Aphantasia: Why "Blind Imagination" Could Be the Key to Understanding Consciousness 

I knew some people doing research on aphantasia in a lab I was a part of in my undergrad. Some of the things that stuck out to me: - Many people with aphantasia report having vivid dreams, suggesting that there must be something about being awake that inhibits that process of visual imagery - This is very clearly a spectrum. Some people have no imagery, some see vague shapes or shadowery imagery, and others have very vivid images. - The object rotation test may not be a very good measure of phantasia as it is possible that other sensory modalities are being used to solve it (some people have described solving that problem through a very vivid somatosensory/proprioceptive imagination).

I have no ability to visualize things in my head. I'm so envious of everyone else! I used to think the term "picturing something in your mind" was just a hypothetical saying.

So i have mind blind aphantasia,.I just want to let other people know if you also have it, to make sure you have lots of photos of those close to you. I recently lost my parents and I struggle to picture their faces, which I felt ashamed and frustrated about for some time until I found good photos of them both. Good luck

I found out during a therapy session that I had aphantasia. My therapist told me to imagine something, and I got frustrated over people always saying that as if I'm meant to see pictures in my goddamn head. Turns out that's exactly what some people do. We ended up doing the apple test as well, which colour it was, what kind of table was it, what happens when it hits the ground. I visualised nothing. As an avid reader, it absolutely ruined me for a few weeks, knowing that people had the ability to visualise the story they're being told, the locations and the people that inhabit them. It's truly surreal. I made my peace with it not long after, realising my inner monologue would do more heavy lifting. I'd have to describe scenarios or things in excrutiating detail to "visualise" it, but it would still be words inside my head, and not pictures. I think it has helped me develop a more logical way of thinking over the years, although I would love to try the grass on the other side. Another tidbit that may be entirely personal and/or unrelated, but psychedelics (mushrooms especially) provide me with no visual hallucinations. I've never seen distortions, colour shifts or any of the funky stuff you'd expect alongside a trip.

When asked to visualize an apple, my mind sees no apple. My mind remembers that there are red apples, green apples etc. Maybe someone took a bite out of it, maybe there is a worm sticking out of it. All scenarios that I have looked at previously and remembered. I can invent any kind of apple I want using descriptors that I have memorized, but I can't see it.

I have aphantasia, and the way he's describing it is close to how I feel. He mentioned often times we can do the task and just not be aware of it. I've described my memories as a weird two party hive-mind where anytime I need to recall something, the memory guy goes and watches it, and I inherently know everything about it - but I never see the memory. I can only tell you im thinking about it. I know it's there. To expand on this, I feel like it's an autopilot adaptation. I don't often need really think about the task... I just stare at it and then an answer appears. It's so bizaare to put into words.

I have hyperphantasia. Until a few years ago I thought everyone visualized the same way. The strengths for me are often process based, where I can run physical simulations in my head backwards and forwards fairly rapidly. I often solve mechanical problems at work, and coworkers think I "got lucky", but the reality is that I did the same problem-solving anyone would only I did it in my head. Some people can memorize texts/statistics/formulas much easier than I can, and choose that skillset to follow processes. I visualize in 3D. Pros and cons to the entire spectrum. Mutual respect is key.

I realized I have aphantasia mid-last year. The way he said "I think these people don't lack mental imagery, they lack the conscious experience of mental imagery" REALLY resonated with me. "Mental blindness" I think is an appropriate description of this condition. The way I've described it to others is that it's similar to the movie Inception, and the concept it establishes of dreaming in layers. It's almost like I'm thinking about visualizing. My thoughts all feel a layer deep, below this mental blindness. When I try to visualize something, an activity I have to do daily for work, it's like I'm thinking about the concept of visualizing. Like the visualization is happening and I am aware that it is happening, but I can't see it, I just know the resulting data. In the same way that those who are visually blind have their other senses heightened, I feel almost like I perceive these visualizations through other mental senses if that makes any sense. It's like complex thoughts, visualizations, and forms come to me through knowing and not through seeing. This does mean however that "mental noise" and distraction can get in the way at times. If I'm going through something, have anxiety, or I'm in an environment that makes me unable to focus it takes me longer to get this data or could possibly prevent me from getting it at all. I've also realized, if anyone else has aphantasia and is reading this, that these "mental senses" can be trained through practice. Certain types of meditation have helped a lot.

I have strong Aphantasia. While awake, I have no imagery associated with thought. However I have the ability to conceptualize heavily. As a child, I thought when people said they had a "Mental Picture" of something it was only an analogy. I have extremely vivid dreams, so I have the ability to Imagine. Perhaps there is a lack of connectivity between the concious and unconcious mind. I am a visual artist, and can draw from memory, with accuracy, but not visualize things internally. I would love to speak with anyone who is interested and discuss further.

