Do you have a "mind's eye"?

[CurlewKate]

I was just listening to a podcast where someone said they have no mind's eye- they can't visualise things in their heads. Apparently, some people can visualise something in colour and 3d, some in colour and 2d, some in black and white 2d, some just as a hazy image and some not at all-no image at all, just words. I realise that now I can't think about which I might be....I THINK I'm 3d colour, but I don't know! You?

It's called aphantasia (?) or something like that

Checking back in because this thread is fascinating. On the question of the link with neurodiversity: I have very blurry minds eye, but also have adhd (diagnosed) autistic traits (undiagnosed), vivid imagination in other forms and maladaptive daydreaming. I also dream visually and for some reason find it easier to remember a dream image than a real one.

Yes, Dr Adam Zeman is the academic who has worked on it.

I have no mind's eye, I see only black.
I have ADHD.
I dream in pictures.
I have an inner monologue.
I'm also very creative and have an artistic flair, this amazes my husband as he doesn't understand how I can draw something from memory if I can't "see" it.

I have a mild obsession with photographs, taking them and looking at them. I assume because I can't see the memory in my head. I look back at photos of my children and can't remember them looking like that. I don't know of that's everyone's experience or just mine as I can't visualise memories.

I didn't realise this was a thing! I always hear my voice in my head as I'm reading (even as I type this) does this mean some people do not?! How do the words go in? 😂

Don't feel bad. I only recently discovered this was a thing. I cannot see anything 'in my mind' it is black that's it or red if it's bright out.

But when I have done things in the past that have told me to visualise/ picture something. Say a beautiful beach, I can remember West Wittering beach as a child. I can remember what it looked like but I don't actually see it in my head. I had no idea people were actually seeing that beach in their head not just describing it to themselves.

It’s just a black space inside my head too. I can’t visualise anyone. What does that mean? I can read or sing silently to myself so I have got an inner voice. Just no inner movie or projector screen…

I constantly have conversations with people in my head. I imagine both sides of the conversation.

Me too! The conversations in my head are never ending. It's ironic, because I'm actually pretty quiet in real life! It's also a bit of a nuisance, because my innner dialogue constantly distracts me from what I'm trying to concentrate on, eg a podcast or one of my DC telling me something.

Re my mind's eye, if somebody mentions something it conjures up a colour image immediately but I think it's 2D rather than 3D, so more like a photograph. I can also "walk around" houses that I've lived in previously, down roads that I know etc - like Google streetview in my head (but not as accurate)

Mine is TOO vivid...also with 'surround sound' 🤣

I have a constant internal monologue...I can also be singing a song in my head, add the orchestral score and plan a two-way conversation (in two voices) all at the same time. It's exhausting being me!

Look up aphantasia.

I can see in 3d . I thought everyone could. It’s so hard to imagine not being able to. I joined an art class and people were amazed I don’t need to copy a picture. I have a reputation for being weird and different.
Also the internal monologue I can’t imagine turning it off. It would be like being brain dead.

I don't know if this will help.

People use the phrase 'falling in love'.
If in reality:
A percentage of people actually felt the sensation of falling, making the phrase literal to them.
A percentage of people do not feel the falling sensation, they believe it is just a colourful phrase/metaphor.
Neither group discusses the sensation. Both groups still consider themselves to 'fall in love'.

I think it is something similar with this situation of 'imagining/picturing/visualising'.

This is outing, but I only discovered the difference when I was explaining to my children that the memories playing like videos in inside out was just a movie thing, not a real life thing and my friends confirmed that (for some at least) the concept is accurate. I was mid 30s and had no idea.

I do this too, almost exactly like the image in the link - I have a good sense of 3d spatial images too. As a child I used to see numbers in colours and clear, vivid coloured images of words.

The opposite of aphantasia is hyperphantasia - DH has it. It’s impressive to me (particularly when he uses the Roman rooms trick to remember things) but can mean that he catastrophises, particularly if tired. His brain just goes into overdrive imagining the worst potential outcomes of events.

I did a thread on this a few years ago ( probably under a different name ) I don't have one , I can't even summon up my dh face with my eyes closed ,.
I of course know what his features are and can think in my head xx age , dark hair , needs a cut , needs a shave , ok looking etc but even if he is sat right next to me and I close my eyes , I don't have the minds eye to see him .
I do however have good dreams and I'm sure they are all visually fine .

That has just reminded me. I am really good at directions. If I need to go to an unknown place but know the general area, I can picture it in relation to NESW and then nearby places. It’s like a 3D Waze pops up in my head. Once I have been there once, I can visualise it again. My DH is always amazed when I am giving directions because I visualise the route.

It can also be exhausting as I complete every trip in my mind before I complete it irl. This happens daily and means I do tasks like shopping in the supermarket twice (mentally then physically). I did think this could be linked to ADHD but now I wonder if I just have an overactive minds eye.

Can I ask a question? When those of you with no mind’s eye go for a walk/run or drive somewhere in your locality (I.e somewhere you know and don’t need a Satnav for it) how do you visualise the route? In my head if I am planning a route to e.g pick up DC from an activity, I see the junctions etc in my head.

@Myhouseismyprison - woah that is some cross post right there!!

When those of you with no mind’s eye go for a walk/run or drive somewhere in your locality (I.e somewhere you know and don’t need a Satnav for it) how do you visualise the route?

I can't. This is probably why I'm absolutely terrible with directions and always getting lost. If I've been somewhere many times then I'll be on autopilot but if not then I'll have to remember things like "turn left after the train station".

Until your post, I had no idea that everyone didn't have this. I just thought it was normal.

I have so many questions!

@Libre2
Because you do those things with your eyes open.
I'll explain it as seeing a rose . Then close your eyes and muster up the image . If you can bring up an actual rose , see the shape , colour , stem etc but those without a minds eye can't bring up the image. We know what a rose looks like but close your eyes and all you get is the dark / blackness.

I’ve got an incredibly good sense of direction, the joke was I should have been a black cab driver. But also aphantasia.

It’s odd, it’s like a physical memory not mental. Like I just know it’s left here. It also applies when I’ve never been somewhere before, I had no trouble navigating around San Francisco for example.

Wonder if I’ve tapped into the earth’s magnetic field, like migrating birds?

I used to have a wonderful mind's eye before I lost it, but a dreadful sense of direction... and I still don't have one now lol. God knows how I'd cope without sat nav - i can just about map read ok but I'd dread getting lost!

I see in colours (but mostly blue, not exactly in technicolor) and in 3D.
However it's a very narrow field, a bit like if I was watching through a tube.

I'm a designer, no idea whether I'm ND or NT, I have a very good memory, very strong imagination and creativity and I constantly have conversations in my head, but in an overwhelming way.

I wonder if blind people have a mind's eye? So if, for example, they know what faces are like through touch (hair on top, nose in the middle, ears on each side, chin at the bottom etc), can they picture a face in their mind's eye?

And what about people who once had sight, but have lost it? Would their mind's eye be particularly well-developed because they use it all the time, I wonder?