What It's Like Having No Inner Monologue and Aphantasia (a blind mind's eye) 

“My brain, is quiet.” I have never been so envious of someone in my LIFE

For me, reading and my inner voice are inextricably linked, I cannot read without hearing the voice.

I just found out I have aphantasia yesterday and I'm still completely blown away. You guys can imagine images, scenes, sounds, smells, feelings. You guys can picture loved ones, imagine a future, or enjoy drifting off into Imaginary dream worlds. For me it's all factual and conceptual. Like a computer without a screen. Operating in the dark and silent abyss that is my mind.

I used to daydream so hard that I could have no idea what’s happening in front of my open eyes because I was so deep in my mind’s eye. But it made it difficult to concentrate in school sometimes because you miss vital information when you phase out. RU-vid has actually helped me learn because I can snap out of it and rewind.

To me, you are the super hero. Why do you think we spend so much money on retreats, yoga, meditation, etc... to quiet our minds, to try to have it shut up, stop narrating, stop judging, stop taking so long to make decisions or to take action, to stop labeling items as you see them, stop filtering through language. To be still. There are things I'm sure we'd love about the way your mind works. Maybe this is an evolution. You're less internally distracted so you're able to focus on the task at hand, and your mind may not need to so long to grab info from the files they're stored in since you also dont have to filter through that extra layer of information such as moving pictures. This whole subject is facsinating. And tbh we need all perspectives In this world, and yours is a special one.

Ahh please try not to be sad, it can be a real pain to have a inner voice. I have had crazy arguments with myself when I was sailing alone offshore, it was nuts. The. Voice can be very negative at times too and cause a lot of insecurities and stress.

Grieving something you didn’t know you “lost” can be extremely confusing and painful. 😕

This blows my mind - I wish I had learned more about this in grad school. I see VIVID images constantly and I NEVER shut up in my head. It’s constantly going. I don’t ever have a quiet brain...I think I’m the farthest away on the spectrum from Aphantasia as possible. I look forward to watching more of your videos to learn more, because just as it’s hard for you to understand us visualizing & have an inner monologue; it’s so hard for me to get your side of things too. Oh, and, like when I say my mind is never quiet: I dream in VIVID pictures & emotions as well. And remember so many of them and they still haunt me sometimes.

i feel like falling asleep would be so easy. my thoughts keep me up for so long at night

Hello. I just stumbled upon your video and it really turned on a light for me. My 14 yr old daughter has been struggling for some time with reading and reading comprehension. She has an IEP at school and several weeks ago we were in a meeting with her teacher and she said to the teacher “ you keep telling me to image this or picture that and I don’t know what you are talking about”. At that time I thought, ok she is just frustrated and does not want to cooperate. Until last night when I stumbled upon your video. I had my daughter come in and watch it with me and she started to tear up and she said. Yes mom, I don’t see anything, no pictures. Ahhh, I think we have something here. So, THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! for sharing your story. ❤️

I've been married 14 years. I had someone over and she mentioned her inner monologue. My husband entered the room as she was speaking and asked, "What's an inner monologue?" He had no clue what we were talking about. Totally blew my mind. I'd heard that there were people who didn't have one and some that can't visualize things in their mind, but I never considered he was that way. I started questioning how he thinks about things and it blew my mind. It actually explained a lot. lol

It’s so hard to describe what happens in ones own head to another person. Maybe that’s why we have art.

I want to understand thinking without an internal voice, that seems like a super power!

I had no idea this was a thing until today. I have an internal monologue and the ability to visualize pictures mentally. I find it so fascinating that your eyes still look up and to the right when you are thinking because scientists associate this with visualizing remembered images. I can't imagine what thinking would be like without the voice and pictures.

I will say it is a blessing to be able to read and create your own version of what the story looks like in your head. It’s almost more vivid than being submerged in a movie and often times I find myself severely let down by movies that portray books

I honestly always thought counting sheep was just a figure of speech

I really hope someone sees this comment and it helps them. The most beautiful things in life are right in front of us, we don't need to see them in our minds. Go into nature, talk with your loved ones, have pictures of them around the house, etc. 👍👍

Your brain is probably much more efficient than mine. When I'm studying, there are things that I have to imagine to really understand it. I have to put effort in it. While your brain seems to easily grasp all the information. Pretty cool.