I can't imagine anything unless I am extremely sleep deprived or right before falling alsleep, when my body beggins to remove my admin privileges to the ability to move my body(falling into lucid dreaming). In that state and lucid dreams i see shapes or low detail locations, more towards concepts like road/hills/trees/houses occupying particular location in the vision field, but there's no color and very little texture

I suffer from this! My entire 47 years of life I thought everyone imagined things like me until like 8 months ago I saw a video about someone talking about Aphantasia.. I could not believe people actually could see actual images when they imagined something or like when they read books they have mini full color movies running in their heads.. I just read words and get a concept of whatever im reading in my head. I was SO mad and jealous when I found this out. I feel like I've missed out on so much..I remember growing up doing group meditation exercises and the speaker saying things like imagine a sunset or a beach and I'd always think what's the point? I'm an artist as is my whole family and my whole life I have never been able to draw things from imagination but when I look at something I can draw it really well.. Now I know why I never could draw or create newly imagined things..It pretty robbed me of my dream of working in any artistic field..You people are so lucky I'm so jealous =( I wish there was a cure

This is why I always loved reading. Everything turns into a movie in my head still. I recreate everything described and it’s why I get disappointed with some movies made from books because they leave out a lot of information or changes things.

This research excites me intellectually and devastates me personally. I’ve been progressively losing my ability to (or based on what the video describes, my *awareness* of it) visualize things in my mind as I rely more and more on dissociation to function the way I need to for a paycheck instead of the ways I enjoyed when I was younger. I also demonstrate a lot of symptoms associated with alexithymia, except I actually can identify my day to day emotions. Seems like I really am slowly dissociating my life away. Functioning normally but “spiritually” bereft.

Being an artist with aphantasia is really hard sometimes, since I can *think* of a pose idea that I want for something, but I can't actually... put that on a canvas, if that makes sense. I can think of it, and how I wish for the limbs to be positioned, but I can't actually visualize it, which makes it hard to actually.. put it on paper. That's why I like to take pictures of myself doing poses resembling the idea I had in mind and use them as references. Total life saver

Aphantasic here. I can hear music, sounds, and peoples voices. Visualisation seems like sorcery. I can't even understand what that would be like.

Yup, I found out I had aphantasia around 10 years ago at a dinner party. Someone said wow i had to imagine/ picture myself on a beach to relax. I laughed and said so you're just saying that as a turn of phrase. He said no i am literally seeing this on my mind. 😅 i was like wait can all of you do this ? And everyone at the table said yes, i was flabbergasted. Im in it by the way. And I also use arch 😂

One of my friends has aphantasia and still he devours books. It is so inspiring that nobody or even yourself can stop you when you're involved in such thing with enthusiasm.

Wow i think i have this, i do not see any image when i close my eyes, just have a fleeting sense of apple-ness that is gone as quickly as it arises, in fact i can actually visualize the apple better in my mind with my eyes open but even then it feels more like a memory regarding what i know about apples rather than an actual image, probably why i have always been terrible at drawing anything i cannot see.

I work with a lot computer code, mostly C/C++. A while back, I had a revelation that I often remember code by how it _looks_ (whitespace, indentation, line lengths, etc.), and thought maybe I'm weird and other people don't think that way. I can still picture code I haven't looked at in years.

As someone with aphantasia, ive realized that memory recall is a different thing to composing new "images" in the minds eye. So i sort of have a bank of memories which i can access, but for new constructs i find i need to write or draw them out to explore them. Then they become a memory that i can work with.

i actually remember being like 7-8 years old in the car and realizing i can do this!! for some reason i pictured lois griffin (lmao?) in front of me in the car and i was just blown away how i could "see" her but obviously she wasn't real or entirely visible to me. i thought it was so fascinating

Spinning a cow at high speeds

I normally got aphantasia and think in terms of sound, voice. But recently when i was tired and lied on the bed i stopped thinking hearing voice in my head and instead was imagining a movie or something like this it was really cool

Its cool that some people don't have an inner voice, but now that I've watched this video, it might be plausible to say they do have an inner voice but it's hidden within the unconscious processes.

I think the best way to explain what aphantasia is like is a book. Instead of visualizing the object, I describe what an apple would look like if my eyes were open. I know an apple should be red so I add 'red' as an adjective, and I just build with words until I have the scene I want

When I am talking with my friends online, one of them has at least said they have aphantasia, and they typically seem to be more logic oriented, and I personally have thought that maybe this is something like brain-handedness? Like for most people they press a 'button' to think of an image of whatever they want to imagine using their right hemisphere vs others using their left hemisphere to try for the same thing.

