I am going to be 80 in a few weeks and I have had Aphantasia all of my life and found out about it 6 years ago. Since I have traveled the World and created and run two companies, I have found Aphantasia as no problem and I have also had Dyslexia all my life. When I close my eyes I see nothing, never have and never will. I do not remember names. I feel no fear and will immediately respond to any situation that would normally cause fear. My schooling/college background is law, psychology, computer science (Silicon Valley) and Finance. I found a way to control the Dyslexia prior to entering college, but I find it is again a problem with aging and when I am tired. I have never daydreamed in my whole life and I see people only as I first saw them no matter how long I have known them. My past is all in picture form. I have had a great life and have no complaints. At the age of 68 I retired and went off to live in a foreign country I had never visited and did not speak the language. Been in South America 13 years now and could not be happier. Life is an adventure. Make the most of the cards you have been dealt.
That is awesome to hear and I love how Aphantasia once embraced can become a life perk instead of a detriment to life. I didn't think that way in the beginning when I first realized that I had it but that is how I totally feel about it now! Well said, everything has its pros and cons and you need to lean into the pros of the cards you are dealt. Thank you for sharing your experience, I really appreciate it!
@@MasterEverydayLiving Hi! The wonderful TH-cam algorithm just gifted me with the opportunity to watch this super interesting video. I have to admit that I got a bit confused by the ending, where you mentioned that you still experience dreams while you’re asleep. … so you mean visual dreams? Or thoughty dreams? 😅
Aphantasic here. LOVEEEE comics and manga. I love books too but I really cling onto them through the emotions I feel relating to the characters but I can't really visualize the scenes or anything like that. Like some friends talk about the world coming alive to them when they read a good famtasy book and I just don't experience that at all. My wife makes fun of me sometimes and says "oh you probably can't do that/have a hard time doing that because you can't see in your head".
I have just discovered aphantasia and it feels like such an intense realisation. So.mihc makes sens to now. It's interesting to me that you never liked reading, cause I've always been a big reader. I think it's because I focus fully on the story, character devolpment and relationships, without visualising anything. I do also forgot most of the books I read due to bad memory, but in the moment I love it. I've only recently started using various methods to remember experiences as I've had some realisations that other people just remember more than me and it has really negatively impacted my life. Thank you so much for this video
Your experience on reading is so interesting to me because I LOVE reading and always have. I also have complete aphantasia but I also have adhd and I think bc my mom rewarded me with ice cream for reading that got me into it. When I talk to my friends about reading they say it takes time to form the mental images (10 mins or so) and that it can be a barrier for some books. But Ive never had this barrier and it makes me wonder if that is why ppl with aphantasia usually get jobs in science and math fields. Those dry technical papers probably dont inspire the most stimulating mental imagery. But for ppl with aphantasia its no different than reading a chapterbook.
I am kinda happy to learn that poor memory is associated with aphantasia. I thought it was just me, and maybe I will get alzheimers or something. I also pretty much forget any specifics from movies pretty quickly, and after a few months barely remember anything. Have trouble remembering experiences, my friends will talk about relatively minor stuff we did while travelling together and I can't remember and am amazed they can remember so much, but now I have realised most people can remember and its just me ==
It indeed is somewhat of a relief to know that one has Aphantasia when one has felt so "off" in the world compared to other people around you. I highly recommend journaling to any person with Aphantasia. It gives you some objective reference points that you created in life, which are a bit more personal and specific compared to lets say a picture. Cheers!
