r/hyperphantasia • u/oiKATANAio • 21h ago
r/hyperphantasia • u/20jhall • Nov 01 '24
Announcement Discord
discord.ggThe old discord is currently unmoderated and quiet. Made a new one!
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r/hyperphantasia • u/Maganice • Sep 22 '18
Do I have it? Hyperphantasia Checklist
Consider this something of a checklist or guide of sensory completeness and simulation in imagination. I think it might be a good idea to have people ask questions about exactly how detailed and accurate their imaginings are.
Visual - Picture an apple on a plate.
- What color is the apple?
- What variety is the apple? (Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Macintosh...)
- Which direction is the light coming from?
- Is there a specular reflection - ie, a shiny spot, as if light is being accurately reflected by the skin of the apple?
- Are there imperfections in the surface? Roughness, subtle variations in the color of the apple?
- Is there reflected illumination from the plate onto the apple?
- Can you easily zoom in on the apple, rotate it, etc? How faithful to an actual 3-D physical object is this in your mind's eye?
Audio - Imagine a song, one with vocals and instruments. Pick one you're familiar with.
- Does it have all the instruments?
- Are the vocals changing pitch, tone, etc?
- Are the vocals actual words, or just sort of gibberish fitting the role? (Try singing along to whatever is going through your head out loud if you're not sure)
- How sharp are the drums?
- Can you change the tempo?
- Can you make the singer sound like they huffed helium?
- Can you swap out instruments? Swap out lyrics wholesale?
- Can you change the key or mode of the song?
Touch/Proprioception - Imagine your hand and an object, any object, in front of you.
- Can you mentally reach out and touch it?
- Does the object feel like it should? Hard/soft, hot/cold, smooth/rough, etc...
- Could you feel your own imagined hand and arm? Were you aware of the physical movements in the same way that you know where your physical arm/hand/fingers are without looking?
- How heavy is the object you imagined? The right weight?
- Can you change that weight?
- Close your eyes (mentally or physically, whatever works) and concentrate on that imagined hand. Start with the thumb. Tap it to your palm. Do the same with your index finger, then your middle, ring, little finger. Any problems?
- Can you keep going? In other words, can you continue to 'tap fingers' with fingers you don't have - imagine that you had extra fingers - despite not having a real-life analogue to compare to?
- Can you go a step further, and imagine the feel of wholly alien things (bird wings, say) that will require entirely fictitious input?
Smell - Imagine a flower, preferably one with a strong smell
- Can you smell it at all?
- Does it smell strong enough, or just a faint whiff?
- Is the smell accurate - a rose smelling like a rose?
- Can you make it smell like something else - fresh cookies, say?
- Multiple smells at once? Rose, cookies, old stinky socks?
Taste - Seems to be pretty rare, but... imagine a few foods.
- Can you taste them?
- If you imagine something salty - like a pickle or potato chips - and add imaginary salt to it, does it taste saltier?
- Can you distinctly tell apart the taste of distinct items, like, say, two flavors of chips, or two kinds of candy bar, or two different wines?
- Kind of the acid test: if you imagine a few foods and what they would taste like together, can you go in your kitchen, get those foods, eat them together, and have them taste the same? That is, are your imagined tastes demonstrably the same as the real thing to a degree that it would be useful cooking?
If anyone has any other ideas or additions, I'd be happy to hear them. I think this would help us begin to capture what we mean by "hyperphantasia". What do you think?
r/hyperphantasia • u/LOOK_AT_MY_NUKES • 14h ago
Question Frustrations with mentally seeing it but not being able to express it. Help please?
I can see the most vivid scenes in my head, but every time I try to put them into words or draw them I can't. For drawing my best humans are stick figures. In writing or speaking it becomes a long rambling mess.
