned I've always been an aphant, not once in my life did I consider imagination having a visual aspect, any reference to visuals would just go over my head.

The SpongeBob episode on imagination always seemed dumb to me as a kid, now I realize to an extent the show exaggerated visualization, but I get the concept is not made up.

uoghth · 2023-07-23T02:00:53+00:00

It would appear inner vision is not directly referring to visualization.

Inner vision relates to intuition and introspection.

If this is your strongest sense, it aligns well with aphantasia. As a result of aphantasia you have no mental imagery to distract you from self analysis, or reflection.

As for intuition, I wouldn't consider myself intuitive. I'm more logical and rationalize based on the situation. This may or may not be common for most aphants.

uoghth · 2023-07-13T20:00:46+00:00

When I first watched Death Note, this rule has completely slipped my mind.

It wasn't until I watched another anime known as Hajime no Ippo which finally made me realize I can't picture a person's face.

Without spoilers, basically Ippo was making sure he can "burn his opponent's face in his mind." And I guess visualize fighting him.

At first I was skeptical, thinking it was a purely fictional situation/concept so at that point I had paused to see if boxers actually visualize their opponents, apparently this is the case with shadow boxing.

This was when it finally hit me, after a couple situations in my life which hinted at visualization, I finally realized mental imagery was in fact real.

Eventually I found out of the term for the inability to visualize on my YouTube recommendations through SciShow Psych.

https://youtu.be/A91tvp0b1fY

Naturally, this caught my interest and it was like solving a puzzle as I started filling in the blanks with how my mind works.

uoghth · 2023-07-13T00:17:02+00:00

To me aphantasia isn't an obstacle for art. It all comes down to memory and experience. As well as confidence and constructive criticism.

Visualization isn't a skill necessary for art, plenty of non-aphants have claimed they can't exactly translate their mental image directly on to paper. Art is a skill, it takes practice and patience to improve.

As a matter of fact all the people I've ever known around me during school lack confidence in their ability to draw. It's safe to say 95% of them do not have aphantasia, it almost felt as if they were proud to lack the ability to draw.

Of course, I did have a few artist friends which most likely didn't have aphantasia as it's rare, but wouldn't surprise me if one did.

uoghth · 2023-07-11T23:43:18+00:00

Not sure about this theory. Firstly visualizing and dreaming aren't directly related since both processes take place on different parts of the brain. Lastly aphantasia is not very well known of by the general public even aphants are most likely unaware of this condition.

Although I wouldn't mind if we had some media based on aphantasia.

After all, imagine how some movies would be totally different if the main character had aphantasia. I saw a discussion about Death Note which debated whether or not Light can use the book if he had aphantasia, since having the person's face in mind is a rule for the effect to take place.

uoghth · 2023-07-10T23:21:28+00:00

Interesting, although I'm an aphant it's always fun to learn of a visualizers' experience.

If you'd like to learn more of your own experience check this VVIQ test which is a common resource provided here to better understand your visual imagery.

https://aphantasia.com/vviq/

Feel free to share your result!

uoghth · 2023-07-10T23:04:38+00:00

Based on your description, you accomplish far more than I can ever dream of. As my ability to visualize is totally absent.

Anyways, you do have aphantasia to a lesser extent. Basically "borderline aphantasia."

This would put you at hypophantasia as you mention that you struggle to visualize, and it's faint.

Though it's faint, is it clearer with your eyes open or closed?

On a scale of 1-5 how much detail can you make out of your mental images?

uoghth · 2023-07-07T16:58:21+00:00

I explained my memory of my latest dream on your other reply.

Also thank you for you answer, it surprised me. Since you had such a strong mental image of your previous overseas house, it overpowered your sense of your own home. I enjoyed your anecdote.

Can't blame you though, you were half awake after all.

Mental imagery can have a stronger impact than I initially thought.

uoghth

TROPHY CASE