I just discovered aphantasia and it feels like such a life changing realization. I've always had such a bad memory and honestly thought something was wrong with me. I can't really describe how crazy realising this feels to me, also that there are others who have the same thing
Something that really helped me with my memory was to focus more on things and how I do it, I don't try to store images in my mind, I won't remember that "that girl had a black hair", but I can remember that I said to my self that her hair was black and I really liked it. I won't remember the color of the shirt but I can remember that I didn't like it... and so on
Thanks man. I'm 25 years old and just recently found out that I have aphantasia at first I was stunned but now it made me accept how can I live with it rather than be depressed about it. Before I knew I have aphantasia my favorite hobbies are songwriting and photography. Now it made more sense that's why I love different stuff than most people and this video and others was a big help that I know I'm not alone and I'm not the only one who is coping with it
Thank you… this describes me perfectly. This is the best video on the topic I’ve seen and I can share it with people so they can know how my mind works. I’m grateful.
Very good video. Thanks! I recently found out that I have aphantasia too. It's really difficult to describe what it means to have it. It's so funny how different everyone is, because I love to read. :-D
I really related with this video. I didn't know what aphantasia is, but it explained a lot of stuff , Also, I really enjoyed the video. Keep up the amazing work.
As someone with aphantasia, my memory is actually pretty good, I can recall things pretty accurately from when I was 5 (like what hat I was wearing on a beach), but I think its because I remember the world as a series of facts
That's pretty cool, how deep with the facts do you go with your observations? Does this also apply to people and things around you or do you have a higher fact remembering rate of certain aspects in your life? Like could you remember the people sitting besides you on the beach or is it perhaps mostly remembering details that include yourself? It's always fascinating to realize that we really don't know how our fellow human minds function. Cheers!
@@MasterEverydayLiving honestly the details I remember are just what my brain decides are important lol, like I can remember how old I was when I had mint ice cream for the first time, but I can't remember my SSN lol. I don't have a hard time with people around me though, most of the time I can remember who I was with for most things.
When I close my eyes and imagine, all I see is darkness, but I still have strong imagination. When remembering a story I often don't know if I read the book or watched the movie, I remember them both the same, and they have visuals tied to them, I just don't "see" them. If it's a person or anything I've seen many times, I know what they look like but I can't get to details, it's more a conglomeration of many memories creating a mental image without a visual. I doubt I could help a sketch artist as a witness. Scary movies haunt me, I can't watch them. I love learning but struggle when the learning is entirely verbal. I can "visualize" and create the architecture of a computer system and how all the different components interact, I just don't actually see it, I know it, I just don't visually see it.
I think i have Hyperphantasia.. I can go back and relive moments in the day. I can remember someone i saw once.. But that is kinder dying now that I'm getting older. I remember names faces, smells, texture,tastes, sounds, voices, feelings, thoughts i had at that moment. And sometimes there's a 3rd voice talking though it rarely does
It really is interesting to learn how other people perceive the world! Even though we live together on this planet, every persons perception, experience and journey is a unique one. Make sure to slow down and appreciate and cherish your own mental views as they are fully yours. Have a great day :D
Very helpful Paul.. . Awesome job on the vid. It sounds like your autobiographical / episodic memory is deficient too. As a fellow aphant, I always disliked how I could not remember events and experiences in my life. Photographs were helpful, but there was context around the events other than semantic memory aspects. There is a condition that I'm guessing you're aware of called SDAM (severely deficient autobiographical memory). Many aphantasitcs have this condition as well.
Try reading books written from the first person. These books talk way more about emotions than rely on visuals, so they are interesting for us to read. Try reading books by Nabokov too - he had synesthesia so he blends senses together when he writes and again, these are interesting to us with aphantasia. There are benefits of having aphantasia, but yeah, in general it sucks. It does make reading information heavy text books much easier, but it sucks for reading novels. I have sdam too, and face blindness, so I have no memory of anything really.
Good morning brother! I just found your channel. Could you start a manifesting channel for people with Aphantasia? There's literally no coaches that produce content for people who can't visualize.
Yea... I just figured that out a few years ago. I had to ask a lot of people about this before accepting that most people actually do see things and not just think them.
Being able to visualize something doesn't really have anything to do with whether or not your eyes are closed. It's not like a picture on the inside of your eyelid, but just in your brain. Same as imagining a sound or a smell, only with visual images. At least that's how it is for me. Sometimes what I "see" is a printed word.
