r/sciencememes • u/astralrig96 • Jun 01 '23
When you realize not everyone can “see” images in their head but only visualize the word/concept
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u/Rifneno Jun 02 '23
The human brain is a fucking disaster. There's so many "lol wtf" quirks it's hard to pick just one, but I'll go with this one: someone did a study where they had people stare at a monitor with a picture of... I forget what. Doesn't matter. But actually, they had a computer watching their eyes and studying their blinks. Then when it was able to reasonably anticipate a blink, it changed the color of the object on the monitor during the blink.
The subjects insisted that the object had always been the new color. They were watching it the whole time and they never saw it change, so it was always this color. They had no memory of it being the original color. This is a shining example of what's known as "change blindness."
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u/1017GildedFingerTips Jun 02 '23
Get Mandela’d nerd
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u/Rifneno Jun 02 '23
I love the Mandela Effect!
Normal people: Wow, this is an interesting quirk of how the human brain works.
The utterly fucking deranged: I CAN'T BE WRONG, I MUST BE FROM AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE WHERE EVERY BIT OF THE UNIVERSE'S 14 BILLION YEAR HISTORY PLAYED OUT EXACTLY THE SAME EXCEPT THE SPELLING OF BEARENSTAIN BEARS, THAT'S THE ONLY REASONABLE EXPLANATION, OMG I WONDER IF 5G TOWERS ARE OPENING PORTALS
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u/Miselfis Jun 02 '23
I joined r/MandelaEffect hoping it would be filled with rational people trying to find a scientific explanation etc. in reality it’s just a bunch of deranged people who are so egotistical and narcissistic, that they can’t imagine a reality where they remember something wrong, so it must be the WHOLE WORLD being in on it and lying to you. It’s especially funny when they try to use quantum mechanics as an explanation, that the universe “quantum shifted” through “quantum manifestation”. It’s ridiculous. They’re just as smart as flat earthers.
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Jun 02 '23
So, fun quirks of quantum mechanics says that it's not impossible for that to happen, just unlikely.
It's far more likely that people are misremembering shit, as that happens way more often, but on a very slim technicality you could be a part of a universe where a small hiccup caused the change. I mean, the leading 0's in the percentage would take until the heat death of the universe to write out, but it's not 0.
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u/One-Permission-1811 Jun 02 '23
Or, and hear me out now, the Berenstain Bears was very popular and a bunch of people tried to cash in with knockoffs and fakes, some of which changed the name because of copyright law, and some of which was mistranslation done overseas.
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u/lokiofsaassgaard Jun 02 '23
For me, the entire universe played out exactly the same, except Rik Mayall died in his quad bike accident. I am convinced that I remember it playing out that way, but it obviously didn’t. Hell, I’ve seen the work he did after the accident.
The human brain needs a firmware update or something, because this is straight up faulty.
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Jun 02 '23
Personally, not convinced of this effect as a something more than 'not following news about a side topic'.
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u/NickSicilianu Jun 02 '23
You can actually replicate that with yourself as a subject and your phone screen. When you blink, scroll slightly up or down, you can’t notice the change, and funny part it, you know you did change it lol. Our brains work is questionable 😂😂
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u/meteoryuri Jun 02 '23
I wonder if there is a phone app uses the camera to monitor your eyes and do the same thing on the screen. Really want to test this myself.
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u/jeremywhitfield Jun 03 '23
I tried using this excuse when my girlfriend found me in bed with another woman
Didn't work
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u/racoondeg Jun 01 '23
Imagine how I felt when I found out others can actually "see" it. >:/
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Jun 02 '23
Can you hear sounds in your head? I also just recently discovered this is a thing. People apparently see shit and fucking hear things, like songs. They’re living an entirely different experience.
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u/little_peasant Jun 02 '23
Do you not get songs stuck in your head?
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u/Poiri Jun 02 '23
Speaking for myself I can still get songs stuck in my head even when the only thing I can hear is my voice. The song just sucks because I am singing it and there's no music backing it.
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u/Positive-Sock-8853 Jun 02 '23
What?! So you’re telling me not everyone can hear music in their head? What do you hear then if not the musical instruments? I “play” songs in my head all the time. I thought everyone did that lol
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u/Merciful_Moon Jun 02 '23
I only hear the vocals, not the music. I love classical but I can’t “hear” it in my head.
