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Original poster

What you can see in your minds eye

100 replies

namcybotwinbloom · 12/06/2021 22:23

There was a thread a while ago, I can't find it for love nor money but it was about visualising things in your head.

It was basically you can either see a picture of it in your head or you can't you can just use words to know what it looked like.

I tried this with my DD 7 just now and she's blew my mind.

She said it totally different if her eyes are open are closed.

So if I said can you imagine a green apple, yes she can and she can see it in her mind and describe it but it's different depending on whether he leaves eyes are open or closed!

I always wonder about this now and about people's dreams. Not everyone dreams in colour. Some people can control some of their dreams or wake up and go back to a dream by thinking about it.

I can do this, I've always done it.

Just wondering what everyone else is like?

I dream in colour, have sound, can control most things but not everything and I can see things on my minds eye.

If you read, like me a lot is this because you do this, ie imagine it all in your head like I do and is it linked to how you dream?

OP posts:

Lemonwoe · 12/06/2021 23:23

I don’t see my minds eye with my eyes. I “see” it further up in my head

MarkRuffaloCrumble · 12/06/2021 23:26

If I think of a green Apple I can see a 3D scene in my head, a full representation of a granny smith and I can smell it and feel the waxiness of the skin too. I’m an artist so I think I have a pretty good imagination, which must help.

Original poster

namcybotwinbloom · 13/06/2021 00:26

What do you mean @Lemonwoe can you explain that more? Is it a picture or something else?

OP posts:

Original poster

namcybotwinbloom · 13/06/2021 00:26

@MarkRuffaloCrumble yes I can too.

OP posts:

Original poster

namcybotwinbloom · 13/06/2021 00:28

I'm not an artist. I am creative though. I'm hopefully retraining soon as a florist which I am so excited about!

OP posts:

NotNowPlzz · 13/06/2021 00:33

I can't see anything. I only saw something once which was my daughter when she was a newborn. I was nearly asleep and imagined her in distress and could actually see her in my mind. I've never had that happen before or since.

mybrainhertz · 13/06/2021 00:41

I don't see anything either.

Plinkplonk1234 · 13/06/2021 00:49

I can visualise just about anything, dream in colour, remember the details of rooms and house layouts from years ago. It is different for me too if my eyes are open or closed. I'm very artistic too.

Original poster

namcybotwinbloom · 13/06/2021 00:49

It's so weird isn't it. We are all the same or humans but where our brains are concerned we are all so different. It just blows my mind.

OP posts:

Original poster

namcybotwinbloom · 13/06/2021 00:52

The whole eyes open eyes closed thing, how is it different.

OP posts:

GNCQ · 13/06/2021 00:53

To be fair, when your 7yo DD matures she'll probably have a different perspective.

starray · 13/06/2021 00:56

I thought everyone did this? I mean how can you not 'see' something in your mind's eye?

Plinkplonk1234 · 13/06/2021 00:57

For me eyes open is usually just a visual thing. I just see a green apple. Eyes closed is far more intense. I could taste the apple, smell it, see it in a background, feel autumn leaves and sense the crisp foggy autumn air.

AdaFuckingShelby · 13/06/2021 00:59

I'm with Lemon, I see it in my head but not with my eyes. I dream in detail but I can't tell you with any surety if my dreams are in colour or not. They're definitely not in back and white though. Now I think about it it's really difficult to pin down.

Stroller15 · 13/06/2021 01:15

If you tell me to imagine a green apple, I feel the look or image of it is just out of my reach in my mind. Slightly to the right. I dream very vividly though and can control my dreams. I wonder if my stress and busy-ness has dampened my creative thinking part of my brain, but when I'm switched off/asleep it kicks in again, hence my recent, amazing dreams.

LetMeSewYouToASheet · 13/06/2021 01:28

Wait, what?! Some people don’t see anything when they imagine it? How can they not?! This never occurred to me. Those who say they see nothing: what do you…mean? Like If you tried to picture a green apple, and close your eyes is it just like looking at a black screen?! 🤯

MistySkiesAfterRain · 13/06/2021 01:58

I don't see anything. I can imagine it, kind of like when you were at school doing cretive writing and trying to bring something to mind so you can describe it, so its very selective e.g. prominent feature of green waxy skin and how that feels to touch. I can't visualise a whole apple very well though. I'm quite jealous of those who can. I'm sure its a skill that can be nurtured, not sure how.

NormanCornerstone · 13/06/2021 02:05

I don’t see anything. Even when I’m reading a book with a vivid description of someone I don’t see an image of a person with those characteristics just a general ‘sense’ or feeling of the person

Bythemillpond · 13/06/2021 02:24

I see it in great detail. Imagining a green apple, I see them growing on trees in a sunny orchard. The wind is blowing the leaves. There are people up yellow ladders reaching and picking the apples. There are baskets of apples by the trees.The people are chatting but I don’t hear much of the conversation
I am not at all artistic
I dream in colour and during my dreams I can experience taste and smell

I thought everyone could do this

MrsAvocet · 13/06/2021 02:55

On the same kind of lines, it blew my mind when I realised that when my DS reads music he can actually hear it in his head. To me, it's a code - I can recognise how longva note is, whether it's higher or lower than the one before etc, but it's entirely theoretical- I don't actually hear anything. DS was equally astounded to discover that it's not universal. He'd assumed that everyone hears music i the same way as they hear words when they read to themselves. I guess that's why he has musical talent and I don't!

IAmFleshIAmBone · 13/06/2021 03:32

I actually suffer from what you might call 'maladaptive daydreaming'. I see very vividly in my minds eye - smells, tastes, sounds, a great amount of detail. My dreams are the same and I can feel pain in them too.

transformandriseup · 13/06/2021 04:03

I don't see just nothing but I find it so hard to visualise objects in my mind, and if I do it just stays there for a second and disappears. I enjoy painting/crafting etc. but I am always just copying others as I can't visualise it otherwise. I am actually awful at drawing from memory.

Also it's the same with music like the PP above, I don't hear it and when I play the piano etc I am just pressing keys for the duration of the notes in the music. My brother was different he could just play a song with no notes whatsoever, just by hearing it in his head.

Doublevodka · 13/06/2021 04:07

Interesting thread. My daughter said she feels pain in her dreams and can't believe I don't. I didn't realise anyone could until she told me. My mind has also just been blown, to realise some people don't visualise things. I can't understand how this is possible.

Anordinarymum · 13/06/2021 04:44

@NormanCornerstone

When I read a book I visualise the people and the places, and feel I know them. Then I see the film and feel utterly let down as the stuff in my head is far better

PeriMisabastard · 13/06/2021 05:10

I have total aphantasia, so can not conjure things voluntarily. I have memory recall so can describe eg an apple if asked but I cannot picture it. It’s a recent area of study but quite fascinating.

The opposite is hyperphantasia and I’m so jealous of people who can see things in their kind as clearly as if it were in front of them

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