Hi Paul, excellent content, thank you for spreading this helpful awareness! As a fellow aphant with similar memory issues I'd like to point out that this is something which can be strengthened through practice. There are many helpful mnemonics that can also be employed to help boost rote memorization. Check out Jonathan Safran-Foer's Moo walking with Einstein for a good introduction to the topic.
Glad you like the content! I will totally check out those topics and people you mentioned. Always down to learn more about myself that I know so little about haha :D
I totally feel ya bud, when I learned about it I had so many questions... Now that I understand my mind further, it has gotten to the point where I frame having Aphantasia as just having different strengths and weaknesses. Not a straight up negative. One thing we are excellent at is to not dwell on the past so I bet you can turn that shit into manure and make the best out of what you have ✨🌱✨ Ya got this!
I dicovered that i have aphantasia fairly recently. I am 23 yo and i have close to none memories from my childhood or teens. I didnt suffer any trauma that would erase memories, at least i don’t remeber haha. I think my lack of long term memories might be corelated with aphantasia, my short term memory is quite decent tho. Do you have similar experience of remebering your childhood less than it is considered normal?
For me, my childhood memories are few and far apart. Only a few KEY memories stick and they are often tied to a certain type of emotion like guilt, shame, pride etc. There was this one memory in middle school where we were supposed to look around our desk and pick up any trash around it. I looked around my desk and saw trash that wasn't mine so I kicked it behind me. Right after that I got called out by the teacher in a "I saw that Paul" way. That for me is a memory I will never forget. Thinking back at it now, even though it was a negative experience, I am pretty sure it impacted my life in a positive way!
I have an inner monologue that is very similar to my own voice. So whenever I am typing comments like this, my inner monologue is voicing out the words as I type and read. It also becomes sometimes a discussion with myself, like me saying internally "I wonder if I should do this".
I have neither a mind's eye nor an inner monologue. It's even super difficult to think words in my mind without making an effort to sound it out silently (i.e., moving my tongue). Much of my thinking doesn't involve words, which may be one reason why it's so hard for me to express my thoughts in detail. Regarding aphantasia, I found it interesting that I navigate using landmarks and have trouble giving directions (even to my house). When I looked into it, it turns out aphantasia affects visual imagery (i.e., episodic memory) but probably doesn't impact spatial and procedural memory. It's likely that I likely use those instead of visualizing.
@@davidmaurice1294Same! Thoughts for me are more of a knowing. Or a searching for thought that then just arrives/appears in my head lol. Also very tied to feelings (this might be common), my thought come in the form of feelings.
I'm a late diagnosed Aphantastic, twice exceptional Neurodivergent. I find it's hard setting goals. Because its hard to see yourself in any future scenario.
From my understanding, often times Hyperphantasia (the other side of the spectrum) is linked with more sensory experiences, while Aphantasia is linked with less. With that said, I can imagine some people probably have Aphantasia (no visuals) while other senses (taste, touch, smell, sound) are still present.
@@MasterEverydayLivingthanks. Going down the rabbit hole now, but so much has clicked into place: - terrible memory, especially for faces and places - difficulty reading, no enjoyment - years of struggle attempting to write fiction - drawing style requiring tons of scribbling - frustration from my father who is definitely hyperphantasic.