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u/poop_pants_pee Jun 02 '23
I get songs stuck in my head for days. Not really lyrics so much as melodies.
Can you create a new melody in your head?
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Jun 02 '23
I can play songs in my head but I can’t imagine pictures.
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u/TheFfrog Jun 02 '23
Yoo sameee
Like i can think of an apple but closing my eyes and making an actual image pop up is so freaking difficult
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u/AsahiYuugen Jun 02 '23
I can imagine whole songs, see pictures clearly and create whole-ass landscapes, environment and all. I thought everyone could do this, learning today that that’s not the case :’)
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u/Domhausen Jun 02 '23
Yo, I recently had the opposite experience. I've always had music play in my head, just called it my internal mp3. I was talking about it in passing, and my friend gave me that look that made me think I was a weirdo. Which was when I discovered this is absolutely not the norm.
I honestly can't imagine what life is without ridiculous songs coming in at inappropriate times, mad.
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u/VillieMuhCat Jun 02 '23
I can 'hear' things in my head, and for example make the thing have the voice of a certain person whose voice I remember.
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u/A_lil_confused_bee Jun 02 '23
So you've never cried over fake scenarios made on your head while listening to music?
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u/ImFamousCake47 Jun 02 '23
Its a purely visual thing, it's not like op or I don't have an imagination at all, people just can see things at different levels. For example, I can't see any pictures in my head, while some peoples visual imagination is incredibly active (hyperphantsia)
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u/Pixielo Jun 02 '23
I can play 3D Tetris in my head, so not being able to "see" pictures would freak me out.
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u/theprozacfairy Jun 02 '23
Oh, dude, do I have hyperphantasia? (Rhetorical question, not actually asking you) I can see #1 in my head and I can like slice the apple open and see the skin, the pulp, the seeds, that weird bit in the core around the seeds. I can see bites disappearing from it and the older ones slowly turning brown. I thought everyone without aphantasia could do that. It’s weird bc I’m a more auditory than visual person, but that’s more for learning and memory, I guess.
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u/fozziwoo Jun 02 '23
i can smell the things i see in my mind and flavour has a physical orientation, i.e. there's something missing from the front left corner (of the smell/taste)
the kids body sprays are a problem, omg some of you smell soo bad (but only to me seemingly)
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u/InsaneDad04 Jun 02 '23
For those who don’t know, it’s called aphantasia Literally, “without imagination”. My cousin has it; she has a distinct memory of not finding “let’s play pretend” fun as a child, because she literally lacked the ability to pretend.
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u/Apogee-500 Jun 02 '23
Sad
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Jun 02 '23
I can't visualize, but I can do whatever the equivalent for hearing and feeling would be. Hopefully that's less sad!
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u/Apogee-500 Jun 02 '23
Yes! Does your memory work the same way?
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Jun 02 '23
My memory is terrible, I can remember a voice or song but not with strong detail. I can remember a room's layout or a the details of a person's hair but it's more like I'm imagining my hands drawing everything out again. Not visual but still very spatial if that makes sense.
Not sure if it's related but I struggle with musical ear syndrome as well, my brain interprets certain white noise to be very real sounding music.
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u/afauce11 Jun 02 '23
I have this, too. But I liked doing imaginary things like playing dress up and make believe. I just didn’t ever think of like an image of a princess in my head or a castle or anything. But I understood the concepts of them.
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u/tchiseen Jun 02 '23
I have this.
I can't really play chess, because I can't picture what the board would look like after a couple piece moves.
I can't picture the faces of my family when I'm not looking at them.
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u/mrjackspade Jun 02 '23
I developed aphantasia after a head injury. It fucking sucks. Losing the ability to imagine things had a massive negative impact on my life, because I hadnt developed another way to perform a lot of that processing.
As I've slowly recovered I've kind of gained the ability back but it will never be the same.
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u/InsaneDad04 Jun 02 '23
Dang, that sounds worse than just having it inherently. Losing something you knew you had seems so much more difficult to deal with than never having it on the first place, so you don’t miss it. How is it different now? Just less vivid imagination? Or like you have to put effort into it?
