Can you rotate an apple in your head? (by Shen)
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I have aphantasia. I definitely cannot rotate a cube in my mind. I can with great effort and concentration kind of do what you describe, follow where individual edges and vertices would be in space relative to each other, but normally it would just be the idea in my head "there's a cube and it's rotating".
My go to test for aphantasia goes like this:
- "Imagine a circle"
- "OK"
- "What color is it?"
People always answer with color and many times with a more detailed visual description, like texture, material, the surrounding scene, etc. I personally would very stumped by that question because when asked to imagine a circle, I just imagine the concept of a circle. It has no color, no texture, no substance.
when asked to imagine a circle, I just imagine the concept of a circle. It has no color, no texture, no substance.
Huh.
Is the association with the word circle? Like, what does the concept of a circle involve?
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A friend of mine has that condition where she can't visualize things. I wonder how she would like this comic. My guess is she'd crack a joke about it being a good thing she can't do this.
How do you even know you can visualise things? Like, I think I can imagine an apple rotating, but it's not like you actually see it the way you'd see an actual apple in front of your eyes, right?
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apples are uniquely hard to rotate in your head because apples are bland and uninteresting and nobody's favorite fruit. try rotating a cow instead. it's free and the cops can't stop you
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How do you even know you can visualise things? Like, I think I can imagine an apple rotating, but it's not like you actually see it the way you'd see an actual apple in front of your eyes, right?
Like, I think I can imagine an apple rotating, but it’s not like you actually see it the way you’d see an actual apple in front of your eyes, right?
That highly depends on your specific definition of that. But personally I can do things like think of a place I've been, and basically walk around like I'm controlling a video game character. "Seeing" the place as if I was there.
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I have a friend at work who openly confessed to not being able to mentally create images when discussing why he wasn't into reading books.
I was like "Wow, I can't really imagine your reality for myself, that sounds strange."
he said, "Now you're getting it, as I can't imagine it, either."
Video games and film though? 1000X more entertaining for him via his testimony. He can't conjure those images so seeing someone else's interpretation is often thrilling.
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I have a friend at work who openly confessed to not being able to mentally create images when discussing why he wasn't into reading books.
I was like "Wow, I can't really imagine your reality for myself, that sounds strange."
he said, "Now you're getting it, as I can't imagine it, either."
Video games and film though? 1000X more entertaining for him via his testimony. He can't conjure those images so seeing someone else's interpretation is often thrilling.
I can't really do that either and I read books.
I also do have an inner monologue which might be a part of it.
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I can't really do that either and I read books.
I also do have an inner monologue which might be a part of it.
Wait are there people without inner monologue?
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apples are uniquely hard to rotate in your head because apples are bland and uninteresting and nobody's favorite fruit. try rotating a cow instead. it's free and the cops can't stop you
What the fuck did apples do to you to deserve such a scathing review. Are you a doctor?
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I can only rotate the apple in my head vertically
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Wait are there people without inner monologue?
I don't think I have an inner monologue. Also I have full Aphantasia. I can't visually imagine an apple let alone rotate it in my mind.
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I have a friend at work who openly confessed to not being able to mentally create images when discussing why he wasn't into reading books.
I was like "Wow, I can't really imagine your reality for myself, that sounds strange."
he said, "Now you're getting it, as I can't imagine it, either."
Video games and film though? 1000X more entertaining for him via his testimony. He can't conjure those images so seeing someone else's interpretation is often thrilling.
I often find myself getting distracted from whatever I'm watching because my brain takes over and starts making up alternative scenarios.
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I don't think I have an inner monologue. Also I have full Aphantasia. I can't visually imagine an apple let alone rotate it in my mind.
Do you have dreams?
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Do you have dreams?
I do! I visualize when I dream. But I can't do it on command. This is how I realized I probably have aphantasia. I can never consciously visualize. I can think and conceptualize, but not 'see'.
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I do! I visualize when I dream. But I can't do it on command. This is how I realized I probably have aphantasia. I can never consciously visualize. I can think and conceptualize, but not 'see'.
I also have aphantasia. I only learnt about it a year or so ago. It was eye opening when I realised. People used to say "picture this or that" and I thought it was a figure of speech! Turns out there are people who can picture shit.
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apples are uniquely hard to rotate in your head because apples are bland and uninteresting and nobody's favorite fruit. try rotating a cow instead. it's free and the cops can't stop you
I don't know how a cow looks like directly from the front though. How would you even imagine that??
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I do! I visualize when I dream. But I can't do it on command. This is how I realized I probably have aphantasia. I can never consciously visualize. I can think and conceptualize, but not 'see'.
That's interesting that your brain is capable of it but it just won't. It sounds like it could make a lot of things difficult for you. I spend a lot of my idle time "working" on different problems with projects I have going on and a lot of that involves "constructing" things in my mind. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't do that.
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when asked to imagine a circle, I just imagine the concept of a circle. It has no color, no texture, no substance.
Huh.
Is the association with the word circle? Like, what does the concept of a circle involve?
For me, "imagine a circle" is kind of a meaningless instruction until you follow it up with something
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I also have aphantasia. I only learnt about it a year or so ago. It was eye opening when I realised. People used to say "picture this or that" and I thought it was a figure of speech! Turns out there are people who can picture shit.
Waiiiiit. It's not just a figure of speech?!
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That's interesting that your brain is capable of it but it just won't. It sounds like it could make a lot of things difficult for you. I spend a lot of my idle time "working" on different problems with projects I have going on and a lot of that involves "constructing" things in my mind. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't do that.
I spend a lot of my idle time “working” on different problems with projects I have going on and a lot of that involves “constructing” things in my mind.
I do, too! I guess in a different way though. A lot of aphants like to compare it to a computer that does not have a screen or GUI. The computer is there - also the graphics card, the images, the data - but nothing visual appears in your mind's eye. I would say there are several things that are more difficult for me to do - but surprisingly people with aphantasia function just fine. Otherwise I would have known something is different with me way earlier.
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I do! I visualize when I dream. But I can't do it on command. This is how I realized I probably have aphantasia. I can never consciously visualize. I can think and conceptualize, but not 'see'.
I realized after reading about people with aphantasia that what I do is kind of a combination of visualization and conceptualization. If you ask me to imagine a cow, I'll tend to visualize the cow itself, but it doesn't come with a field for the cow to stand in. The cow is just in the concept of a place. That is, until I concentrate on visualizing details of the place, at which point I'll probably lose the visual of the cow. Like, it's still there, it's just become the concept of a cow.
