Not spooked by Halloween ghost stories? You may have aphantasia | Hacker News Reader

Not spooked by Halloween ghost stories? You may have aphantasia

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6 pointsdaverol10 comments

As someone who thought they had aphantasia, nobody truly has it. Can you think of what a McDonald’s/Apple logo looks like? Can you think of what a computer/phone looks like? What is the shape of Italy?

If you think you have, it your visualization likely just isn’t strong, you are able to visualize weakly, and you probably lost stronger visualization and imagination over lack of its use. Use it or lose it. You can get it back if you want.

This doesn’t seem like a very useful characterization. To the best of my knowledge, visualization ability falls on a spectrum, and some are better than others. Aphantasia is a useful word to describe a low ability to visualize. Just because you aren’t at zero doesn’t mean you’re average. (Also, for the record, I find the things you describe very difficult. McDonald’s/Apple logos are borderline doable, but the other things you listed are not happening for me.)

> Use it or lose it. You can get it back if you want.

I genuinely really hope you’re right. As someone with subpar visualization skills, gaining them would be wonderful. If you have advice for how to achieve this it would be much appreciated.

I think the problem I had was that they told me it was defined as no visualization. Its discoraging and most people think that is what it means, zero.

Do you not have the ability to think of what shape a laptop is? I used peptides to change my brain, cerebrolysin for instance may really help, but you need to do more to visualize since its like a muscle.

... in this day and age it may just mean everything's been spoiled by Hollywood ...

Serious question, they can observe the below average connection between the two parts of the brain, but at the end of the day aphantasia is a self reported condition is it not?

I believe I have aphantasia and I am wondering if I should or can get tested.

Think of a table. What do you see? Can you describe it?

I don’t see anything but I am thinking of a four legged table of a brown color similar to one in my childhood.

You are visualizing and remembering your childhood. When you think of it, you are just thinking of it in a black background?

A black background dotted with visual snow. On the rare occasion that I feel like I am visualizing something, my mind moves those dots.

I feel like there might be something different or subtler at play here. I do not get spooked by scary tales, and I have never enjoyed them. But I have perfectly good visualization skills, I can "see" with my minds eye, both recalling my memories or imagining something, same goes for other senses and feelings; I can and do relate to sad/funny/inspiring etc stories, but for some reason spooky stories never clicked with me.

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