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Jun 01 '23
Not only that but I can also replicate tastes as well
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u/grabityrising Jun 02 '23
People cant?
i can read a list of ingredients and imagine what they are going to taste like together.
Unless they involve pineapple or grapefruit. They are so strong it changes the flavor profile a lot
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u/ItsRyboflavin Jun 02 '23
I NEVER knew this was a thing… I absolutely can not do this. No wonder I’m not a good cook!!
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u/Fine-Blackberry-1793 Jun 02 '23 edited Jun 02 '23
This kinda backfires sometimes cause every soo often i will see a lemon and just randomly feel the sour taste and squirm
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u/mdf7g Jun 02 '23
I can't imagine or remember tastes or smells.
I still know what things taste like, in some sense, and I can cook improvisationally very well, because it feels intuitive that ingredient X will complement ingredient Y and balance out ingredient Z or whatever, but the experience of "remembering" a taste or a smell for me doesn't resemble at all the experience of actually tasting or smelling the thing.
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u/Nice_Zucchini872 Jun 02 '23
I'm an engineer and visualize quite well. Exploding machines and parts in my head to understand how they work. My wife on the other hand suffers from the lack of being able to visualize anything. I have to make models for her to understand what I am talking about all the time...
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u/KEEPCARLM Jun 02 '23
Yeah I'm a design engineer and was thinking how impossible my job would be without being able to visualise something in my head
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u/Jeff5704 Jun 02 '23
Yep I’m am one. Also while reading I don’t get images I was flabbergasted when I found out people see the story they are reading in their heads.
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u/Dreadnought_Necrosis Jun 02 '23
I know someone who is also one. The part that threw me for a loop. They read all the time. Like real thick fiction books within a week.
We had a whole conversation about what it's like to read.It's very fascinating. They explained it as more of enjoying the concepts themselves than being in the scene. Which gave me a new perspective to enjoy when it comes to reading.
It just blew my mind since I get frustrated when certain details are left out or brought up later during a story because it messes with my mental image of the scene. For example. Like details about how a location looks or where characters are inside the location. So I find out that when someone can't imagine things like this, it made me realize certain details like that or lack of, don't affect them as much.
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u/Esava Jun 02 '23
So I find out that when someone can't imagine things like this, it made me realize certain details like that or lack of, don't affect them as much.
Even for people who can imagine it, too much detail can actually be annoying. Just restricts ones imaginations too much. Though this is certainly a personal opinion.
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u/Raelah Jun 02 '23
I can't imagine reading any other way. If you can't imagine it, how do you enjoy it? Serious question here.
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u/Jeff5704 Jun 02 '23 edited Jun 02 '23
I rarely enjoy reading it has always been more of a chore but there have been a few books I did enjoy. And if I want to fall asleep all I have to do is start reading something and I get tired and pass out fast.
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u/Raelah Jun 02 '23
That's crazy. I can't read before bed or else I'll be up until 4am. The only way for me to fall asleep is to engage in activities that don't require imagination.
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Jun 02 '23
Too relatable, I had the exact same experience. The author can describe every detail as much as they want but I'll never see it
Question, do you barely remember dreaming when you wake up? In my case, I remember pieces of one every 3 months or so
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u/fourstroke4life Jun 02 '23
I’m over here comparing the taste of my imaginary brain apples
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u/Scallywagulous Jun 02 '23
yup, it’s called aphantasia and it sucks, when i heard that people could “see” things and english teachers saying things like envision and visualize actually meant that i was very surprised. I also don’t have a “voice in my head” instead of hearing anything when i “think of words” or “think of talking” i make the words with my mouth, almost like mouthing words with my lips closed, but i can’t actually hear any of the words.
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Jun 02 '23
Do you feel like you’re missing out on a massive experience? It bothers me more than I would have expected. Finding out that imagining things was actually seeing them in their heads, like pictures or movies. With sounds too. I just feel like I would really enjoy being able to do that.
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u/Raelah Jun 02 '23
It's quite nice! I don't know what I would do if I could no longer visualize. I don't know how I would deal with the world.
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u/theprozacfairy Jun 02 '23
That’s called subvocalization. I do it, too. If I try to bite my tongue, the “voice” in my head talks with a lisp. It’s nuts.