I just love how our language is so advanced that we can have this conversation and understand each other back and forth about it.

I can hear music in my head perfectly. And recall voices and sounds inside my head. I can also see the things. Like movies in my head. Not trying to gloat just want to know who else also sees things like this? I also can smell smells again in my head.

Just remember, at times, that those who have these internal dialogues sometimes long to be able to find the "off" switch for these voices/thoughts.

This video really resonated with me, I have a minds eye and inner monologue but I relate to the feeling that you're missing out on a fundamental human experience. I remember going through the same strange grieving process when I found out that I'm asexual. I thought for years everyone was exaggerating or being hyperbolic when talking about their attraction. The period of adjustment when you first learn these things can be incredibly tough, no matter how trivial they may seem to some, so stay strong! Also, even though having the ability to visualise things/internal monologue is pretty cool there are plenty of downsides! Vivid nightmares, replaying traumatic memories or a loop, having your internal monologue constantly belittle you etc. Sorry for the ramblings, I guess I'm trying to say everyone is going to have unique struggles and the way your mind works is beautiful and complex in its own way.

You are not alone. I also have aphantasia and little to no inner monolog. I can think to myself in my head but it is an intentional act that requires me to choose to hold a conversation with myself. Many people consider me to be almost excessively logical. I'm pretty successful in my career as a Behavioral physiologist. I have a proficiency for learning technical things quickly and really enjoy word play and language. I agree that I sometimes struggle to relate to "most people" and I do feel "different" but at the same time I'm generally a very happy person. I feel like my inability to imagine visually or have that ongoing inner monolog helps to make me emotionally stronger and resilient. In my work that has benefitted me a lot. I grew up with a lot of difficult things in life but it doesn't bother me in the way in hurt my siblings. I have emotions and sympathy so I'm not Anti-social Personality Disorder but I'm just generally calm, stable, and happy. I wouldn't change my brain at all because it makes me who I am and I'm happy. But I do relate to all that she is saying. It sounds like we have a similar lived experience including my dreaming in pictures and feeling almost like a computer without a monitor.

Inner monologs and imagery can be crowding and tiring often, to be honest. But, I certainly can see how discovering this was & coping with accepting this can be very overwhelming. Thank you for making this. Very enlightening.

I really love how this has become a “trend” I guess. Because it seems to rally people together and have us learn more about others and how they function and accepting it. Isn’t it amazing that with all of the technology we have and all of the advancements we’ve made, we never realized that people literally think differently? That blows my mind and makes me think, “wow, if this simple but also vital part of people was missed, I wonder how we can improve communication with each other?” Think about it, you’re married to someone who can think and recall things the way I guess the majority of people can and so many times that he probably asked to do something or remember or whatever may have caused fights or issues due to a simple disconnect in the ways you guys think. Like with the red dress example you gave, if someone asked you to remember the red dress and to recall it a later time but you couldn’t, maybe they would be upset because they think you’re just being forgetful or not caring whereas a simple change in the way they approach the question would make the huge difference. I think this is a great way for us to open up our minds to accept people and do more research because the human brain and mind are so complex and amazing.

on another note.....this woman is hillarious

I discovered that I have aphantasia after the death of my grandfather. My relatives talked about having my grandfather's image in their minds. And I started to doubt a lot about the veracity of what they were saying. I asked them. They claimed to see it. From that I started to investigate what I had. But I never felt bad about having aphantasia. I never saw it as a deficiency. I would love to be able to see images in my mind, really. But from knowing this I started to back-analyze my history. And I realized that I am what I am because I have aphantasia. I was a cartoonist with a lot of difficulty because I couldn't foresee how my drawings were going to look before I made them, but that difficulty turned into a constant surprise. I am a photographer and now I understand that my craze for taking pictures had to do with the fact that the images go away from me and I can't get them back. My life was formed around aphantasia. I have a tendency to live in the present. This is very difficult for other people. The past haunts many of them, they are presented with images of alternate universes, of cruel or traumatic moments in their past. I cannot revisit pleasant images from my past, but I am not haunted by traumas either. Our conscious experience is unique, everyone's experience. The qualities of consciousness vary from extreme to extreme and everyone has different qualities. This is our experience of the world, it is not bad, we don't have a problem, we experience the world differently. We are different. I hope this message helps you. I wish you all the best.