Wall of Text alert! I had a super scary introduction to my own aphantasia: (TL:DR - I learned I had aphantasia after enduring a week long mental breakdown or something...) This is 7-8ish years ago: I was reading a webnovel at my desk when it happened: my brain was suddenly flooded with words, sentences, complete paragraphs of an un-known story. My internal monologue was hi-jacked by the words, like someone stole away the mic and was shouting directly into my brain. Such an intense verbal barrage completely killed off my ability to function beyond basic self-care. My focus was utterly destroyed. It took an hour or two of me sitting in a daze before a thought broke finally through the noise and made me act. It wasn't a rational thought, it was more like a compulsion; Vent the words onto paper (a word doc) and hope that it would empty my mind enough to regain control. And so, I started writing. For a week, I did nothing but write. When I (eventually) noticed that it was dark, I'd go and cook low-tier meals with easy prep (and I still burned a few due to the broken focus). It felt like I was trapped inside my head the whole time, just experiencing the world passively without any thoughts because I literally couldn't hear myself think. Conversations were impossible, I basically grunted and said yes or no to any questions while I was cooking dinner. Writing seemed to help, but it was like the difference between being set on fire and being dipped in magma. Both are bad, one is just less bad... Somehow I managed to survive until the end of the week and on morning 8, I woke up half asleep and sat down at my desk. As the screen flickered on, I suddenly started crying because I could finally hear my thoughts again: "I need a coffee..." Thankfully that sort of thing hasn't happened again, because it was absolutely terrifying... During that manic week, I wrote about 200k words (it was all pretty shit because I wasn't even a hobbyist writer at the time). It traumatized me to the point that my brain keeps trying to convince me that it was just 'inspiration' and to this day, reading that novel draft makes me feel off so it won't become a complete story anytime soon. In the aftermath of that event, I was curious to look stuff up online and thus found out that I'm basically on the bottom tier of visualization for aphantasia. Also, there's no making music because my internal monologue is just that; a voice that kinda sounds like me, endlessly ranting in the darkness. Learning more about it was quite refreshing as I could finally understand many things that were weird when I was younger. For example, I absolutely hated mathematics because I couldn't do the calculations in my head without forgetting numbers (similar to how people shout random numbers at someone's who's counting to make them forget...). Now I have a concrete reason why I hated it so much, which helped me to hate it less. Once I realized that, I came up with new methods that suit me for counting (I use verbal rhythms for the numbers I'm adding. For example, 80 + 15, I would first do the 80 + 10 which is simple enough, then count out the 5 with a certain rhythm which helps me to remember the numbers much easier somehow. If there's a carryover, I can use half-steps to indicate it in the rhythm. Hey, if it's stupid but it works...) The big take-away is that my internal monologue is supremely-uber-highly-mega important for me to function as a human and when it goes away, my brain functions at the level of a smart dog. Right, I also learned that my spatial memory seems pretty good; I can still remember the dimensions of my grandma's linen closet (we used to hide there as brats while playing hide and seek...) I can still draw a basic floor plan of that house even though I haven't been there in like 20 years (They just moved houses). Maybe I missed my calling, maybe I should've been an architect.

Lack of inner dialog is the biggest headbanger I've ever heard of.

I can't even imagine what it would be like to see an actual image in my mind.

As someone with Aphantasia and a dissociative disorder, I find the way I can't visualize things feels very similar to trying to remember something that I have disassociated from. It's very interesting

"They don't lack mental imagery of an apple, they lack the counciouss experience of the mental imagery of an apple" Trully mindblowing.

How do I know if I'm picturing a red apple in my mind or if I'm just convincing myself that I am?

HD spinning 3D half-eaten apple that bounces around randomly

known I have aphantasia for years (thanks to some content on youtube). always thought, 'minds eye' - just a phrase that people used - no idea that people could *actually VISUALISE* things - blew my mind (not as much as people who don't have an inner voice/how do they THINK???) - I've l already happily volunteered to be part of a couple of uni research projects (University of Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand). what I find really interesting is... well number of things well it *is* POSSIBLE for me to see images - when I am completely utterly totally EXHAUSTED (think of a civil defense training weekend - from Friday evening to Sunday night 0 we has to drive after work (*when* I WAS working, many moons ago) - under the training they pushed us hard - little sleep - and trying to get to sleep these random but very detailed images - usually of random people did not know would just FLASH in my mind I went through a drinking binge in early 2014 for about 10 days (please don't judge me - reasons) - by the end similar but worse - VERY CLEAR - random images - regardless of whether my eyes open or shut - flash flash flash flash - so clear like watching TV but someone else is changing the channel every few seconds - really freaked me out PLUS - have VERY VIVID dreams - to the point where well well well before Inception (movie) - I had worked out a system (look at a clock - look back - time had changed - *ONLY* way in the dream I KNOW I'm dreaming - just like this 'reality' - sometimes try/succeed turn into a lucid dream - ) some images from *dreams from years* ago stuck in my head - though I can't 'see' them - still THERE although I cannot SEE images, I can draw a map/image of what is in my head - (i'm 52 now - have clear distinct vivid memory of an incident in kindergarten - yes kindergarten - sent this information to my mother few years back in an email - she didn't come back with "don't be ridiculous" = just accepted it = and moved onto to another topic oh - I'm an INTJ btw - professional tested twice - career counselling in 1998 & weekend business retreat based around Myers Briggs in.. 1999? 2200?

This is some of the most interesting stuff I have ever heard… Please keep up the videos! 👍

I have the opposite- hyperphantasia.

I see two images, both 3d, one with my eyes and one with my mind. They can be unique. As I listen and look at a person, I also see what they are saying or what I’m thinking in mental visuals. Both take mental capacity, so as my eyes are focused on an external stimulus, my internal representations reduce in strength and vice-versa - as my imagination increases my external focus reduces. But it is very easy for me to translate a recent external image into a mental one - like rotating a 3d object.

currently studying cognitive science (interdisciplinary) and it is facinating that this topic were presented to me this semester. funny timing

I recently figured out that I have partial Aphantasia. I can visualize things in my mind to some degree, but the images tend to be fleeting and mostly grayscale (though I can get flashes of colour by focusing on the notion of something being a specific colour). Perhaps the best comparison would be the "Embossed" effect in image editing software, generally lacking in fine detail & texture, with the areas outside the central focal point becoming rapidly more blurred and dissolving towards the periphery. Yet perhaps surprisingly, I can visualize mechanical concepts & movement quite well (for example, the internals of an engine), though I can't see the whole image clearly at once (almost like shining a very narrow and rather weak torch in the dark). I can visualize (for example) a cabin I'd like to build, move my perspective around inside or outside, place the major components in that space, but it's all outlines & shadowy planes, and fuzzy outside the central focus. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really visualizing, or if it's mostly conceptualization parading as visualization.