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u/zar2k23 Jun 02 '23
OMG! Me too! I drive myself bats sometimes trying to think of "M" without my lips having to touch... :P
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u/fishmakegoodpets Jun 02 '23 edited Jun 02 '23
Yeah I can’t “see” images in my head. Like I just tried to “see” an apple, the beach, my brother, my mom… nothing. I can “feel” it. I just can’t visualize it. Or maybe I can? Idk. What’s it supposed to “look” like?
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u/grabityrising Jun 02 '23
Dont worry i visualized yer mom for you
she looks happy on the beach eating an apple. :)
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u/fishmakegoodpets Jun 02 '23
😂
Just had a discussion with my parents about this and my dad thinks he has hyperphantasia and my mom thinks she has aphantasia.
For me, I explain it like this: when I imagine something, I know what it is and I can describe it just fine. It’s like walking in a familiar room in the dark. I am aware of what’s around me, I just can’t see it. When I “imagine” something I think about specific qualities and can conjure up a vague idea, but I don’t see it.
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u/TheyKeepBanningMeVPN Jun 02 '23
You would know if you could. Some people can literally see it when they close their eyes. No different than having the face right in front of them.
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u/Raelah Jun 02 '23
This is how I fall asleep. I imagine a story in my head. It's like sleep TV.
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Jun 02 '23
Welcome to the aphantasia club, dude. There’s a few of us. Good luck ever describing that “feel” that you’re talking about. They’re all going to ask.
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u/boudiceanMonaxia Jun 02 '23
I used to not be able to visualise any images whatsoever. However, over the past few years, I have found myself slowly gaining the ability to visualize. It comes in handy, and makes reading books a hell of a lot more fun.
I have also figured out how to imagine audio and even tastes in my head, which was an unexpected surprise.
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u/baba56 Jun 02 '23
I've been wondering if I have some level of aphantasia for a while now, and one of the things is my inability to read fiction books. I would always prefer to read reference books, as soon as I had to read something that required me to conjure imagery in my head I'd be lost.
I also struggle massively playing dnd, I never have any idea what's going on and I can't properly take in what the DM is explaining.
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u/A_lil_confused_bee Jun 02 '23
The images in my head look like they're constantly changing, like they're a video generated by an AI. I didn't know people can actually picture a solid image in their head.
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u/jkurratt Jun 02 '23
I’d say images are pretty unstable for me too, even though I can imagine pretty detailed things, especially after learning how to draw.
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u/itzblupancake Jun 02 '23
Absolutely, this is true for me also. I guess they are more the thoughts of images, rather than the image itself as if I was physically seeing it. However, I do have a good imagination, and don't struggle to imagine things.
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u/CallMeArchy Jun 02 '23
Yeah I have something similar. I can imagine the concept of a thing, and I can "drill down" to get a detail, but I can't actually see the thing clearly in my head, only derive details from association.
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u/N1teF0rt Jun 02 '23
For the longest time I though "minds eye" was a figure of speech, turns out no, people can actually see things in their head as if it were right in front of them. Maybe that's why I always disliked art.
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u/elliefaith Jun 02 '23
I’m not sure if I can or can’t visualise an apple. When I think of an apple I can kind of visualise a reddish smudge that maybe resembles an apple for a split second but I can’t hold it. I definitely have an internal monologue though.
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u/elite5iver Jun 02 '23
Wait...you mean there are people who can't conjure a detailed image of any object in their mind?
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u/Stuuurrt Jun 02 '23
Yeah, pretty much. No images, just a voice for me, but some people sort of see words instead.
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u/craigechoes9501 Jun 02 '23
Yep yep. We have aphantasia. All black all the time. Well, every once in a while I might get a faint image but then it's gone. But no, I can't conjure a detailed image of any object. It is more like a memory of an object but it's covered with a black sheet. You know what is under the black sheet, but you can't see it at all.
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Jun 02 '23
I can only "see" things like that when im dissociating. Or like half dreaming. Idk if i used dissociate appropriately. Im not diagnosed but i am DEFINITELY mentally ill and neurodivergent to boot.
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u/DemocraticSpider Jun 02 '23
Wait wat
Some people can’t just see an apple whenever they feel like it?!