It's definitely not a hoax. I'm a writer and an artist and I play out every single scene in my mind before I write it. It's like watching a movie that I have control over.

I love that we are sharing all these things together. it's so cool to hear how different people's brains work!!

Mental visualization is really strange. When I visualize it’s almost a little bit like shifting some focus from the actual image my eyes are seeing to a separate intangible image that my brain produces somehow.

This is the most fascinating rabbit hole I've been down in a long time. It is so hard to imagine what it would be like to think and remember in a different way.

I can hear the sadness in your voice of feeling like you're missing out on something by not having an internal voice and mental pictures. This video was very interesting to hear how your brain works.

What you said about thinking it was a hoax made me laugh. I am bisexual and I actually remember thinking as a child that EVERYONE liked both and it was a colossal secret that no one could admit. Part of me still kind of thinks that lol. Just goes to show how our own identity and experiences shape our perception of reality!

"You read books and you get to see it?" Wow, I definitely should be more grateful for the things my mind can do. In German is KOPFKINO . It means, the movie paying in your head :) ofc the germans have a word for it

I don’t literally see a image I just see it in my mind not with my eyes but my mind. It’s pretty nice sometimes.

wow i didn’t even ever think that this was possible, thanks for posting this it’s so informative

Sorry that people like you feel like you’re missing out on things because of this. Personally, I’m jealous of you. You seem lovely x

You speaking about songs in you head made me think how sometimes I can hear music so vividly in my head, like it's almost there, I can hear the different layers and instruments and the original singer's voice at the same time. Although sometimes it goes too fast in my brain and i have to try and make it slow down and stretch it out.

This is turning my perception of what it is to be human upside down and inside out... Truly fascinating and bizzare all at once! With what she says about not being able to remember flavours, how do you remember what foods you like or dislike? Is every meal you eat like eating that meal for the first time? If you have no inner monologue, how do you stay sane when you are alone in a quiet environment? How do you prevent the silence from consuming you? My inner monologue / conscience is both my best companion and my worst tormentor. I can't imagine exiting as a human without it, it is an integral part of "me"..

My partner has aphantasia. Whenever my mind is going non-stop with worry about a million things (most of them stuff that will never materialize), I ask her, "What are you thinking about?" And she says, "Nothing". I'm jealous of her. That inner monologue can be so debilitating to those of us that over-analyze everything. My partner and I can have conversations and discuss actions and possibilities, but then she goes back to her peaceful world and I stay in my mental chaos. As so many have mentioned in previous comments, that inner voice and the ability to visualize aren't always a blessing. There are many of us that are probably jealous of that ability to live in the peacefulness of the uncluttered mind. Thank you so much for sharing your experience in this video. You have done an amazing job!

they aren’t “images” like you would think, they’re in a way hazy or blurry it’s not like just looking at a photo, and no one knows what they look like it’s not just you❤️

Also the part about how we can’t visualize or remember how people look, really messed with my head. I cried when I asked my sister if she could describe our mother with detail. She said she could. All I could do is remember she has dark brown hair and light brown eyes. If I try to imagine her face, I can’t tell you how she looks, but I could easily point her out in a crowd of 1000 people. Doesn’t help that one of my biggest fears is forgetting haha 😅

Really needed this. I’ve really been looking for this. Especially about grief. I can’t believe I will never be able to experience visual images. I really am sooo crushed. Thank you for validating that for me

I almost got spooked by the fact how relatable this is. I like the way you try to describe your mind because I can not find any good words for it

