Aphantasia: A life without mental images..
A BBC Program (www.bbc.com/news/health-34039054) compared how most people can readily conjure images inside their head, but others only get a blank screen in their “mind’s eye”
Scientists have described this condition, now called aphantasia, as a condition where you are unable to visualise mental images.
The BBC Program asked us to: Close your eyes and imagine walking along a sandy beach and then gazing over the horizon as the Sun rises. How clear is the image that springs to mind?
My partner had a clear photo image in her mind, very bright and very clear.
I had a black screen in my mind, same as normal.
I say normal, as it is what I have always considered as normal, but now I know that I am one of the few that has no “minds eye”.
Now, when we talk about things, I am realising that I am missing out on something.
It has also made me think about how I always carried my daughters photo in my wallet, I wasn’t able to picture her in my mind.
My mind is racing at how much in life I can’t see in my memory, and how much others CAN see from their past.
The BBC article is an interesting read, but for those without the ability to see images in their mind, it may be a bit depressing to realise this truth in life, that we never knew before.
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