@@carktok It really is a mind-blowing realization and once you understand it and how it impacts you, so many things just make sense. Often times it is seen as a negative but I think there are many benefits from it too. I highly recommend journaling. It is a skill that bridges that gap of terrible memory since you are able to linger longer with your experiences, you can recall things by reading your past journal entries and have some points of reference for you to rely on. One of my fav videos that I have made is actually on journaling! Think you would benefit greatly from it! th-cam.com/video/qbFRZhNUcEY/w-d-xo.html Good luck and don't be too hard on yourself. Life is one big learning process and you just unlocked knowledge about yourself that has been present all along :D
There is something called the imagery debate. What exactly constitutes an internal experience of an image is rather problematic. A better experiment would be to 'picture' a lemon or picture biting a lemon, i think most people diagnosed with aphantasia would react in a similar fashion to the rest of the population. There was a study about drawing recollections and compared normal people to aphantasics, there were no differences whatsoever. Which casts further doubt on the whole issue. What exactly would be considered a mental picture and what would not be considered a mental picture is completley subjective, especially given how both aphantasics and normal folk performed the same insofar as drawing what is supposedly 'visualized', Do people diagnosed with aphantasia have low to non-existent empathy is something i wonder after watching the last part of the video.
I have aphantasia and am highly empathetic. My empathy is stronger than most people, I just don't see visual images. What did you hear in the video that made you feel this way? They seem like two entirely different topics to me, like saying people who drive blue cars don't like potato chips.
Aphantasia is the lack of a visual image, but that's not the same as a lack of memory for a visual experience. If I meet someone today and see them again tomorrow I'll still recognize them, and I'll have an idea of their physical appearance in my mind, I just don't see it visually. My mental pictures are knowledge based not visual. It's rather weird really. I can imagine or recall something, but just not in great detail and I don't actually see it.
I’m currently in Geometry, and I have never in my life been good at shapes or art. I found out I had aphantasia a little about a year ago and honestly I notice so much now. Like I love reading but I’m only seeing words, not imagining these great big stories. I hate Geometry because there is no way for me to visualize the shapes and their angles. Idk what to do about it honestly, but I don’t think it’s all that bad. I’ve lived with it this long, and it’s the only way I’ve ever know, so I’m just gonna keep on living life the way I can 🫲🫤🫱
Really appreciate you sharing your experience. The last past of "I'm just gonna keep on living life the way I can" was my acceptance of it too after realizing that I had Aphantasia lol. I really do think Aphantasia gives an edge **ba dum tsss** in other ways 🙃 You might not be able to visualize the shapes or their angles but you then also don't have the bias of your own memories when you see shapes in the real world. Drawing/writing things out really makes experiences "stick" for me, which is why journaling has become such a powerful tool for me as an Aphant. Analytical life observations of my own body and surroundings has also become a cornerstone of my TH-cam journey and I don't think I would have that meticulous skill without Aphantasia. Good luck with finding how Aphantasia can give you an angle in life :3
Very interesting, and very well presented. Loved the popcorn scene, haha...... (which i could relate to 🫣) Something new I learned today. Thank you for enlightening us on this! 😊
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
I am going to be 80 in a few weeks and I have had Aphantasia all of my life and found out about it 6 years ago. Since I have traveled the World and created and run two companies, I have found Aphantasia as no problem and I have also had Dyslexia all my life. When I close my eyes I see nothing, never have and never will. I do not remember names. I feel no fear and will immediately respond to any situation that would normally cause fear. My schooling/college background is law, psychology, computer science (Silicon Valley) and Finance. I found a way to control the Dyslexia prior to entering college, but I find it is again a problem with aging and when I am tired. I have never daydreamed in my whole life and I see people only as I first saw them no matter how long I have known them. My past is all in picture form. I have had a great life and have no complaints. At the age of 68 I retired and went off to live in a foreign country I had never visited and did not speak the language. Been in South America 13 years now and could not be happier. Life is an adventure. Make the most of the cards you have been dealt.
That is awesome to hear and I love how Aphantasia once embraced can become a life perk instead of a detriment to life. I didn't think that way in the beginning when I first realized that I had it but that is how I totally feel about it now! Well said, everything has its pros and cons and you need to lean into the pros of the cards you are dealt. Thank you for sharing your experience, I really appreciate it!
