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Comment by buss | Hacker News Reader

I'm mostly aphantasic: I get brief flashes of images, completely out of my control, and I can't hold onto them; images appear and disappear in a split second. After learning about aphantasia and the very surprising reality that some people can just see whatever they want in their head I started practicing. I've only gotten slightly better in about two years of practice. Best results are as I'm falling asleep, but I still cannot force an image to appear, I just try to hang on to whatever shows up, though it still doesn't last longer than a couple seconds. So this doesn't seem like something one can meaningfully improve through practice :/

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Wow.

Your comment made something click for me: I just realised that I'm losing this ability somehow.

I'm in my late twenties, and as a teenager I was very into reading novels, very dreamy and would daydream constantly about things ( real-world situations, memories, or fantastic ideas).Nowadays I barely get into fiction, pretty much all I read is either technical or essays, and it's been a while since I have a memorable dream. My memory is horrible for personal events too.

I don't know whether this development of my personality is due of barely being able to see something in my mind, or the other way around - but I just tried, and realized that I can't do it anymore. I try to visualize a car, or a landscape, and I just can't, only abstract concepts come to my mind. I'm only getting flashes of an image when trying to "see" familiar faces, like those of my family.

Interesting. I'm in my early 30s and also feel my ability is declining. I recall at age 23 arriving in a new country and being able to recall in detail my whole drive in and first day. Can not imagine such things now. I can recall the day, and move through it, but without colours and few images. The data is there, but I can't see it, if that makes sense.

Any head injuries, antibiotic use or other big changes?

(Not sure about antibiotics, but I did lose some pre sleep visualations after a course of them, I think)

I can relate to a lot you are saying.

I am aphantasic at least since I'm 14. I definitly wasn't (as) aphantasic around the age of 10-12. I used to daydream a lot back then, and when reading fiction I had an image in my mind how those characters looked. In a way I still daydream when I don't constantly distract myself with my phone, I just shifted to "daydreaming" in more abstract concepts instead of visual imagery. And while most of my reading has shifted to technical and other nonfiction work, I very much still enjoy fiction.

Though as I am typing this out I am questioning my motives for liking fiction. I like fiction mostly for exploration of moral and ethics, as well as philosophical questions. Basically I read fiction to further my understanding of the world, which is the same reason I read a lot of non-fiction.

Yes, my experience is very similar. I do enjoy novels and sagas such as A song of Ice and Fire, but what I enjoy is the accumulation of information (plot, lineages, scheming, conspiracies, etc). It's all abstract. I find myself glancing over most of the descriptions, since they're nothing more than empty filler for me.

If I try to play an RPG game now, instead of enjoying the feeling of being inside a new world I'm just eagerly waiting for new plot developments while being frustrated at having to walk through places that the old me would have loved to explore.

Try playing chess. I found the visualisation the game demands to have greatly increased my enjoyment of fiction—the visuals become so much more detailed.

Are you on a low-carb diet by any chance? I only ask because I've been on one for a while and one reason I suspect I'm having similar effects as you're describing is maybe because of long-term consequences of carb restriction.

Nope, doesn't fit for me. I work out and I guess I have a pretty high metabolism because I've always been quite thin, so I put that advantage to good use by not exactly eating clean - I eat plenty of fast food.

It could be some sort of deficiency though.

interesting hypothesis. i have been on keto for quite some time a year ago until i decided that it's not for me as it makes me totally numb and uncreative. and i have complete aphantasia, i don't see anything in my mind at all. but that has always been the case. maybe there is a correlation between the need for carbs and aphantasia? soo, that is very anecdotal - does anybody else share this kind of symptoms when on carb restriction?

Why do you suspect that?

I'm curious if any of the Buddhist visualization techniques would help, particularly vajrayana practices. I can dig some up if you're interested, but they are boring and very rote. You start very simple and small and slowly add features or details one by one until they are static and achievable to whatever you are trying to visualize, but some of these prescribed years of practice. They also don't stop at just visualizations, so it may be irrelevant as well as impractical depending.

I would be very interested in this if you get the time to dig it up.

I'm not aphantasic, but experience something very similiar I guess. Sometimes when I'm exhausted and close to falling asleep, I experience very clear images of either faces or rooms. The faces always belong to people I know personally, change shape, then as soon as I become aware, they fade almost instantly. As for the rooms, I get the impression of being able to see with closed eyes. Usually I'd see my blanket, random items (such as a chocolate bar laying around) and room interior. Again these are very clear, but fade rather quickly.

This phenomenon I found referred to as astral projection[0], mostly in esoteric circles.

[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/AstralProjection/comments/7ofaol/se...

> as soon as I become aware, they fade almost instantly

I have this too. I feel that, for example, if I visualise a room of people I know but when I actually go and look at any detail then the situation goes. My hypothesis is that my immediate memory doesn't have the detail I'm wanting to look at so pushes me away rather than make something up or just give nothing.

The seeing with closed eyes is, I think, just the same but a local location.

These sound like hypnagogic hallucinations. I think they're pretty common, although the precise experience varies by individual.

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