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deicist t1_j2aqqc9 wrote

I have Aphantasia, I have no idea what characters / scenes in books 'look' like.

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dgz345 t1_j2b5na7 wrote

Same. Random question do you usually listen to music? While working or gaming?

And can you hear voices in your head? (have inner monologues)

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SeanBrax t1_j2c0q4a wrote

Inner monologues aren’t specific to people with Aphantasia btw, I have them all the time.

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Billybobjimjoejeffjr t1_j2bjq14 wrote

I also have aphantasia. I usually do listen to music while gaming if i get tired of the games music (usually when playing roguelikes). I also listen to music while doing pretty much anything i dont like doing to entertain myself.

Also i got an inner monologue.

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dgz345 t1_j2ctcok wrote

Ok so I do not have inner monologues. Its quiet all the time for me on the head. Me myself I can't really lisen to music while playing games because I can't concentrate then.

I guess it's not connected with aphantasia.

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Billybobjimjoejeffjr t1_j2cxr1x wrote

Yeah people with and without aphantasia can have a quiet mind or a inner monologue.

When youre really focused thinking about something do you think in words then? or is it some kind of other thought process? Ive heard people usually think in images when they dont have an inner monologue but i guess that wouldn't be how you do it.

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dgz345 t1_j2d6axm wrote

I "speak" the words with closed mouth when I think. I think. It feels like the muscles in my throat is moving sightly when I think. So when I'm thinking I'm speaking for myself kinda. It's hard for me to think stuff if I'm trying to not move my muscles in the throat kinda.

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Billybobjimjoejeffjr t1_j2db6le wrote

Thats interesting. I do that sometimes when im thinking about talking. When I get too focused on it i'll start mouthing and making facial expressions.

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nightsky77 t1_j2d3vbe wrote

I wrote an essay about this based on this research:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34721222/

Your condition is called anauralia. I looked it up because I’m aphantasic and just talk to myself all the time.

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dgz345 t1_j2d6wzy wrote

Interesting I'll read the full text soon. I hate reading :) but I read the abstract. I'm shit at short term memory I think but my longterm memory is kinda good I would say. I don't really listen to music and I don't plan stuff but my logic thinking is considered great. I've always had an easy time for maths and patten recognition.

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deicist t1_j2cxaal wrote

I listen to music while driving but that's about it, I work in silence.

I don't have an internal monologue, and I don't vocalise while reading.

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MCatsRCool t1_j2d9o1p wrote

i have aphantasia, i listen to music while gaming and i have an inner monologue

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Wanderervenom t1_j2b4olf wrote

I didn't know there was a term for this. I don't picture the characters neither, I just live in a world of words when I read. I don't picture anything, yet I greatly enjoy what I read anyhow. Upon reading the description, I don't have aphanasia. I can imagine things if I wish. I can picture a horse's face in my head. I just don't picture anything while reading.

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12soea t1_j2c1wfi wrote

Rotate a cow

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jumpsteadeh t1_j2ci01m wrote

Did my brain invent a cow or am I remembering a cow I saw elsewhere?

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MJLDat t1_j2djzjq wrote

For me it’s the Twister cow, always is.

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jumpsteadeh t1_j2e5fop wrote

Man, there was an internet video where a lady is freaked out by a horse sticking its head in the car window, saying "oh no, a cow", and she gets so scared, then turns around and there's another horse in the other car window that makes her scream - but I can never find it again.

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BeefyIrishman t1_j2d1gzg wrote

I don't have aphantasia, but rather a fairly active mind (likely due at least partially to my ADHD), and I just want to thank you for getting the image of a cow floating 3 feet above the ground slowly rotating in circles stuck in my head. That's what is going to be stuck in my head as I'm trying to fall asleep.

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Slimeredit t1_j2c9ou4 wrote

I can get like a vague barely visible imprint of rotation but that’s about it

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12soea t1_j2c9y0p wrote

I’m sorry for your loss

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Slimeredit t1_j2cayak wrote

I’m going to be honest I’ve always just pictured things less as pictures and more of motion lines in my head like lines of flying and other stuff

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Wanderervenom t1_j2c2emn wrote

O.K. Fades in and out. Keeps turning into a cartoon pic.

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Kumquatelvis t1_j2ckiv5 wrote

Same boat. I have to check the cover art to know what the characters look like. Was easier in the 80’s when fantasy book usually showed the main characters in a heroic pose.

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ven_zr t1_j2cyod7 wrote

I'm very interested in this term for a few years now. I have a 3D brain (near full control over my visual cortex while awake) so it's a bit difficult to comprehend. Question. When you recall a memory. Say like a movie scene or an action you just did from a few seconds ago. How is like in your thoughts process?

I not only can recall a memory but I have so many spatial references that I can set up "cameras" and change the camera scenes pov for my entertainment. It does have flaws. As sometimes my imagination overlap the actual observations leading into dyslexia.

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AttentionSpanZero t1_j2dhtq0 wrote

It's hard to describe what memories are like to people who don't have aphantasia. I remember things, but I don't visualize them. It's like knowing how many coins are on a table and the denominations but they are covered with a black cloth. All I "see" is the cloth, but I recall that I did see something before they were covered. I can't "see" a scene over again. I also only recall specific details if I noted them the first time. I recognize someone I know, but don't ask me to describe them in detail. You'll get very generic feedback.

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ThrowJed t1_j2djfh0 wrote

Yeah it's almost like you remember the concept of the thing rather than the thing itself.

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ven_zr t1_j2dm0an wrote

That's the best explanation I heard yet. Its amazing how that is opposite on how I comprehend. I have to "see" it to grasp the concepts of meanings. Example if reading a sentence doesn't translate to visually, the words are meaningless and might as well be a foreign language.

My wife recently found out this term amphatasia but wasn't ever able to explain it well with me.

I wonder. Do you "see" dreams?

Edit: Oh another question! I have issues remember names or remember sentences Ive read but yet I can even remember minor details on faces. Is it the opposite with you?

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AttentionSpanZero t1_j2dsez1 wrote

I do have dreams that are visual, but they are quite vague and I have a hard time remembering what I dreamt once I wake up. I don't think I've ever had a vivid dream, but they do vary a bit in detail. Oddly enough, I'll sometimes know someone in my dream but they are often portrayed by an actor I might have seen more recently on television. At least I'll feel like it's that actor since I can't see them very well. But I have no visualization at all while I'm awake.

I remember concepts from what I have read very well, but not exact sentences. I'm also bad with names. I'm actually very good at remembering faces, but only on seeing them directly. I don't know which details make them familiar, just that I recognize them. So I'll often recognize someone I met only once before if I see them in person. But I won't usually remember their name.

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