@@MasterEverydayLiving Hi! The wonderful TH-cam algorithm just gifted me with the opportunity to watch this super interesting video. I have to admit that I got a bit confused by the ending, where you mentioned that you still experience dreams while you’re asleep. … so you mean visual dreams? Or thoughty dreams? 😅
Bro is gonna blow up big time, this quality is top notch
Thanks buddd, really appreciate the vote of confidence! Here is a pin for being my first comment EVER on this channel :D
Aphantasic here. LOVEEEE comics and manga. I love books too but I really cling onto them through the emotions I feel relating to the characters but I can't really visualize the scenes or anything like that. Like some friends talk about the world coming alive to them when they read a good famtasy book and I just don't experience that at all. My wife makes fun of me sometimes and says "oh you probably can't do that/have a hard time doing that because you can't see in your head".
@@elijahbowers1 so your mind doesn't taunt you for your past mistakes?
@@simphiwelenz7088 only certain ones usually involving picking the wrong dialogue option ;)
@@simphiwelenz7088 my mind has other issues like anxiety that causes doom spirals.
@@elijahbowers1 so basically there's no difference between us, we just experience life differently that's all
@@simphiwelenz7088 that's a pretty reductionist and somewhat contradictory observation but sure.
I have just discovered aphantasia and it feels like such an intense realisation. So.mihc makes sens to now. It's interesting to me that you never liked reading, cause I've always been a big reader. I think it's because I focus fully on the story, character devolpment and relationships, without visualising anything. I do also forgot most of the books I read due to bad memory, but in the moment I love it. I've only recently started using various methods to remember experiences as I've had some realisations that other people just remember more than me and it has really negatively impacted my life. Thank you so much for this video
Thank you Paul. I tried the test and realized I too have the same trait! Wonderfully explained. What an eye opener. 🙏❤️
Your experience on reading is so interesting to me because I LOVE reading and always have. I also have complete aphantasia but I also have adhd and I think bc my mom rewarded me with ice cream for reading that got me into it. When I talk to my friends about reading they say it takes time to form the mental images (10 mins or so) and that it can be a barrier for some books. But Ive never had this barrier and it makes me wonder if that is why ppl with aphantasia usually get jobs in science and math fields. Those dry technical papers probably dont inspire the most stimulating mental imagery. But for ppl with aphantasia its no different than reading a chapterbook.
I am kinda happy to learn that poor memory is associated with aphantasia. I thought it was just me, and maybe I will get alzheimers or something. I also pretty much forget any specifics from movies pretty quickly, and after a few months barely remember anything. Have trouble remembering experiences, my friends will talk about relatively minor stuff we did while travelling together and I can't remember and am amazed they can remember so much, but now I have realised most people can remember and its just me ==
It indeed is somewhat of a relief to know that one has Aphantasia when one has felt so "off" in the world compared to other people around you. I highly recommend journaling to any person with Aphantasia. It gives you some objective reference points that you created in life, which are a bit more personal and specific compared to lets say a picture. Cheers!
I just discovered aphantasia and it feels like such a life changing realization. I've always had such a bad memory and honestly thought something was wrong with me. I can't really describe how crazy realising this feels to me, also that there are others who have the same thing
Something that really helped me with my memory was to focus more on things and how I do it, I don't try to store images in my mind, I won't remember that "that girl had a black hair", but I can remember that I said to my self that her hair was black and I really liked it. I won't remember the color of the shirt but I can remember that I didn't like it... and so on
I didn't know anything about aphantasia. Nice content, keep going!
The mind is a weird thing +_+ Glad you liked it and will do!! :D
Thanks man. I'm 25 years old and just recently found out that I have aphantasia at first I was stunned but now it made me accept how can I live with it rather than be depressed about it. Before I knew I have aphantasia my favorite hobbies are songwriting and photography. Now it made more sense that's why I love different stuff than most people and this video and others was a big help that I know I'm not alone and I'm not the only one who is coping with it
I appreciate your help and suggestions how to function in this visual world of ours
So interesting! Beautifully presented and explained. 👏👏👏
Thank you… this describes me perfectly. This is the best video on the topic I’ve seen and I can share it with people so they can know how my mind works. I’m grateful.