I always had issues trying to just, imagine/visualize things out of nowhere, but I never paid any attention to it until a couple of years ago, when I realized that not a single time in my life have I ever been able to produce an "original" image in my head, and whenever I am asked to think of something that is not tied to an actual memory ("think of an apple" VS "think of that apple you ate earlier"), at most, I get a very blurry and broken image that kind of flashes in my head for a millisecond and then completely fades away and I can't ever describe anything I "saw". It got me thinking of when I was a kid, and I went through all Harry Potter books, and could never ever imagine how any of the characters would look like, or the scenery, the rooms, outfits, the castle, nothing at all, and the only image I can produce, is from the movies. This has always been with me all my life... And something I just realized while writing this!!! The only times Ai have ever "seen" things that are not directly tied to a memory of something I've seen before, is either when I'm very high on hallucinogens, or very deep into meditation. The first one is the most common tho haha

This is the only channel I've found that is covering the many aspects of the hard problem of consciousness so clearly and easily to digest, and it's a topic that deserves so much more attention, with it arguably being the core mystery of everyone's life and existence. Unbelievably interesting and awe inspiring, and if there was a course about it and I had the time and money, I would without a doubt enroll. Thank you so much for covering these modern day enigma's that almost feel like the only remaining piece of true magic left in a world where science has made the explanations to most things that were once magic, seem predictable or mundane.

Once you realise that you can't 'see' an apple, try thinking about a clock. I have full Aphantasia but I'm able to imagine clock hands at various times in my m,ind and replicate them - I just can't understand how it's done. It seems to run in families alongside Hyperphantasia. I have noticed those with Aphtantasia tend to be above average with words, whereas Hyperphantasia lends itself to visual art of course. We also get a meditation bonus (and we finally realise why we could never do the guided visual ones).

Wow! What a brilliant interview! Subscribed!

Amazing, we need more open conversations about this and discuss how it limits understanding life in general if you don't see the picture that the words are painting

Very interesting! I may have this in some weaker form. I can bring up a weak image of an apple, mostly stemming from the memory of the apple, that was on my desk yesterday. But there is no color. And now I realize I generally don't see color in my imagination and when imagining something the images feel brittle. Same goes for dreams, I cannot remember, ever seeing intense color in dreams, even though I dream often. But I am a Computer Scientist and can visualize Algorithms and flow of data really well. I also own and design Bonsai trees and can imagine the shape, that I want, even when not looking at the tree. But more interestingly I am also a musician and I always envied people with chromesthesia (people, that automatically associate notes with certain colors). But now I realized, while listening to, or playing music, I associate it with shapes and texture. Very nice, thought stimulating video! Today I learned something new about myself, which I never thought about before.

I wonder what chemicals like LSD do. When I used to trip colors were everywhere like a kaleidoscope. Like others have said, I “see” my imagined objects but not like I see an outside object. It’s dreamlike. If I try to focus in, it disappears. I will say I imagined a green apple but it’s more like a memory of an apple. There’s no real green there.

This is fascinating, I just figured out today after watching this that I have aphantasia. My background is theoretical physics. When I did my research and dissertation in grad school I can imagine things in my mind but I rarely need to do it unless it's necessary. So when I imagine quarks distribution in a hadronic particle then my mind would think about quarks without picturing it. I noticed this when in the beginning of the video the blocks were visualized by actually rotating them. My mind can pictures two blocks and comparing their arrangements without rotating them. My wife always told me that I am a platonic because I tend to see things in abstract and generality not in particular or concrete. But I guess it takes a new meaning. Thank you for this video. I just learned something new today.

What a very interesting video! I think I’ll be checking you out more after this one 😊

I completely disagree that it happens via disassociation. When I "rotate" the image, I am simply comparing points of the second image based on the concept of the first image. The first rotation takes less time because there are less points of difference.