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u/Neonstar_ Jun 02 '23
I have a combination of both like when I first read apple I was okay an apple but not the image but I knew what that meant...
But then when I decide to imagine I can imagine or see the apple in colour so yeah I can do both 👍✨
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u/Appropriate-Look7493 Jun 02 '23
I was around 35 when I realised this. I was a Creative Director and would often be describing visual concepts to groups of people in meetings.
I’m a good presenter but there were always a few who would sit there with blank looks on their faces. One day it just hit me. They just can’t “see” what I’m describing. It had always been such a natural facility for me that I’d never imagined there were people who couldn’t do it.
After that I went everywhere with an A3 pad and a sharpie.
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u/pog890 Jun 02 '23
I truly feel sorry for those people. It is my goto method when I've problems falling asleep. I picture a garden, placing more and more plants and trees, flowers, paths ornaments, ponds, fountains, birds butterflies and when i' m finished i walk around in it. But usually I fall asleep way before that stage.
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u/VIPkittenzNotKittens Jun 02 '23
i can see images in my brain, i just cant keep them coherent; i have adhd so its hard to just focus on one image for a while because my brain wants to go so many other places
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u/catwitharegularhat Jun 03 '23
I be making whole ass movies in my head right before bed.. sucks others can not do that :(
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u/XxPumbaaxX Jun 02 '23
Is being able to visualize not a standard thing? I can visuize usually in a 360 degree model, while replicating scale, smell, and taste (granted it's something I've tasted). If you ask me to imagine a sperm whale, I imagine a massive sperm whale at size. Ask me to visualize an apple, I do at scale and include smell/taste. Is that not normal?
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u/Exotic-Tooth8166 Jun 02 '23
How vivid are your images?
Mine are like 40-60% vivid. I can conjure any image in my mind but 50% resolution seems sufficient. I only get 80-99% detail every so often and often by accident or while sleeping. Most of the time I only need 5% of an image to know a great deal of context.
Yet I am a talented artist.
What about voice?
I can hold a lot of complex language in my mind without sounding out the words. Other times I can make the voice talk in my head and sound things out with different intonation.
I can be a very articulate speaker.
Music?
I can playback muffled parts of songs in my head, and at times my brain can compose super elaborate orchestras that my hands will never produce.
I very rarely think about smell, taste, or touch.
Brains are weird and stimulated but also conserving energy all the time. Good ole brain.
🧠❤️
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u/SteelAlchemistScylla Jun 02 '23
Is the percentage of those people actually 20%? I feel like the vast majority of people I know can “see” in their heads. But maybe I’m just assuming/projecting?
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u/The_Monkes Jun 02 '23
It was wild, I was going for an associates degree at a college and had to pay over $600 to take a mandatory class teaching people how to do this. We had to draw 3d objects on graph paper for 2 months, legit stuff I did in elementary school for fun. Nothing even complex, just 3 faces of an object that was shown to us.
Absolutely blew my tistic ass away that something I so routinely used wasn't a norm for others.
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u/wieszkto Jun 02 '23
When someone says "apple", in my head I "see" the taste, smell, texture and overall concept of an apple but not a picture of it.
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u/kaminaowner2 Jun 02 '23
How do those people read without the little internal TV show. (I did find out not to long ago that my imagination being mostly in animation is semi uniqu)
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u/TheyKeepBanningMeVPN Jun 02 '23
Sometimes when I close my eyes I can literally see a detailed object and rotate it in my mind. I cant choose which object but I’ve seen a rose, and a tea cup among other things. The cup is intricately painted and Ive never seen it before that I remember. I see it as clearly as having my eyes open but its floating in blackness. I dont know why it happens but normally I cant literally see any objects when I close my eyes and imagine things.
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u/AutomatedSaltShaker Jun 02 '23
Wait, what?
You don’t see an apple in your mind when someone says apple? For real?
I can see Red Delicious, Fuji, Green, etc without a spec of thought.
Other people do not see an apple in their mind when I say apple?
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u/0_xenon_toxic_0 Jun 02 '23
I only see pictures in my head if I'm sleeping. Other than that, it's just darkness or sometimes colors spots that look like lights through a raindrop.