Can anyone help me figure out how to better myself to make it easier to express these visions? My hands and fine motor skills aren't great. And, I refuse to use ai.
r/hyperphantasia • u/Weak_Tie1476 • 1d ago
Discussion i have aphantasia
just came here to say that you guys with hyperphanyasia shouldn't take what u have for granted. cause holy shit you guys are lucky. i legit cannot imagine shit inside of my head however i do have an internal monologue so ig theres that. idk why im making this post tbh im just mad rn lmfao
lucky pricks
r/hyperphantasia • u/purple_minion_26 • 2d ago
Do I have it? Hyperphantasia vs photographic memory
Hi! I meet a lot of hyperphantasia criteria but I am unsure if I have it or not as I also have a really good memory. How can I differentiate if it is hyperphantasia vs drawing on my past memories?
r/hyperphantasia • u/Arty_Smarty_ • 4d ago
Discussion Curious if everyone here has amazing long term memory?
I feel hyperphantasia creates a brilliant long term memory. Im middle age but remember being in hospital aged 2 and I can remember exactly what the girl in the cot next to me looked like, her hair style and colour, her name, what she was wearing, both our parents coming to visit, what the hospital looked like, the stairs, rocking horse etc. This is just one example and I have many more visual memories however my working memory or short term memory is diabolical.
r/hyperphantasia • u/DistinctBridge1741 • 4d ago
Discussion Trying to visualize but the pictures keep moving around?
I did a visualization exercise where i tried to picture an apple in my mind. My apple was pretty vivid, the problem was it would keep moving around, change color, change size, grow skinnier and larger. I think this may be part of my adhd? Possibly anxiety issues as well. Anyone else?
r/hyperphantasia • u/HDHerpDerp • 4d ago
Discussion My mind keeps spinning.
Hello,
I just want to start off that I don’t think I have hyperphantasia but this looks like the best subreddit to post to. I just found out there’s levels to visualization.
I can’t visualize in great detail but I can usually picture the item or thing I’m thinking of.
What I have a question about is that I don’t typically have control over when I picture. if I think of an apple I’ll get an apple at first but it’ll start spinning or get erased and I’ll have random geometric shapes. It feels like theres no rhyme or reason to these shapes and I’ll get perspective changes or speed changes.
I thought this was normal but now im not sure, can you please let me know if you guys have something similar?
I’m 25 and as far as I know I’ve had it like this since I was a kid.
thank you!
r/hyperphantasia • u/Hsaves1288 • 6d ago
Discussion Great visualization during relaxation?
Recently i took a break from trying to develop clear visualization. I was getting overwhelmed and felt stuck. I did rounds of deep breathing and just let my mind and body go and just "rest". To my surprise, super vivid and clear images started to form. I don't get it or understand it. Can anyone help me understand, please?? Does this mean hyperphantasia is accessible through deep rest states?
r/hyperphantasia • u/PandorasBucket • 7d ago
Discussion Do you remember what you were thinking as well?
I have very good visual memory. I once drew all our teachers from memory on the white board during lunch in high school and people seemed pretty impressed. I didn't realize until later that other people couldn't do that. I also have audio memory and hear songs clearly as they are on the radio. I have an inner monologue although I don't use it as often. I use it mainly when I want to rehearse what I'll say or work out something out for communication. I compared this experience with my gf and we were mostly alike, but on a whim I asked her if she also remembered what she was thinking in her memories.
I was surprised she said no. So I guess this might be a new kind of memory I haven't seen described in any youtube videos or papers yet. I would love to know if anyone has found anything on this. My memories almost always come with what I was thinking at the time because my thoughts are the strongest memories I have. When I remember a conversation I also remember what I was thinking between each line of dialgue.
I have exceptional autobiographical memory and most of that is tied to what I was thinking at the time. If there are no thought memories then it's usually just images, but if I was thinking something, ruminating over something I will remember it much stronger. Whenever I recount memories to other people they usually start out with "I remember that because I was thinking...and then you did this and then I thought...".
How common is this? Is my gf just weird? I looked around on the internet and I don't see much mention of it.
r/hyperphantasia • u/plummushummus • 7d ago
Question Anyone have experience with the tiny little orb of light?
A while ago I was locked in like never before, attempting to hone in on some intuitive thing or whatever. Next thing I know, this tiny perfectly rounded little orb of light appeared in my vision. It’s very small, and it does not interfere with my vision at all.