I have Aphantasia, I love to read, but, it must be a very emotional book that I can feel.
So if it's funny you laugh out loud if it's sad you cry real tears.? Or you experience the feelings internal just not seeing images?
Very good video. Thanks! I recently found out that I have aphantasia too.
It's really difficult to describe what it means to have it.
It's so funny how different everyone is, because I love to read. :-D
I really related with this video. I didn't know what aphantasia is, but it explained a lot of stuff , Also, I really enjoyed the video. Keep up the amazing work.
Thanks bud, glad you liked the video and I really appreciate the comment! The amazing work MUST indeed go on :D
As someone with aphantasia, my memory is actually pretty good, I can recall things pretty accurately from when I was 5 (like what hat I was wearing on a beach), but I think its because I remember the world as a series of facts
That's pretty cool, how deep with the facts do you go with your observations? Does this also apply to people and things around you or do you have a higher fact remembering rate of certain aspects in your life? Like could you remember the people sitting besides you on the beach or is it perhaps mostly remembering details that include yourself?
It's always fascinating to realize that we really don't know how our fellow human minds function. Cheers!
@@MasterEverydayLiving honestly the details I remember are just what my brain decides are important lol, like I can remember how old I was when I had mint ice cream for the first time, but I can't remember my SSN lol. I don't have a hard time with people around me though, most of the time I can remember who I was with for most things.
When I close my eyes and imagine, all I see is darkness, but I still have strong imagination. When remembering a story I often don't know if I read the book or watched the movie, I remember them both the same, and they have visuals tied to them, I just don't "see" them. If it's a person or anything I've seen many times, I know what they look like but I can't get to details, it's more a conglomeration of many memories creating a mental image without a visual. I doubt I could help a sketch artist as a witness. Scary movies haunt me, I can't watch them. I love learning but struggle when the learning is entirely verbal. I can "visualize" and create the architecture of a computer system and how all the different components interact, I just don't actually see it, I know it, I just don't visually see it.
🙏🏼Paul, just recently found out I have aphantasia at 69 years young. Yeah explains so much. Wow! Great video!
100% the same as you here. I was shocked when I read about Aphantasia the first time a couple of years ago. I was "IT'S NOT ALL METAPHOR"......LOL
Hahaaa, yea and everyone who was describing things they were imagining WEREN'T just pulling things out of their arse xD
Really underrated channel - amazing video quality.
Glad you like the quality of content and super appreciate the comment! Cheers :D
I think i have Hyperphantasia.. I can go back and relive moments in the day. I can remember someone i saw once.. But that is kinder dying now that I'm getting older. I remember names faces, smells, texture,tastes, sounds, voices, feelings, thoughts i had at that moment. And sometimes there's a 3rd voice talking though it rarely does
It really is interesting to learn how other people perceive the world! Even though we live together on this planet, every persons perception, experience and journey is a unique one. Make sure to slow down and appreciate and cherish your own mental views as they are fully yours. Have a great day :D
Well explained, and nicely broken down, Paul! Well done! 👏👏👏
3:09 i relate to this A LOT...
Very helpful Paul.. . Awesome job on the vid. It sounds like your autobiographical / episodic memory is deficient too. As a fellow aphant, I always disliked how I could not remember events and experiences in my life. Photographs were helpful, but there was context around the events other than semantic memory aspects. There is a condition that I'm guessing you're aware of called SDAM (severely deficient autobiographical memory). Many aphantasitcs have this condition as well.
Try reading books written from the first person. These books talk way more about emotions than rely on visuals, so they are interesting for us to read. Try reading books by Nabokov too - he had synesthesia so he blends senses together when he writes and again, these are interesting to us with aphantasia.
There are benefits of having aphantasia, but yeah, in general it sucks. It does make reading information heavy text books much easier, but it sucks for reading novels.