I’m an inner dialogue / visual person. I think there’s a wide range of the types of thoughts people have but most are inner dialogue / visual people. The best way to describe it is that it’s NOT a voice that’s crisp and clear as if we were in the same room. It’s like this idk “thought” like in the back of our mind that takes the shape of a voice. I know that doesn’t make sense. The thoughts aka voice influences how we feel, how we judge people, how we process information given to us, how we make decisions, etc. we think about whatever it is before we do it. Even if we say we just did something without thinking, there’s always a thought we just don’t dwell on it. It isn’t something that we can shut off, we are always thinking before we act and react. It isn’t something that takes over like an annoying person who won’t shut up. In some ways we don’t pay attention to the fact that we’re thinking. It’s just something we so subconsciously and that’s it. I dream every so often and I dream in color and sound. I can’t always remember / recall the smell of something unless it’s related to a strong memory. The more time passes the less memories are clear or memorable. When I’m thinking about something that’s plaguing me or it’s something important I’ll end up focusing more on the thoughts than what I’m doing at the same time like if I’m cleaning at the same time I’m thinking, I’ll end up getting lost in my thoughts and wham I’m done cleaning. It’s not something that can be shut off either. There’s good and bad to it. But I guess the bad is it drives our feelings which controls how we feel physically aka like a panic attack. I’d we want to control how our body reacts we need to control our feelings by controlling our mind and not letting our thoughts worry etc hope this helps.

Yes! I found out about aphantasia almost a week ago and I thought the same thing! Being able to visualize in your head is like a superpower and of course they don't see it that way because they've been doing it their entire lives.

This was very interesting and helpful. The analogy of a foggy city but knowing where everything is helped me understand your point of view so much more. Thank you for sharing.

Oh! My! Your description is the best I have ever heard for how I travel through this world! You were talking about what happens in my mind - exactly!! Your explanation about how memory works - a data-dump! YES!

I have had so many feelings about finding that people can actually see pictures and have memories. I feel cheated!!! It does answer a lot of questions!! Thank you for the postings and being real about the feelings that come with this realization.

Mindblowing discovery, Internet and RU-vid are such amazing places to learn about human cognition, thanks a lot for sharing :)

I just love how this topic brings to the surface the understanding of how uniquely DIFFERENT BEINGS there are behind the skin, flesh and bones of each and every individual walking on earth!! This realization is the most breathtaking and beautiful thing!

I LOVE LOVE how you ask us to imagine a scene to describe how your memories feel to you.

Lol i have a constant inner voice and i can invent and build things in my minds eye very accurately... i couldn't imagine not being able to

I only just learned a few days ago that people actually visualize stuff in their minds. I'm completely blown away by this. I don't and cannot recall a time I ever have. Your video was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you!

How ever your mind works it is clearly working well for you - because you are remarkably capable of explaining and contrasting life experience. And yes, “We are the Champions” often can stuck in my head and it’s never invited. Best wishes.

I honestly didn't believe that your experience even existed. It's interesting, thank you for sharing. You're not less of a person.

Exactly how I feel! I thought everybody could imagine the concept of something being there in their head, but I didn't know people could actually VISUALLY see things in their minds? The best I can describe it is feeling a presence in your head but it's not actually visible. Hell, some people even see colors when they close their eyes. All I've ever seen was pitch black, not even an outline of the object I'm thinking of. I found out about this a few days ago and it surprises me.

Hello! I hardly ever write RU-vid comments but I think this is very important. Aphantasia is a rough thing to realize and go through. I first discovered that I couldn't see pictures when I was talking to my fiancé about reading and she was like "Yeah, it's similar to having a movie playing in my head" it all spiraled from there. I thought I was completely lost and there was no hope that I could do this insane skill that she has developed and fine tuned throughout the years. But for me I was angry about it and wanted to fix it because that's my personality type and I discovered that I could make a very feint type of picture-esk thing in my head. The first taste of it that I had was when I was laying in bed trying to figure this skill out and I was staring into the dark and I got a feint line to show up behind my eyes. I thought I was bugging because I didn't believe it and it seemed like I was on substance but it was there, then I immediately got a headache. There are substances out there that can activate this nerve or whatever in your head for you, if you can see that, there is a massive chance that you're just being blocked. Think about this as a muscle. My fiancé is like a ripped body builder who snorts pre workout in terms of this muscle, but me, I started out as a literal infant. I've been developing this skill for over a year now and I'm proud to say that I can see when I read. I can choose when to picture and when not to picture. It still isn't as clear as hers but I know (this is a big part of it, you have to believe in yourself that you will get better.) I know I'll get there someday. If this is you, put in hours and hours and hours to see if you can make the slightest image, because then it spirals. Her and I worked for weeks together doing all types of methods before I could get something while completely relaxed. It can happen for you, we don't know much about this ailment yet and there is little research on it yet. Don't give up on yourself just yet.

