No, certainly not. It’s a condition known as aphantasia, and isn’t something that can be cured with practice. I have a lifetime of practice in conceptualizing in a different way though. I don’t feel that I’m missing out on anything really, just experiencing the world differently. I didn’t even know that I was any different than most until I was an adult, and a friend of mine made me realize it.
Someone with aphantasia might be able to learn how to conceptualize in a different way, but I don’t think you can train what’s not there, any more than a blind person could train themselves to see. There isn’t a lot of study into it though, and I’ve found it difficult to get solid information on my condition, so perhaps there’s more to learn. Why, for example, do I have a very vivid imagination of sounds? I can imagine an entire song in all of its different instruments as if I could hear it, but I can’t even conceive even a little bit of what it means to see something in my head.
I’ve had it explained to me very often by people with varying degrees of sincerity or understanding, and I still don’t quite get it. Is it like dreaming, or like a hallucination, or like an image you can’t really see but still know is there? It’s foreign to me, and no description I’ve heard makes it clear. I dream quite clearly and in color, but that’s like I’m there experiencing it in person. I’d love to learn more about aphantasia, especially since my fiancée has the opposite, hyperphantasia, and it would be nice to more easily collaborate as artists.
What others have found interesting in the past is how I conceptualize spaces around me, especially when imagining things like my DnD campaign that I run. I don’t see things in my head visually, but more have a general special sense of them. I don’t need to visualize my foot or my hand to know where it is. I don’t need to visualize the wall of my room that I’m very familiar with; even with my eyes closed I know my relative position in the space and can find the light switch in the dark, or the fan. It’s the same for my spacial reasoning. I can navigate the world perfectly fine, or conceptualize a fictional DnD battle, not visually, but more like through touch, though that’s not exactly the sensation. I cannot rotate the proverbial cube in my mind, but I can conceive of what another face might feel like, and, if it’s not too TMI, I have a very good mental map of my fiancée’s body, and could draw her accurately, even if I can’t see her.
Thanks for explaining so clearly. I hope someone does their thesis on this stuff, it really is fascinating.
I don’t know if you’re familiar with drafting, but when you draw elevations, it’s a flat version of 3d objects. I couldn’t really read a map until after I learned how to read elevations. You’re sort of pushing through and bringing forward objects from a flat drawing. It’s also a section, so it’s cut through a certain point of a floor plan. I could understand floor plans easily for some reason, but elevations and details were super hard. Then something clicked and I could read maps and all of the different types of drawings. I even remember where I was. Our brains are wild.
Someone with aphantasia might be able to learn how to conceptualize in a different way, but I don’t think you can train what’s not there, any more than a blind person could train themselves to see. There isn’t a lot of study into it though, and I’ve found it difficult to get solid information on my condition, so perhaps there’s more to learn. Why, for example, do I have a very vivid imagination of sounds? I can imagine an entire song in all of its different instruments as if I could hear it, but I can’t even conceive even a little bit of what it means to see something in my head.
That is so fascinating. I think I understand now, I probably couldn’t train myself to do the sound thing. I asked a friend with what you have to tell me what his home looked like growing up and he said it was white. I asked him if he could picture that home when he said it and he told me that no, it was like memorizing times tables, it’s just a fact. It blows my mind how our brains work.
As far as collaborating on the art, don’t discount the sounds, you could focus on that and your fiance could focus on the visuals. What a cool blend of talents.
Thank you for your genuine curiosity! I like talking about things like this, and it’s nice to not be confronted by people telling me I’m wrong about my own mind. As far as my fiancée, we do collaborate using music as well! I’m a musician and play dozens of instruments, all of which I hang around our house among her drawings and paintings. We like to mix her animation and my music.
There are so many quirky things about humans, I would never tell you you’re wrong. I want your sound thing and to keep my visual thing, lol. I was hoping we could learn like that guy who went blind and learned echo location.
There were some recent studies that early childhood trauma can cause it, which would explain why I suffer from aphantasia. Or I’m “lucky” to just inherit the bad genes.
And funny enough, my partner also has hyperphantasia.
A random thought, one thing that recently occurred to me, I often forget were I’ve placed things, that’s because usually people just picture where they’ve seen them. At least my partner does that.