I have sdam too, and face blindness, so I have no memory of anything really.
Sounds good and the book type makes lots of sense. I'll check out some books by Nabokov. Thanks for the recommendation :D
Good morning brother! I just found your channel. Could you start a manifesting channel for people with Aphantasia? There's literally no coaches that produce content for people who can't visualize.
Wait… people can visualize things when they close their eyes??
I thought everybody can only see darkness when they close their eyes
Haha that was my reaction too when I found out... Welcome to the Aphantasia club +_____+
Yea... I just figured that out a few years ago. I had to ask a lot of people about this before accepting that most people actually do see things and not just think them.
Being able to visualize something doesn't really have anything to do with whether or not your eyes are closed. It's not like a picture on the inside of your eyelid, but just in your brain. Same as imagining a sound or a smell, only with visual images. At least that's how it is for me. Sometimes what I "see" is a printed word.
Hi Paul, excellent content, thank you for spreading this helpful awareness!
As a fellow aphant with similar memory issues I'd like to point out that this is something which can be strengthened through practice. There are many helpful mnemonics that can also be employed to help boost rote memorization. Check out Jonathan Safran-Foer's Moo walking with Einstein for a good introduction to the topic.
Glad you like the content! I will totally check out those topics and people you mentioned. Always down to learn more about myself that I know so little about haha :D
i have aphantasia too and this has really explained a lot of shit in my life T_T
I totally feel ya bud, when I learned about it I had so many questions... Now that I understand my mind further, it has gotten to the point where I frame having Aphantasia as just having different strengths and weaknesses. Not a straight up negative.
One thing we are excellent at is to not dwell on the past so I bet you can turn that shit into manure and make the best out of what you have ✨🌱✨ Ya got this!
I dicovered that i have aphantasia fairly recently. I am 23 yo and i have close to none memories from my childhood or teens. I didnt suffer any trauma that would erase memories, at least i don’t remeber haha. I think my lack of long term memories might be corelated with aphantasia, my short term memory is quite decent tho. Do you have similar experience of remebering your childhood less than it is considered normal?
For me, my childhood memories are few and far apart. Only a few KEY memories stick and they are often tied to a certain type of emotion like guilt, shame, pride etc.
There was this one memory in middle school where we were supposed to look around our desk and pick up any trash around it. I looked around my desk and saw trash that wasn't mine so I kicked it behind me. Right after that I got called out by the teacher in a "I saw that Paul" way. That for me is a memory I will never forget. Thinking back at it now, even though it was a negative experience, I am pretty sure it impacted my life in a positive way!
Great video! Very well explained.
Is your aphantasia isolated to visualization? Do you have inner monologues or mostly unsymbolized thoughts?
I have an inner monologue that is very similar to my own voice. So whenever I am typing comments like this, my inner monologue is voicing out the words as I type and read. It also becomes sometimes a discussion with myself, like me saying internally "I wonder if I should do this".
I have neither a mind's eye nor an inner monologue. It's even super difficult to think words in my mind without making an effort to sound it out silently (i.e., moving my tongue). Much of my thinking doesn't involve words, which may be one reason why it's so hard for me to express my thoughts in detail. Regarding aphantasia, I found it interesting that I navigate using landmarks and have trouble giving directions (even to my house). When I looked into it, it turns out aphantasia affects visual imagery (i.e., episodic memory) but probably doesn't impact spatial and procedural memory. It's likely that I likely use those instead of visualizing.
@@MasterEverydayLiving I find that so fascinating!
@@davidmaurice1294Same! Thoughts for me are more of a knowing. Or a searching for thought that then just arrives/appears in my head lol. Also very tied to feelings (this might be common), my thought come in the form of feelings.
I'm a late diagnosed Aphantastic, twice exceptional Neurodivergent. I find it's hard setting goals. Because its hard to see yourself in any future scenario.
I once dated a guy who couldn’t remember faces…even his mother’s.