I have prophasia and a complex inner dialog. I looked up this topic to understand the other end. You are phenomenal. Thank you so much for sharing your story

I am only 6 minutes into this video and I had to stop and just say you are wonderful! You help me understand what its like for you, so well. Thanks for your video.

I am so sorry you are sad! I thank you for sharing this! You sharing your feelings was SO BRAVE and I appreciate it! As an artist I cant imagine what that is like. You are different just like we are different. Trust me, if we poked around we would probably find out that we are all not alike. :)

THIS VIDEO IS SO GOOD!!! your experience is similar to mine in so many aspects i feel like both my inner monologue and mind eye are very "weak". i mostly don't hear my thoughts, but when i picture myself talking something out loud i can hear almost a whisper at the back of my mind mimicking what i want to say. same with picturing images... for example, i can picture a tree but just for a split second, and althought i "feel" it's there in my mind, it's in a very poorly lighted place for some reason ?? so none of them work voluntarily for me either... but i still dream in pictures which is weird but yeah, i mostly rely on abstract thoughts that almost resemble feelings, and i came to terms with it because i feel like it matches my personality lol !!

Just found out. I'm blown away. Shared you vids with my family and close friends. It certainly help them understand what my new discovery is about. Thank you. Can't wait to learn more.

Thank you for taking the time to explain your experience. I don’t even remember what rabbit hole lead me to this video this morning, but you did a tremendous job explaining your experiences, which are completely different from my own. Like you, I’ve just always assumed everyone had the same general experience, internally. The differences are really astounding.

wow I didn't think this could be so emotional for someone

I generally have to close my eyes to “picture” something in my head and it takes a lot of focus. I don’t see things as actual physical objects like some people describe. Listening to you, I started trying to put my experience into words, but I’m having trouble lol! I can picture a star in my head, but it doesn’t “feel” visual. I realize that doesn’t make a lot of sense lol! Your husband’s description is very interesting! The idea that people can see things so vividly is wild!

I am amazed by this, you are amazing!! I am often tormented by images in my dome. I feel like I spend most of my life in my head. I've often desired to be able to turn inner monologues and images that replay. The level of peace that you can achieve will always be greater than that of mine.

@Quiet Mind Inside You're so lovely- your warmth really comes thru so strongly... you have a big advantage in that you are probably more present in the moment. Those of us that are intensely visual can get caught up in excessive pondering on past or future scenarios. A busy mind is most times a real drawback as often those voices are negative & self defeating. Your family is lucky to have you & I'm sure your enthusiasm & passion is a real gift to them

I recently discovered I have Aphantasia and honestly it made me feel so relieved any so many more interactions with other people in my life made infinitely more sense. Talking about how your memories work to people without aphantasia is always big fun. It's so difficult to explain and usually the way I describe it is "instinctual" The information about an event or memory is just sort of there. One interesting thing you brought up was that if a song gets stuck in your head, you do hear it in the singers voice. I have a partial inner monologue, most of the time there isn't much going on in my head unless I'm having a bad/emotional day, or if I actually have to really process something. (Like slightly more advanced arithmetic as an example) If I have a song or something stuck in my head, I will hear it in my own voice and only my own voice. I can't hear things inside my head with any voice but my own and I didn't really realize people could do that, as well. Personally, I do dream visually but typically the emotions I feel during my dreams are far more intense than the visual experience of those dreams, almost to the point that it drowns out the visualization completely. I also like to think I have an above average memory and I think a lot of that is due to not having the ability to visualize things, so I don't have my own brain adding incorrect information about an event. From what I've started to understand is typically peoples own emotions tends to frequently influence how they will visually recall a memory, which can drastically alter the accuracy of a memory. Hopefully Aphantasia will become much more recognized, especially in schools. There were so many things in school that personally just continued to isolate me because of having aphantasia. Literature classes were painfully boring. Constantly being told to imagine things and thinking I was just dumb didn't help my self esteem. Art classes were another thing I really couldn't stand unless we were given a physical object to work with. So many things that I dealt with in schools actively relied on me to have the ability to visualize things inside my head. I had a good time watching your video and keep your chin up!