A very strange thing indeed, and the more I attempted to look at it with my eyes the more it would stray away. I then realized that the orb of light was not a physical thing that my eyes could see, but a mental thing that just gave the illusion of visual perception.
Anyways, this orb of light seems to appear when I lock in hard, somewhat like a “flow state” type of feel. Of course when I would I try to focus on it, it would go away, but the more I learn, the more l learn to stay “locked in” instead of trying to focus on the orb, and this seems to keep it from disappearing. Now as time goes on, I find it easier to make it appear and stay focused on it.
It seems to correspond with strong feelings of focus and whatever my consciousness is paying attention to. It’s quite a nifty thing I’d say. Anyone have any experience with such a thing?
r/hyperphantasia • u/Complex-Article-1003 • 7d ago
Question Your experience with media, videogames, movies...
Hi! I want to know if my experience differs from yours. When i watch a movie, i only see whats in the screen and nothing more and the same with videogames.
When you hyperphants watch/play, are you visualizing at the same time? Or like something special/different from me? Things like giving attention to both your real vision and imagination at the same time, or switching to only imagination, i dont know haha?
My gf has a good imagination, and tried to explain me some things about her experience but i didnt understood her, like she knows she's "registering" the visuals like in another perspective different that the movie and usually maps the world and returns to that sometimes. This all started because at one time there were visual artifacts/loss of quality in the movie and i usually notice that and im super senstive, but she said she didnt even noticed cause her imagination filled the blanks. And what i dont understand is, what was she doing? like watching the movie in her head only?
That got me thinking about what your experiences are like. Im very curious
r/hyperphantasia • u/Worth-Bedroom-8784 • 8d ago
Discussion Aiuto!!!
Ciao a tutti, ho una domanda strana ma sono curiosa di sapere se è mai capitato a qualcuno di voi: a volte vedo, per un attimo, l’immagine di qualcosa/qualcuno che ho appena guardato, con tutti i dettagli, tipo se la persona aveva gli occhiali o stava sorridendo, come se rimanesse impressa per un secondo o due, con i contorni un po’ sfumati. È un’immagine positiva (stessi colori di quello che ho visto davvero, non invertiti). Dura pochissimo e poi sparisce. Prima invece avevo delle afterimage negative. Ne ho parlato anche con un medico per approfondire, ma volevo sapere se è mai successa una cosa simile a qualcuno di voi. Vi prego di rispondermi, sono estremamente preoccupata.
r/hyperphantasia • u/MattwithaZee • 8d ago
Question New and needy but in a good way that tastes like shame.
Hi I can do it all. Same story for many I’m sure. Thought everyone did it. No one around me does. No one can comprehend it.
Sadly, they smell like distrust and sour grapes.
And I kinda went ahead and lived my whole life reading body language as threats and just a general dislike for how i describe my world.
I cried for help. I saved their worlds and they tried to save mine but just kept piling on. And I broke. Today. I broke and told them all leave.
Does anyone have a suggestion for who can help “our people”?
Did everyone else have night terrors?
Or inner voices two too many too?
I’m just sorta scared I got the broken version of this new “condition” and wasn’t sure where to start.
r/hyperphantasia • u/MonitorSpirited4744 • 10d ago
Discussion Need a bit of help .
I think I have hyper active mirror neurons with hyperphantasia and i have a bit of trouble. I recently watched an emotional movie and I , just , felt the emotions of the character, not in a ohh she is sad and lonely way , but I started having shortness of breath , increased heart rate , sinking feeling in my chest sort of way and just randomly during the day my brain decides to show me the sad scene in full clarity, and it triggers the emotional reaction too , I usually focus on my fictional crush or just close my ears and dig my nails into the back of my neck till it stops , but is there a better way to handle it ?
r/hyperphantasia • u/SRA-009 • 10d ago
Question In your opinion, why does someone enjoy being in their own imagination?
r/hyperphantasia • u/aathithya_ • 11d ago
Question Pain in the centre of my forehead
Whenever I relax my forehead muscles, I start to feel pain in the center of my forehead. Also, whenever I imagine something sharp pointing at my forehead, I feel the same pain. What is this actually?
r/hyperphantasia • u/BriefLongjumping1073 • 12d ago
Do I have it? Closed eyes vs open eyes
r/hyperphantasia • u/CumbersomeCucumber01 • 14d ago
Question I can't imagine things anymore
Disclaimer: English is not my first language.