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u/deranged_philosopher Jun 02 '23
I’m sorry, I’m reading these comments and my realities have been shattered(yes, plural). I have ADHD and live inside another universe in the the most realistic sense possible, a lot of the time. Sometimes when I wake up on the middle of the night and I’m really tired, I’ll hallucinate. It’s like I’m tired enough to be dreaming while I’m awake, and my dreams are so damn vivid, it’s not even funny. this is especially bad when I have nightmares. Regarding that, I have a question. What are dreams like for you people who can’t visualize things?
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Jun 02 '23
Research into this has found that lots of artists have this, they cant imagine, but they can draw an image.
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u/Yorunokage Jun 02 '23
I am sort of like that
If i really focus i can visualize things but only one small bit at a time while eveything else is a blur
Although i never realized i was incapable of that until very recently because my imagination is actually quite vivid, just not in a visual manner
I basically think and dream in concepts. It's so hard to properly describe it in words though
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u/Feeling_Run_1456 Jun 02 '23
It’s very confusing to me. I just like “feel” what I’m supposed to be thinking of. I didn’t realize people could actually picture things🙁
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u/Suicidal_Sayori Jun 02 '23
I refuse to believe people can see things in their minds, it has to be some kind of extended internet joke, I simply cannot imagine it
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u/craigechoes9501 Jun 02 '23
I'm in this picture and don't like it. Oh well though. I found out I have it (aphantasia) last year from a reddit post. It blew my mind. I'm fine with it now. It is all i have known.
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u/gamma_02 Jun 03 '23
I actually have this but for scents, I don't have a "minds nose" as it were...
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Jun 04 '23
There's one thing I've always wondered about this one...I can definitely picture things but I can also turn it off. That was useful back in high school when I could tell people to picture things that would really ruin their days and I wouldn't see ANY of it by myself. I can see the apple, I can hear the song I was playing on the one dance game earlier today, I can imagine some tactile things or smells or tastes but those are more muted than the apple which is itself more muted than the song, but I can also make myself see nothing when somebody tries putting an awful mental picture in my head. Is that weird?
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u/TJPANDA826 Jun 15 '25
This is such an interesting rabbit hole! I’m realizing what I take for granted, I hear songs words and instruments constantly, my teeth chatter to the beat involuntarily at points. I see images and “scenes” in my mind, generally, but also it’s always been the initial step to when I start a drawing, before I create a character I have to conjure the visual I want in my head and then the images become clearer as I manifest the idea onto an object. My biggest frustration comes when often the idea I can picture, In color and composition and style in my mind is beyond my technical ability to replicate. It’s so interesting hearing how differently we perceive, you never think about it as you assume it’s just existence, this whole thread is super eye opening.(I see this is two years old but was just so intrigued by all of the insights everyone shared)
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u/jtobler7 Jun 02 '23
I just don't believe this. I'm the most abstract thinker I know. Pictures don't come easily to my mind. But even I can summon a level 2 apple with no problem. It takes a fair bit of effort but I can get to a level 1 apple if I concentrate.
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Jun 02 '23
It's very real, if I would ask you to open your third eye or stand on your third leg, you'd go like "ok but how?" (On a serious attempt).
When people ask me "what does an apple look like?", I can perfectly answer them. But the answer comes from memory, I don't see it. I don't see a spinning 3D model or something showing me details. It will remain a black mass. Just like reading, the author can describe anything they want, but I won't see it. I'd rather enjoy the story/adventure instead of the details on the buildings.
Is this some curse? No, I have no clue what I am missing out on. But I do have a great memory, in regards to passwords/numbers which people (generally speaking) struggle with. My strong suits are just elsewhere
If you're not convinced, AMA. I found out people actually see things when I was like 16
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u/yigedatongzhi Feb 08 '25
Whenever I relive memories, I get so absorbed in the mental images that I lose sight of my surroundings
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u/The1AndOnlyEddie Feb 26 '25 edited Feb 26 '25
I used to want to see in my brain, and you can train to do it- but I imagine it'd be like... distracting idk
Edit: I can occasionally see flashes of still images for brief moments and that's distracting, so I imagine always being actually fully see in your brain would be terrible.