I can say, picture, smell, taste anything I imagine. I can speak in other peoples voices in my head, but thats quieter than my inner monologue, its more like hearing them. I can imagine pain too, not feel it but imagine it and I can't explain the difference. I can play whole scenarios in my head like a movie, like put myself on a date with someone I like. Or sometimes horrible situations like someone dying. My dreams are just like full blown movies and I have become conscious to the fact I am dreaming many times too. Which is freaky af!! My inner monologue is constant. Like a narrator of life. It reads the words on the page for me, and says in words whatever I focus on visually in real life. I think my words before I speak (but not always lol). I'm not sure if its my own voice. Its the one I've always heard, I guess its like mine but nicer to hear. My inner monologue is not deciding what I say, its just narrating what I think. I can think many things at once while the narrating is happening. My mind is blown that not everyone does this. I feel like I wouldn't have depression if I was like you, how you just verbalised your emotions, thats awesome and good for you and makes you more open. Whereas I just internalise emotions and it makes me so closed and punishes myself.

Thank you for sharing your story and thoughts, it was very interesting. Hang in there!

your experience is so cool and not any less than any other persons experience!! some memories go away and some ppl can’t remember things from 10 years ago, this is very fascinating and i’m very happy you decided to share this!

I think the term imagining is often a bit off for me. I have an example: when I visualise the letter P. I have the shapes in front of me. A half circle with a straight line. They do not have a size, they have position to each other but no position in physical space. They do not have thickness nor colour. But it is already a somehow visual experience. Now, if I concentrate I can give them a colour. I can make it look like writing on a paper, or graffiti on a wall. But the more details I try to incorporate the more exhausting it is. I can really push it, similar to maybe imagining a lot of concepts, or voices, or music instruments, or tastes, etc. at the same time, then it will literally give me a headache. As someone who does a lot of drawing that inner eye is crutial. So I am training it. Things I imagine are often more symbol than object, like the letter P. Next example, I think of phone. I have a symbol (often of a memory or specific object) now I try to draw it from imagination. I do not know the material, nor the reflection, I do not know the proportion, but the more I do it the better. With time I know distances to each other, I can measure them roughly in my head. I see the square shape, i see the depth to it. And I build it up from that. Basically, what I can draw without reference I can also see in my mind with clarity.

It’s so interesting that you can give us an example of what to “think of” for how your brain is or remembers something. You *know* it’s like a dark foggy night but you can’t actually see that - so it’s so hard for me to understand how you know if you can’t visualize. I have an internal monologue but I also think I can think conceptually - that is, I don’t always have to talk to myself, but I do a lot, and currently while typing this I’m saying all the words in my head as I type. I also am very visual and can see things in my head. I think I have some synesthesia too as I associate colors with certain words and have strong smell memories - though I’m not sure if smell memories are associated with synesthesia, but they seem related off hand.

So glad to see this video! This is exactly how I feel atm 😩 I’m blown away that all these years I didn’t know people can see images and it really does feel like I’ve been robbed of a superpower I’ll never experience 😩 I also hear songs in MY voice and am still trying to believe that people hear the artist voice singing 😢

No internal voice is apparent - we are watching much of what would be internal thoughts/words of other people. Thank you for sharing.

Very interesting. I don't have a internal monologue and I can visualise things, but it's pretty fuzzy. I do sometimes plan things to say, like anecdotes, or how I'd like to behave in certain situations, but generally my thoughts are emotive, musical, conceptual, patterns with snippets of vague imagery and/or sound.