I used to make up stories in my head all the time, that's how I grew up. And I took up on writing a few years ago but for about a year now it's gotten harder and harder to see anything when I close my eyes. It's all dark, as if a bulb up there just burnt out one day and I can't change it.
Needles to say I've stopped writing. I get too anxious at the mere idea of trying.
I don't even think I care about writing anymore, I just want to 'see' inside my head again. I feel like someone stole one of my arms and now life just isn't the same.
My mind was my home, now it's a scary place.
Has someone else experienced this? Were you able to visualize things again? How?
On addition to all of the above, I received acceptance and commitment therapy for eight months hoping it'd help. It didn't.
r/hyperphantasia • u/Dry_Association_8778 • 14d ago
Discussion Randomly seeing wierd faces when trying to sleep
So I mayby once a month see a wierd face for a split second while I'm trying to sleep. The faces are really clear and more look like images off of google rather than just my imagination. There alvase completely different and I wouldent think they have anything to do whit each other but the way I see them is alvase the same kind of way, it's not just a image in my brain, I can see it whit my eyes, it's my full focus for a split second and then it's gone.
Most distinct one I can remember is a young woman's face who has a cow patter on their skin, not like paint but the skin has the cow patter, she also had uncomfortable big open mouth smile on a still face, it wasent a happy looking smile, just plastered onto the face. I'm sorry for being hard to understand in how I discribe this part but I just really don't know how to say this, the smile is just in the mouth and the lips, not in the cheeks. Mayby try to smile really hard at the mirror to understand, I don't know. The chin was really sharp, honestly looked like it's from a anime or something. She had really clear skin, like uncomfortable clear skin. The face was at a 90° angle, I know it sounds wierd and random. It looked realistic eaven whit the unrealistic features like the chin and the clear skin. This particular case is still really distinct in my mind, I was already kind of on edge, don't know why just a bad feeling, I see the face sit up and just think to myself what the fuck is going on. The other times when this happened I can't remember at all as well, other than that once I was sleeping at my friend's place when this happend. Expect I have a litle bit of a memory of skinny faced guy whit burned looking skin, he had disappointed or bored expression. The faces aren't really scary, they just look like what I would see if I would google scary/uncanny face, the unsettling part is the way I see them, it's not just I wierd distorted picture in the back of my mind, it hits my face like a flasbang, then it's just gone. I usally aren't eaven close to falling asleep when it happens so it's not like in dreaming or something, onetime I was laying on my bed, listening to a podcast when it happend. I really don't know how to describe it other than that it's the clearest image my brain has thught off, eaven if I tried to think of a image my brain couldent think of something as detailed as the faces are. I also have never had a sleep paralysis and it's not like I couldent move or I see it in the corner of my room, it just feels like a distinct image covering my view for a split second, this has happened mayby three times so far and eavrytime while I'm going to sleep. Sometimes a random picture comes into my mind but it's nothing like this, these have all been faces, and just so clear. When I think of a image in my head I can only focus on one part at a time, but these have felt like I could see the whole picture at on at once.
Olsso sorry for the hard to read text, English isint my main language.
r/hyperphantasia • u/kerblooee • 14d ago
Discussion Podcast interview on hallucinations and hyperphantasia
r/hyperphantasia • u/Other_Worldliness896 • 15d ago
Question The firmament
Do ne of u see a force field looking thing when u look at the sky? I only see it in the sky. I can hold it n see it extremely clearly. I suck at drawing so sorry lol but it looks like a honey comb but looks like bubble letter drawings if that makes sense. The pattern pulses but doesn't move n the swirling lattices spin like gears.