What if I can feel and taste the apple but I can't see it? That would still be aphantasia, correct?
From my understanding, often times Hyperphantasia (the other side of the spectrum) is linked with more sensory experiences, while Aphantasia is linked with less. With that said, I can imagine some people probably have Aphantasia (no visuals) while other senses (taste, touch, smell, sound) are still present.
@@MasterEverydayLivingthanks. Going down the rabbit hole now, but so much has clicked into place:
- terrible memory, especially for faces and places
- difficulty reading, no enjoyment
- years of struggle attempting to write fiction
- drawing style requiring tons of scribbling
- frustration from my father who is definitely hyperphantasic.
@@carktok It really is a mind-blowing realization and once you understand it and how it impacts you, so many things just make sense. Often times it is seen as a negative but I think there are many benefits from it too.
I highly recommend journaling. It is a skill that bridges that gap of terrible memory since you are able to linger longer with your experiences, you can recall things by reading your past journal entries and have some points of reference for you to rely on. One of my fav videos that I have made is actually on journaling! Think you would benefit greatly from it! th-cam.com/video/qbFRZhNUcEY/w-d-xo.html
Good luck and don't be too hard on yourself. Life is one big learning process and you just unlocked knowledge about yourself that has been present all along :D
There is something called the imagery debate. What exactly constitutes an internal experience of an image is rather problematic. A better experiment would be to 'picture' a lemon or picture biting a lemon, i think most people diagnosed with aphantasia would react in a similar fashion to the rest of the population. There was a study about drawing recollections and compared normal people to aphantasics, there were no differences whatsoever. Which casts further doubt on the whole issue. What exactly would be considered a mental picture and what would not be considered a mental picture is completley subjective, especially given how both aphantasics and normal folk performed the same insofar as drawing what is supposedly 'visualized',
Do people diagnosed with aphantasia have low to non-existent empathy is something i wonder after watching the last part of the video.
Some people would just imagine on a piece of paper with a pen.
I’m not diagnosed, but I have the signs of what would be described as such, and I’m definitely an empathic person, I don’t know about others though.
I have aphantasia and am highly empathetic. My empathy is stronger than most people, I just don't see visual images. What did you hear in the video that made you feel this way? They seem like two entirely different topics to me, like saying people who drive blue cars don't like potato chips.
Aphantasia is the lack of a visual image, but that's not the same as a lack of memory for a visual experience. If I meet someone today and see them again tomorrow I'll still recognize them, and I'll have an idea of their physical appearance in my mind, I just don't see it visually. My mental pictures are knowledge based not visual. It's rather weird really. I can imagine or recall something, but just not in great detail and I don't actually see it.
I’m currently in Geometry, and I have never in my life been good at shapes or art. I found out I had aphantasia a little about a year ago and honestly I notice so much now. Like I love reading but I’m only seeing words, not imagining these great big stories. I hate Geometry because there is no way for me to visualize the shapes and their angles. Idk what to do about it honestly, but I don’t think it’s all that bad. I’ve lived with it this long, and it’s the only way I’ve ever know, so I’m just gonna keep on living life the way I can
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Really appreciate you sharing your experience. The last past of "I'm just gonna keep on living life the way I can" was my acceptance of it too after realizing that I had Aphantasia lol.
I really do think Aphantasia gives an edge **ba dum tsss** in other ways 🙃 You might not be able to visualize the shapes or their angles but you then also don't have the bias of your own memories when you see shapes in the real world. Drawing/writing things out really makes experiences "stick" for me, which is why journaling has become such a powerful tool for me as an Aphant. Analytical life observations of my own body and surroundings has also become a cornerstone of my TH-cam journey and I don't think I would have that meticulous skill without Aphantasia.
Good luck with finding how Aphantasia can give you an angle in life :3
Very interesting, and very well presented. Loved the popcorn scene, haha...... (which i could relate to 🫣) Something new I learned today. Thank you for enlightening us on this! 😊