This is absolutely fascinating. I learn so many new and wonderful things when traveling down this rabbit hole called RU-vid. While I like being able to visualize I almost think I would trade it to have a quiet mind. I had severe depression for 30 years because I was so focused on the past. I would relive moments where I was hurt, insulted, embarrassed, scared, etc. and I would visualize it so intensely that I could feel those exact same emotions as if it were happening again. I would just ruminate over and over on a particular scene and my stress and cortisone levels would rise, my heart rate would increase, I would feel anxious and upset to the point of crying. I’ve always been an “in my own head” kind of person and I thought it was what made me smart and self-aware, but honestly, it is just absolutely exhausting and miserable. Two years ago I finally started letting go of things in the past and it has been freeing. Much less depression, like a few days a year rather than almost non-stop like it was. I still have a tendency to ruminate, but I am much better at recognizing it and stopping myself now. When I met my now husband he thought it was crazy how many thoughts and pictures would be in my head. Like when I close my eyes, it is not black, very random pictures will fly around, zooming towards me and leaving as new pictures arrive. For example, I would close my eyes and visions of pink pyramids, golf courses, a lion, a blue kite, a llama, a random vision of a beach restaurant, a Keebler elf, etc would just appear theoretically maybe a foot in front of me and then the image would fly towards me and past my ears on each side. There isn’t really a moment where one thought or five isn’t in my head. It makes concentrating hard. I envy your ability to live in the now, not dwell in the past, and having a quiet mind. So very fascinating.

Enjoying your video today! When I first heard that people did not picture things in their head totally blew my mind! (And I can picture that too! IN MY HEAD!)

You helped me so much it was so comforting to hear someone thinks just as I do. Thank you I really fell apart and felt so freaked out and alone.

Quiet Mind, trust me when I tell you that it's equally unfathomable for someone like me to hear about this, or that it can even exist. I draw, paint, and write... meditate...and I can also remember the voices of family members as clearly if they were standing there speaking to me... even when they've been gone for over 30 years. I see, hear, smell, and even feel ( as in textures ) things in my mind. And I would feel totally crippled if I woke up one day and that ability was gone. I literally could not function. So people NOT being able to do this, and still being capable of living their lives? I can't imagine how that works... and I do have a very vivid imagination. But then I'm odd, apparently, by even the standards of people like me who have an internal monolog and visualization: I can actually imagine and create NEW faces in my mind... people I've never met or seen. ...which I hear is supposed to be impossible. But then I can also remember all the way back to when I was 18 mo. old, and not being able to speak, or understand what was being said... as well as completely tripping out the first time I saw old people with wrinkles and gray hair. ( I thought they were some sort of monster, that was gonna eat me alive when mom handed me to my one great aunt. ) I can still see all of that, to this day.

Wow I have never related so much to someone I don’t know - I also have no inner monologue and have aphantasia . Everything you said about how it makes you feel , lol ugh I seriously relate .. I’m an avid book reader too and also a painter, I’m starting art school this Fall and I’m feeling nervous lol. I went through the sad phase like you but I’m trying to see the positives. Like for example, I really believe that having aphantasia helps us live in the moment, and we tend to forgive more easily. Try to see the positives in it ❤️❤️

Best explanation I have heard!! Thank you for sharing as I can fully relate to your story

This is me total aphantasia, i knew a whioe ago about the difference i have with images, but only recently learned that most others can seemingly have a constant monologue, recreate a smell or a feeling of touch in thier head. I love the fact i sleep well at night and dont have flashbacks or negative dialogue going on. Makes life a lot easier. Thanks for doing these as i can point people to them.

Not only that I have inner monologue, when I'm alone I automatically switch to thinking out loud (like there would be someone else there to talk too, but it's only me). When I encounter a person I shut up, because I don't want to seem crazy. But my thinking also shuts up for a moment. And then I have to think about disfocusing on others and continue a normal thinking flow. I realized what that really means only in the past days when I was out for a walk and I was talking to myself. Now I'm doing some research about that and I must say... Fascinating stuff! Thank you for the video, it's nice to have a different aspect about the way of thinking.