to me aphantasia is exactly like mental blindness, I'm fully aware of what I'm imagining, but I cannot see it. I say that because I would think it's similar to what a blind person's imagination is like. I agree with him when he says that I can have a "mental image" in my mind and do tasks like mental rotation, but there is absolutely no visual aspect. imagine a painting on the wall. to me its just a wall with a bump on it, but if im not touching the wall i would think that its just a flat wall, because i cant see the bump. this is even true in my dreams, I am fully aware of everything in my surroundings, even when I'm in a dark underground place with no light, and my awareness is tied to my location, so I don't know what's happening around corners or through walls, but there is no detail to anything. nobody has faces, there is no visual at all, it's almost like I exist in the third person. I'm aware of where I am and where everything else is and aware of what's happening and how things exist in the space, but I'm not limited to my field of vision and I am not able to make out any details that would require vision. even when I'm interacting with people that I know i cant make out their faces or clothing or any other details that would require eyesight to discern. not only this but I'm very inept at trying to make 2 dimensional sense of the 3 dimensional "image" I have in my mind. in the beginning of the video when you showed a mental rotation puzzle it was instantly obvious to me that they were the same object (i looked at them and didnt have to think about it or rotate them, i just looked at them and at glance thought they are clearly the same), but when trying to picture or draw the details on an object or in a scene from a specific perspective absolutely all detail is lost because there is no color or vision that I can use to tell where a contour or object ends and another begins. the best I can do is outlines, but details are completely lost on me. I can carefully design a car in my mind, lay out an engine bay, and be aware of how each individual component fits with the others in space. I'm very good with packaging and the 3 dimensional tetris when putting boxes and items into the back of a car or truck. I can completely and tangibly "visualize" all kinds of 3 dimensional shapes and interactions, but there is no perspective like you would get if you were looking at it, I'm "seeing it" from all angles and my awareness is fully 3 dimensional, like I'm a 4 dimensional being looking at a 3 dimensional image so that I can see everything from every possible angle at once. this is why mental rotation is silly to me. in the context of an engine bay I can rotate the turbo to make sure that the inlet and outlet pipes fit with the engine and the wheel wells, but the shape of the turbo doesn't change, so if there's 2 images I don't need to rotate it to know that it's the same turbo because when I look at an image the shape in my mind is clear, and since there is no perspective the shape is the shape and they are either the same or they aren't. the same applies to all of my senses, I can't imagine sounds, can't imagine smells, but when things are happening in a dream I'm aware of what people are saying, aware of what happened when someone slams a door even if I don't "hear it." my memories are much the same as my dreams and memories, I only remember what was significant to me at the time, so if someone said something I will remember the meaning of what they said but not the exact phrasing of it or where we were at the time, depending on how significant those details are. if it is significant that we were in class when it happened I'll remember it, but I still can't "picture" the classroom much less what other people in the room were doing or even where we were in the classroom, unless for example we were hiding from the teacher and to me that was significant enough to remember, or someone else was doing or saying something funny.

You just made me re-evaluate my entire lived experience, thought process and understanding of my mind. Thanks! Great video!

Great conversation. Thanks!

Oh wow, this is life-changing. He's totally describing me. In response to some of the comments. I can't "picture" an apple in my head. I can "imagine" a green apple vs. a red apple, taste the difference, feel how the texture is different on my tongue, hear the different sounds when I bite into each one, I can "imagine" how some set of features would change if it were rotated in different ways, but I can't conjure an image of it, and no I can't "see" green in my mind's eye when asked. I do get some abstract "shadows" with my eyes closed, and they can have color, but I have no control over them, except that if I try to identify them, they go away. When asked to visualize a tiger, (with my eyes open) I got an instantanious flash of a tiger's stripes and then the face of a tiger, but I can't pull them back, and with my eyes closed, I can't even get that. I had a therapist a few years ago who thought I might have a split brain disorder, her attempt to treat that went nowhere. I have had vivid lucid dreams where I tested my vision, and with effort, was able to make out details like the exhaust pipe of a car or, with effort, reading a sign (though it changed when I attempted to re-read it), and I can see color in dreams. No, I can't intentionally "picture" loved ones' faces, or my house, or green, or even the numeral 1. I've tried to ask others about how their minds eye works, it was like we were talking in different languages. If asked to imagine myself on a beach, the best analogy I could give is that I can only imagine myself as if I'm on a beach with my eyes closed. All of the other senses work fine, (sound works REALLY well for me, I think it's better than my actual hearing), but no vision at all. I'm an INTJ, computer programmer, and have been doing really fancy stuff with AI. I'm sort of elite in my ability to "imagine" the behavior of complex systems. This video and the comments section, even comments from those who think this isn't real, were very helpful. Edit: I don't think I've ever smelled anything in a dream, but yes I can conjur the sensation of specific smells on demand. I'd never tried that before now, but it works, so I know it's not something I had to "practice".

It is great to finally see someone working on consciousness research who has a realistic and practical view of it. The others I stumbled upon on the internet often couldn't even clearly define the object of their research. Sometimes I think we should come up with a new more clear term for what is called "consciousness" in that field, just like when UFO was replaced with UAP. I think it would save us a lot of headaches.

I have been able to picture things in my mind, picture things in my environment, and speak to myself in my mind for as long as I have been alive, it is so hard to comprehend the idea of never having these abilities

I only have vague, momentary images. The same goes for thoughts. I either have concrete dialogue, or I am empty. All I have is an amorphous feeling with very gentle nuances that I grasp at. This can even be literal in the sense that I move my hands around when explaining or thinking, to in a way feel and structure the fabric of my mind.

I just get very vague bits of shapes in my mind, everything is mostly shrouded in darkness. And as soon as I try to concentrate on it, it gets harder to see. My dreams are like that as well, it is like 50-80% of the information is missing. What happened one time though is that I got pushed in my dream and suddenly everything popped with colour and it was like real life for a few seconds. This was a very surreal experience and I still wonder what happened there. Also didn't really understand what backwards masking was about. In the first image I knew it was a spider, the second one I thought it was a bunny in a cup. But what does it tell me, how did that relate to the video?