Fascinating. I do have a lot of childhood trauma, though I wouldn’t consider it “early” childhood. And I do misplace things often, though that might be more due to ADHD or my general scatterbrained forgetfulness.
No, certainly not. It’s a condition known as aphantasia, and isn’t something that can be cured with practice. I have a lifetime of practice in conceptualizing in a different way though. I don’t feel that I’m missing out on anything really, just experiencing the world differently. I didn’t even know that I was any different than most until I was an adult, and a friend of mine made me realize it.
Someone with aphantasia might be able to learn how to conceptualize in a different way, but I don’t think you can train what’s not there, any more than a blind person could train themselves to see. There isn’t a lot of study into it though, and I’ve found it difficult to get solid information on my condition, so perhaps there’s more to learn. Why, for example, do I have a very vivid imagination of sounds? I can imagine an entire song in all of its different instruments as if I could hear it, but I can’t even conceive even a little bit of what it means to see something in my head.
I’ve had it explained to me very often by people with varying degrees of sincerity or understanding, and I still don’t quite get it. Is it like dreaming, or like a hallucination, or like an image you can’t really see but still know is there? It’s foreign to me, and no description I’ve heard makes it clear. I dream quite clearly and in color, but that’s like I’m there experiencing it in person. I’d love to learn more about aphantasia, especially since my fiancée has the opposite, hyperphantasia, and it would be nice to more easily collaborate as artists.
What others have found interesting in the past is how I conceptualize spaces around me, especially when imagining things like my DnD campaign that I run. I don’t see things in my head visually, but more have a general special sense of them. I don’t need to visualize my foot or my hand to know where it is. I don’t need to visualize the wall of my room that I’m very familiar with; even with my eyes closed I know my relative position in the space and can find the light switch in the dark, or the fan. It’s the same for my spacial reasoning. I can navigate the world perfectly fine, or conceptualize a fictional DnD battle, not visually, but more like through touch, though that’s not exactly the sensation. I cannot rotate the proverbial cube in my mind, but I can conceive of what another face might feel like, and, if it’s not too TMI, I have a very good mental map of my fiancée’s body, and could draw her accurately, even if I can’t see her.
Thanks for explaining so clearly. I hope someone does their thesis on this stuff, it really is fascinating.
I don’t know if you’re familiar with drafting, but when you draw elevations, it’s a flat version of 3d objects. I couldn’t really read a map until after I learned how to read elevations. You’re sort of pushing through and bringing forward objects from a flat drawing. It’s also a section, so it’s cut through a certain point of a floor plan. I could understand floor plans easily for some reason, but elevations and details were super hard. Then something clicked and I could read maps and all of the different types of drawings. I even remember where I was. Our brains are wild.
That is so fascinating. I think I understand now, I probably couldn’t train myself to do the sound thing. I asked a friend with what you have to tell me what his home looked like growing up and he said it was white. I asked him if he could picture that home when he said it and he told me that no, it was like memorizing times tables, it’s just a fact. It blows my mind how our brains work.
As far as collaborating on the art, don’t discount the sounds, you could focus on that and your fiance could focus on the visuals. What a cool blend of talents.
Thank you for your genuine curiosity! I like talking about things like this, and it’s nice to not be confronted by people telling me I’m wrong about my own mind. As far as my fiancée, we do collaborate using music as well! I’m a musician and play dozens of instruments, all of which I hang around our house among her drawings and paintings. We like to mix her animation and my music.
There are so many quirky things about humans, I would never tell you you’re wrong. I want your sound thing and to keep my visual thing, lol. I was hoping we could learn like that guy who went blind and learned echo location.
There were some recent studies that early childhood trauma can cause it, which would explain why I suffer from aphantasia. Or I’m “lucky” to just inherit the bad genes.
And funny enough, my partner also has hyperphantasia.
A random thought, one thing that recently occurred to me, I often forget were I’ve placed things, that’s because usually people just picture where they’ve seen them. At least my partner does that.
Fascinating. I do have a lot of childhood trauma, though I wouldn’t consider it “early” childhood. And I do misplace things often, though that might be more due to ADHD or my general scatterbrained forgetfulness.