The thing that would bother me the most would be not dreaming normally. I LOVE to dream and sometimes I also lucid dream, so I become aware inside the dream that I am dreaming and I can start acting as if awake, but I'm in the dream world. I have flown on several occasions during this. It's so cool!

Equal intensity memories...and grasping through the fog for memories. Perfect description. Also better action and events but not the details. I was relieved when I discovered there was a name for the way I live my life.

This is incredible. Thankyou for making this video!

I would LOVE to not have that inner voice as mine is too critical and difficult to “train” to the positive. To me YOU have the superpower!

Maybe look into “The Four Claire’s” they are usually talked about with the idea of psychic abilities, but I think more realistically, they describe different ways our brains may think and function. For example: The most commonly know Clair is Clairvoyant. Meaning clear sight. Someone who has “visions” or can see images in their heads. People like you may be more clairaentient, being able to gather information based on feeling and sensing rather than visually observing.

You have a great personality! I'm glad you're being quirky & making jokes, because it demonstrates that you're a relatable person. How you process information seems so alien to me, but it obviously doesn't affect your ability of connecting & communicating with others.

sending you positive energy! thank you for sharing

To me, you are the super hero!!

I have the opposite of this, hyperphantasia. I can imagine basically anything with as much detail as I desire, and can augment and manipulate these images and models however I like - basically like a computer graphics demonstration. It never occurred to me that other people were more limited, but I guess this may explain why I have always been artistically gifted. One downside may be that I have difficulty sleeping, it can be hard for me to turn my brain off, and it actually does sort of feel like a computer churning through processing, and I just can’t terminate them. Imagine that every thought you have while lying there is accompanied with imagery, sounds, sensations… it can be very hard to zone out and sleep.

Wow! Thank you so much for explaining this. I’ve always had a very strong inner monologue, visual and auditory memory, visualize behind my eyes, in my forehead, or as a spacial representation like visualizing a piece of art for the wall, etc. I also have a very long memory and have extremely vivid, lucid dreams. I used to think everyone else was just like me, so any explanations of different experiences is very enlightening.

Congratulations on your natural enlightenment/experience of nondual reality. Most of us have to do a lot of meditating and self-inquiry to even approach where you are. Mourning the absence of an inner monologue is like mourning the fact you never experienced smallpox. So don’t worry about it, lucky 🍀

I just learned about aphantasia this week. My mind was completely blown. I have inner monologue but I can NOT see pictures! I was like what?!! When I found out people Really see images and that not everyone thinks with words. Like what?! I thought everyone thought with WORDS!! 🤯 mind blown completely

"When I stop talking" *points to brain* "its quiet." I am seething with envy.

Hello I actually stumbled across this video right after I learned myself today that some people did not have an inner dialogue and that they couldn't picture things. Much like you I was freaked out cuz I didn't know that no one has ever really told me that I don't think lots of people talk about it because I'm this was the first time I've heard of this phenomenon. I thought it was funny that it blew your mind because it blew mine in the opposite way I'm constantly talking to myself in my head I can't shut it off and I assumed that that was everybody I didn't ask everybody but it really did Shock Me Like I know that we all see things differently but I didn't know that this was something that affected a lot of people and watching this video and a couple others where they were interviewing others like yourself I was shocked... I think it's a great thing that this is coming to light because I don't think very many people are aware of this fact and it shows really how everybody is on a different level and everybody sees things differently. I hope that this fact will get bigger because it's important that we know how differently we are when it comes to the way our minds to work and how Consciousness is not the same for everyone. I'm going to subscribe because you're very down-to-earth and I always love authenticity. I actually have an eidetic memory and that basically means at least for me and I might be different kinds of eidetic with me in this is really going to blow your mind because I've never even met anyone cooking remember as far back as I can and everything I was thinking in my crib before I could speak I remember in detail things that happened. So if you have any questions for me too I'd be happy to answer them. Thanks xo

Amazing!!! My brain works basically like yours. I discover that people can REALLY visualize things trying guided meditation. And just a few weeks ago I found out about afantasia. But I felt relieved for finally know.