I totally agree with this . Although I have aphantasia, I am able to manipulate my mind and even other processes in my brain in strange ways that other people claim they cannot, yet I objectively experience these processes. I have found that hard determinism has helped me understand a lot. I do love music, as some people on here said, I used to have very vivid dreams.. horrible horrible ones. I listen to solfeggio frequencies on my tv while I sleep in the other room during the night and I have gone from not having any mental imagery to being able to somehow m occasionally have a slight , abstract images but they are.. I can’t explain it. I do experience synesthesia when I attempt to recreate the apple in the form of feeling an invisible apple sitting on my skin for example. It has led me to have insights on things I never thought I would. Once you define consciousness it ceases to be that. So my imagination is very malleable and bizarre things that I can’t seem to find any info on, in every other aspect except visually. I think you are onto something here for sure. I can seem to visualize quantum physics in a strange way, like invisible walls. I watched a video recently where someone suggested our consciousness is quantum. When I access that field or whatever I.., I can’t explain. . Ahhh

We need more people talking about their personal conscious experience.

This is good information, I will try to rotate things in my head now. Never thought it was that easy but I was so blind and just produced instantaneous imagery. Also, this is somewhat not related but just wanted to share this thing I've been training on. I tried to write things half-asleep almost all the time which helps my subconciousness send feedbacks to me in ways that my consciousness cannot logically recall where it came from like it just popped out and this happens quite frequently in my half-asleep state in which I use to write my stories, there was this time where I dreamed of something and it was an inspiration of things that I might have watch a month ago which was suddenly remade into a story into my mind. I have no clue what this strange phenomena is happening to me right now but it's been giving me a lot of ideas to write on, however... It makes me sleep late at night, makes me forget of names I commonly used, and also I am constantly being attacked by my past which leaves me vulnerable in controlling my emotions. Lastly, I don't know if this will help but I sleep while my mind is still conscious of my surroundings... Can anyone help me understand this? Edit: oh no... my imagination became 2002 pixel games @-@... My imagination goes from building a whole world to pixel block shapes surroundings...this isn't bad I still learned how to rotate my view of the world I make inside my head now and will fill in the blocky pixel types I've imagined with HD ones...

Not only in scientists but in my profession of architecture and engineering, aphantasia is also present which I found astounding!

When i closed my eyes I saw an apple that kept changing colors from green to red and back like flickering...i realized this was because i didnt have information on its colors...

I have aphantasia, yet have had a successful career as a visual artist. When I close my eyes, I see nothing at all. When I'm designing something, it starts as a verbal description in my head that gets more and more elaborate the more intricate or detailed it gets. I do have vivid, visual dreams though, and an incessant inner dialogue. I envy that some can see things in their minds visually, even if I can't begin to imagine what that must be like!

A few years ago i made this argument glad its being made outside of my mind

I'm fairly weak on visualisation but fairly strong I think on somatic and auditory imagination. I can "feel" the texture of a tissue for example, if inexactly. I can recall voices and music fairly clearly, replay a song with accuracy mostly limited by memory. If a qualia is to be thought of as an integration of cognitive inputs, then virtual qualia like imaginary experiences can be described in similar terms relative to all inputs simulated internally. If that makes sense.

I think another issue with consciousness studies is that we haven’t scientifically studied psychadelic experiences, it’s a difficult task but I think one that needs to be studied to fully understand what consciousness is

This was great! Thank you :)

Great interview.

Cannot imagine being unable to visualize things in my mind, when I visualize stuff its always in easily manipulable high quality images that can be animated and the like

I really struggle to rotate objects in my head

I only heard about aphantasia when I was 40. I have never been able to visualise anything, but I was an avid reader since I was 5 and it surprised people when I finally mentioned this. I also had an active imagination and people thought I could see things, but I never did. I actually use struggle to play pretend because I need something close to whatever concept I am dreaming up (i.e. I can't just imagine I have a dress on; I have to be wearing one, but I could imagine it was blue but not that it was a princess dress if it was a tutu). I was never envious of anyone and actually just assumed people exaggerated when they said they could see it. When I studied meditation I use to hate visualisation, and now I know why. I lived with it and it was never an oddity to me until I found out that others didn't experience it like I did.

I think I am in the spectrum of aphantasia, I can only visualize things conceptually, and sometimes if I try really hard, I can sketch the shapes of the thing I imagine. But, on the other hand, I have an ability that I hardly have seen on anyone else. I have no problem remembering actual sounds or songs or voices, I can "hear" sounds really vividly in my mind, and that's a thing that everyone around me has told me that they can't. Additionaly, that's a thing I can totally control, I can choose to remember sounds. Lastly, something related is that I can be doing task A, while someone talks me about a Task B. At that moment, I can choose to ignore them, end with Task A, remember what they told me about Task B and answer them about that other task. Very interesting video btw, this is a very intriguing field.

I have aphantasia. No i can’t imagine this or that so don’t make me try. It literally feels like my head is empty, yet i can still “see” imagery, it’s just not like i can picture it in my hand for example. It’s in the back of my mind but i can’t bring it out into the real world as some people might be able to do. I don’t know if it’s genetic or not, my mom can see imagery and she was surprised when i told her about it.