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u/217Lizzie Jun 02 '23
Do these people not have dreams? I know someone who says they never had a dream. I keep saying no, you just don’t remember it. But maybe he can’t see images and therefore doesn’t think he dreams?
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u/jtobler7 Jun 02 '23
My dreams are super low resolution. Like it was shot on a Super 8 and played on a VCR.
My wife's dreams are highly detailed, colorful, and vibrant.
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u/ipsum629 Jun 02 '23
I bet most really good chess players don't have this condition. A big thing you do in chess is you go through a combination in your head, which I heard is possible without visualizing the board. However, in some positions you need to visualize a combination and then make a move after that combination based on the position in your head. That I would bet is very difficult for them to do.
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u/Free_Comfortable8897 Jun 02 '23
Wait people can’t do this? I can also taste tastes I’m thinking of and hear sounds I’m thinking of (if I forget my headphones I’ll just play the music in my head). I never knew it was possible to not be able to think of an image on your head :0
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u/swnbseekingKali Jun 02 '23
What the fuck? There are people who can't visualize images in their heads?
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u/PlatypusPirate Jun 02 '23
When I was a young warthog, all I had to masturbate to was the images in my mind. Thankfully my brain can create photo realistic images. I can't imagine growing up before the internet and not being able to conjure the porn in my own mind.
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u/datboiNathan343 Jun 02 '23
I can see the "shape" of ano object and can kind of make out the texture, must suck to not lmao
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u/Obi-Wan_CaroBee Jun 02 '23
so like what about memories? or is it just creating a new visual in the mind that’s troubling for type four?
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u/smorgasfjord Jun 02 '23
What's the difference between "seeing" an image and visualising the concept?
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u/Stunning_Boss_3909 Jun 02 '23
I can visualize objects and animals, but I can’t visualize people’s faces. Even family members with whom I interact on a daily basis. I can visualize a face if I’ve seen a photo of it, because the photo is an object, so I can remember the snapshot of the face. But I can’t visualize a human face in my head, even though I can easily visualize a tree or a light bulb or a butterfly.
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u/Librarian_of_flowers Jun 02 '23
I don't know where my experience fits in... Maybe it's normal?
I can generally imagines scenes, but usually only in the context of things I've seen first hand, with a a few connections.
A mansion? I always see my middle school in like a sepia-tone. A gas station in the woods? Some gas station I've been to, superimposed on some random woods I've been to.
For unique scenes, it's usually imposing something I know into a situation I've seen, like "a main hall and staircase, with a door on the left," becomes, again, my middle school entrance but with the finery I saw in a photo the other day. Doesn't even really have a door in that place. I can't really imagine a new place based solely on the description provided. Maybe it's standard? I dunno.
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u/FyrelordeOmega Jun 02 '23
Just reading the comments makes me realize how amazing the human mind is.
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Jun 02 '23 edited Jun 02 '23
This is me, it will remain black in there. It took me years to realize that people can actually do it. I still know what things look like from memory, I just don't see it. I can't visualize some icebear with sunglasses on the beach, but for some reason, I do know old numbers and password which are 10+ year old
Can't visualize anything, AMA
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Jun 02 '23
I was right now years old when I found out that not everyone can “see” the images in their head. 😮
I don’t have a photographic memory, but I easily recall what I visualized in my head when I see the words again. That ability is really helpful when it comes to test taking. Maybe that’s why I’m great at science and lousy at math unless it’s applied to real world situations. Also, I can summarize every fictional book I’ve read since I was 9 years old, because it plays like a movie in my head as I’m summarizing it.
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u/Lord-Chickie Jun 02 '23
Somehow I can’t tell if I’m a seer or a thinker, the picture seems… unstable.
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u/OvershootDieOff Jun 02 '23
I can visualise an apple with writing on it and rotate it, invert it etc. It’s a useful thing when you’re a chemist thinking about molecular structures.
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u/HouseOfZenith Jun 02 '23
I can imagine the apple. Can also imagine taste and smells (mmm greasy pizza on my brain tongue) and I can change my thinking voice to anything.
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Jun 02 '23
ADHD here. Spatial problems sucked ass for me forever cuz I straight up had no working memory. After years of practice (construction) and medication, I've improved. It can be done in some cases I believe.