Hot take: I dont think aphantasia is "real", everyone has it, its just that people dont understand the question and think imaginaning the concept of an apple is surely the same as seeing the apple being red, this might be why scientist all have this aphantasia, they just actually understand the question. Again im not saying im right this is just what i think it is, i havent even whatched more that 30s of video, i just know what it is, maybe there some information im here that will change my mind.

this is really interesting stuff!

gonna have to watch that a couple of times again to take it all in better, but i find this all extremely interesting

I'm undiagnosed but have aphantasia otherwise known as "those without eyes to sea" (the second way of thinking - I doubt it so rare, merely understudied) my mind works by an internal group of voices varying by what type of perspective, describing memories, plans, and surroundings, not images thus faces, especially over age, blur in regards to identification - especially with changed hair styles, new glasses, trans... ect. as oppose to useful, until you figure out how to pattern most things it's horribly unproductive. once you have patterned most things, chances are you did it wrong and will have to redetermine the patterns each miracle (what doesn't fit). All we know is we are usually wrong and search for the real patterns.

We need to consider philosophical zombies for AI, dangerously missing on the debate.

I remember that in my childhood, around the age of 6 I had aphantasia, knowledge came into my mind in a different way without image or sound, it was just "knowing" and "understanding", it wasn't something temporary, it was something that always happened, I literally had to learn to have imagination, a mental voice and images from scratch

As soon as you started talking about it I had no imagery as soon as you explained it more I have full access and the ability to rotate imagery and add color and other dimensions very strange thank you

Blind imagination or “aphantasia” is a mental misconception. If you can give directions or tell someone what kind of dog you’re thinking of etc, you absolutely can see with your minds eye. You just have to rearrange your belief structure about it. I know this to be true because I was mind blind as a bat until recently. It wasn’t easy to do and I’m still not good at it but I absolutely can see my imagination now. And i absolutely couldn’t before. So, for those of you who feel “left out” with a little work and the right kind of thinking you can open up your minds eye. Really, it’s more like looking at what’s already there. Impossible to teach someone how to do it. You have to figure it out on your own. It’s not like flexing a muscle. You first have to know where in your mind to look and then you can get better at it. I’m living proof. You don’t have to believe me but for those of you who want hope and want to see, i promise that I am 100% correct about this. I know for a fact. I can’t show you, but you absolutely are not blind in your mind. You just don’t yet know where to look. That is a promise. I can’t promise you’ll figure it out but what i can promise is, believe you can’t do it is the primary obstacle keeping you from seeing it. You have to let go of the concept of mind blindness. It is almost criminal that this idea has been spread on the internet. It is actually hurting people more than people know. It makes some people suicidal and I’m not joking or overstating. It’s tragic how “science” is used in this regard. Especially given the “evidence” from brain scans. If you’re not good at seeing with your mind or you simply cant see because you don’t know where to look, of course this will show up on a brain scan. Once you know where to look your brain will light up just like everyone else’s. For those of you troubled by this oppressive meme, I want you to know that you can see. It’s only a matter of taking the time to figure out how. It can be easy or hard. It’s a matter of peeling back layers of belief that unfortunately have been compounded by the name given to this “deficiency.” Aphantasia is a word not a disorder. You’re not incomplete. I’m sorry to those of you who have learned this word and have taken it to heart. It is not real. It’s only subjective dissonance that can absolutely be resolved. It doesnt matter what the “science” says. Neuroscience is essentially a complete misunderstanding of consciousness not the other way around. Of course MRIs show what they show. You’ll know what I mean if you learn to see.

I am a visual artist and have aphantasia. Everything is filed in my mind as concepts. I have good spatial awareness. In a way, I feel like it’s a net benefit. My imagination doesn’t feel as “polluted” and I don’t need to overcome what pops into my mind as much.

Brilliant interview

I have aphantasia and I only realised I had it when I was 18. The difference in life experience from aphantasics and regular people is so small that you don’t realise until someone actually tells you people actually CAN see things in their mind. This moment is a paradigm shift I feel most aphantasics have experienced; it’s a moment where hidden memories and events from throughout your life all get brought forward and suddenly everything makes sense. The reason I do *know* I have aphantasia is because I can dream while under the influence of medicinal cannabis. These dreams are vivid and fantastic, I have very little control of what I do dream about but it usually correlates to stressors in my real life. Because of these dreams I can know what it’s like to be able to visualise things, and I cannot. (While conscious) The last thing I want to mention is something I don’t quite understand yet about aphantasia. That’s the fact that when I do think of something in my mind naturally, I often can find myself being provided a flash of the imagery in my mind. This flash of imagery lasts barely long enough to realise it even happened and cannot be replicated by trying to actively visualise or think of the same thing. It’s very frustrating I feel, it’s like the lights get turned on for a millisecond before going back out again, and you’re left with the concept of what you just saw without any imagery to it. I feel this is the brain attempting to recall visual information to mind but an active process in consciousness inhibits this ability and so visualisation cannot be achieved actively/consciously. I’ve heard others with similar experiences but I’m curious to see if any of my other aphantasics share this feeling/experience Thank you for this video Elliot. It’s nice to read the comments from all my other aphantasics and relate to their stories. It’s both a relief and funny to for once be able to relate to so many stories about life experiences due to aphantasia, for once I feel understood without the need to explain myself.

Everything he's saying at 7:00 I have been saying for over half a decade.. So freaking awesome to see that I really do know what Im talking about!!!!!!

I was absolutely mind blown when i found out people actually 'imagine/see' things in their mind. I have no imagery at all, and never know people did. I thought everyone thought in concepts

I’m not a scientist but I read Dehaene’s book on GWT and he describes several experiments that are similar in nature to the blindsided aphantasia one and the arguments in favor of GWT seem pretty convincing. I wish I understood what Dr. Lau was trying to say when he pointed at problems with the evidence. He definitely sounds like someone we should be listening to.

thank you for this video. ive had a thing since i was younger of making myself walk fast through the city and all that in my thoughts. i can still do it but ive come to find out it is really mentally stressing. i usually play video games where hypothetical simulation is required and i constantly keep simulating scenarios that are in direct proximity to the scenario required to win. i do that in real life as well, i rarely make mistakes, and i get away with way more advantages than disadvantages. i learned many things just by simulating myself doing them.

I follow an anesthesiologist on RU-vid who talks about preparing patients mentally and emotionally for “going under.” This is significant, because some patients come out of anesthesia in the throes of some experience they often start to physically act out. Some actually become physically violent. The most interesting thing I’ve heard is that we really don’t understand HOW anesthesia works. We (or at least, anesthesiologists) know how to calibrate the dosages, what to check for in terms of patient readiness and patient recovery from anesthesia, but don’t understand how anesthesia disconnects the brain or the awareness of the body and/or pain while under. Honestly, I think the philosophical and the practical are linked.

Thanks for helping me define my experience. When I’m asked to picture something, it’s like my brain can do it but only with things on file so to speak and I’m not directly experiencing it, my brain is doing it and communicating it to me. So now I know I’m doing it unconsciously. Another point: I can only use things I’ve actually seen. I cannot combine things I’ve seen to make something new or come up with something I’ve never seen before. It’s a bit limiting really. It’s like my brain takes videos and pictures and can reference those and communicate that to my consciousness but nothing beyond that.

This is a phantastic video! Thanks

i always thought this was my biggest block to my spirit... but its a power!!

Thats amazing! I was once asked to do a yantra meditation. I really sucked at it. I had no idea other people can see the image in their mind!!!!!!

I have aphantasia and it absolutely blew my mind when I found people actually mean they can see pictures in their head. It’s weird because my dreams are super vivid, and when I wake up I can almost recall those images for a brief second when I first wake up. Sometimes I can visualise things but I’m not sure it really counts. Like, with the apple example just now, I couldn’t see anything at all, but on other days I would be almost able to see an apple. But it’s really far back in my head if that makes sense, like it feels really far away (like when somethings far away it looks small, but it’s not just small it genuinely feels like there’s a distance and I’m seeing with the back of my eyes even though that would be impossible) and the image is dark and blurry and feels more like a vague understanding than an actual imagine, like I’m pulling it from deep in my subconscious. What else I find weird is despite not having the ability to visualise, I’m really good at art. And not just at replicating images from references, my art professors always complimented me for how creative I was. I would come up with all these strange elaborate concepts, and even though I couldn’t see them in my head I would just KNOW what they looked like and would be able to put it down on paper after collecting multiple references and smooshing everything together. It’s really hard to describe but there is just this intuitive knowing in my head of what things look like, even things that don’t really exist. It also blew my mind when I found out some people don’t have an inner monologue, as due to having no visuals in my mind all my thoughts are words. I’m constantly talking in my head unless I’m asleep.

I have aphantasia. Interestingly, if my eyes are shut, I don’t see anything in my mind’s eye, but if my eyes are open and I picture an apple, I have a vague idea of a picture of it. I think I can use the colours I’m seeing to help me paint the mental picture. Also, I have extremely good musical recall. I can “play” music in my mind almost as clearly and accurately as if I was listening to it. I can imagine particular sounds with extreme accuracy. I can imagine the weight of an apple, the taste of an apple, the sound of it being bitten extremely well, I just can’t see the thing. I wish I could picture my loved one’s faces.

When we our electricity got cut due to not paying it, I practiced visualizing an entire reality like a movie out of my head while laying down either staring or closing the eyes. I often times do it out of boredom, constantly pausing it, cause work got in the way. Overtime, you can accurately imagine things, color, sounds, but still lacking on the smell, touch and taste. I don't know if everyone can do it but, I hear the voice of my own thoughts, sometimes not my own.

I've always strived to be more conscious because I always thought being more conscious meant being able to do more, know more, I've always been a dreamy kid, mostly living inside my mind, as I've visualised what I wanted as some sort of fantasy in my head. This video is fact.

I have aphantasia. I couldn't see the apple. But I still knew it was red. When thinking about details, I could imagine a stiff brown stem being twisted and broken, color striations blending red to yellow, little whitish spots, a tiny, dry, brown almost flower-like formation at the base. But I couldn't actually "see" any of that. I feel like the sensory signal from my eyes just very strongly overrides any image from my mind, even when my eyes are closed. There are moments when I'm half asleep, when I think I might experience an image, but if I notice it happening, my attention focuses, and the input signal takes over.

For some people it’s like the same as being invited by people to learn to swim and then proceed to convince themselves they can’t do it on the first few tries.

I've learned so much and practiced so much through aphantasia.