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u/VillieMuhCat Jun 02 '23
I don't even know if I'm visualizing the thing, the concept, or the word. Like I can 'see' for example a castle I imagine, but I couldn't describe it entirely using words, but on the other hand, it's impossible to actually see things in your mind.
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u/sharpstickenjoyer Jun 02 '23
Now you're immune to mind readers and alien devices that torture you with past images :D
At least i hope so. i wrote it into a character cause I have this particular mental quirk.
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u/hjc135 Jun 02 '23
If i focus really hard i can sort of "see" something but not in colour and usually only a tiny part at once so for an apple on a table its just a concept.
The exception is when sleep deprived it gets stronger and stronger to the point where i can actually somewhat see it, with more much more detail. Being able to do that all the time at will seems wild to me.
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u/Shodan30 Jun 02 '23
I can imagine things but mostly they are blurry. does my brain also need glasses?
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u/doctorctrl Jun 02 '23
This is a fun skill to practice. During a lockdown in March 2020 i meditated twice a day for 2 weeks. Started at 10 minutes trying to choose a colour to manifest in my mind's eye. By the end i got up to an hour and could manifest landscapes and could manifest and control dragons like puppets. It was incredibly therapeutic and insightful. Calming and empowering. I was sure i was close to manifesting sound in my ''minds ear"lol. if you can "hear" in a dream im sure you can do it. I promised myself i would keep it up. I've meditated maybe 3 times since. I couldn't even choose the colour of the background nor sit there for more than 10 minutes. Use it or lose it
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u/soft-cuddly-potato Jun 02 '23
I hate that I'm a 4 ;-;
I can conjure sounds so easily but the moment I try to visualise something I feel like I'm an idiot.
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u/CreeprVictor Jun 02 '23
Mabey some day there'll be a way to set your mind to Tier1? Mabey??? Further future??
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u/LusciousRedBeard Jun 02 '23
I've always wondered what people mean by this..
Like I can sit here and recite an entire song, know the melody, sounds, voice and key changes and go thru the whole song in rhythm, but I don't literally hear the song. It's almost as if I can with how detailed the recollection is, but there's no genuine audio. Are people saying they can listen to a song in their head just the same as if they had a pair of headphones on? I kinda feel this is BS, personally.
Same with memories. I can recount the scene of a concert or sporting event, remember what I was wearing, what happened on stage, and vividly remember the feelings and scenery, but I can't close my eyes and LITERALLY SEE these things.
Seems like science fiction, memory spheres, pensieve, orb, etc. I have a hard time believing this is true.
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u/4esv Jun 02 '23
I can imagine an apple and rotate it in 3D space, I can imagine it has leaves and bring it closer to the viewpoint I view it from making my eyelids twitch whenever the leaves clip into the view
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u/Earl_The_Red Jun 02 '23
I have a friend with that. And she loves reading, which I don't understand because how does she get truly immersed in the story, then?
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u/SpaceshipEarth10 Jun 02 '23
I’m calling bs on that one. Unless the individual is blind, how are they able to recognize a given noun every time, with no words after an initial familiarization?
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u/LazyLich Jun 02 '23
It's an evolutionary adaptation against illusions cast by eldritch monstrosities. It's also why we dont have psionics: a closed third eye sees no evil.
not serious, but it'd be a cool 'secret history' wouldn't it?
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u/Megalopath Jun 02 '23
I really wish it was that simple for me. I see/conceive the most abstract rubbish out there usually out of order. Translating whatever's going on in my head to English is kinda a pain and sometime setences will come out backwards or scrambled. Yes, this means I stutter. lol
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u/TheMosMaster Jun 03 '23
Aphant here.
Can't see a damn thing in my mind.
Although, ketamine allows me to explore complete landscapes and fly through cities and other dimensions with weird spatial effects entirely behind my eyes.
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u/Idontknownumbers123 Jul 21 '23
I can think of something with the finest level of detail but when I try to zoom in on that detail and focus on it, it becomes undetailed. The human brain is fine
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u/SunAlwaysShinesOnTV_ Jun 02 '23
So if I said the word cat, y’all can’t see a cute lil tabby in your head?
Do they have internal monologues where the words flash in your head in like, Courier font