←back to thread

Some people can't see mental images

(www.newyorker.com)
183 points petalmind | 8 comments | 30 Oct 25 17:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.002s | source | bottom
Show context
andy99 ◴[30 Oct 25 18:12 UTC] No.45763166[source]▶
I’ve read tons of these and still have no idea if I have aphantasia or not. I can’t understand whether people just have different ways of describing what’s in their minds eye or if there’s really a fundamental difference.
replies(33): >>45763269 #>>45763274 #>>45763290 #>>45763313 #>>45763330 #>>45763340 #>>45763348 #>>45763349 #>>45763386 #>>45763411 #>>45763473 #>>45763490 #>>45763967 #>>45764302 #>>45764514 #>>45764869 #>>45765000 #>>45765061 #>>45765156 #>>45765262 #>>45765365 #>>45765617 #>>45765661 #>>45765725 #>>45765774 #>>45765823 #>>45765873 #>>45766071 #>>45766116 #>>45766704 #>>45767642 #>>45768559 #>>45769211 #
bigyikes ◴[30 Oct 25 18:19 UTC] No.45763274[source]▶
I’ve interrogated people about this but can never get a straight answer.

——

“So you can really see things in your head when your eyes are closed?”

Yeah!

“And it’s as though you’re seeing the object in front of you?”

Yeah, you don’t have that?

“So it’s like you’re really seeing it? It’s the sensation of sight?“

Well… it’s kind of different. I’m not really seeing it.

——

…and around we go.

Personally, I can see images when I dream, but I don’t see anything at all if I’m conscious and closing my eyes. I can recite the qualities of an object, and this generates impressions of the object in my head, but it’s not really seeing. It’s vibe seeing.

replies(14): >>45763353 #>>45763377 #>>45763432 #>>45763976 #>>45763985 #>>45764150 #>>45764421 #>>45764810 #>>45764877 #>>45764937 #>>45764963 #>>45765329 #>>45765523 #>>45778429 #
1. noir_lord ◴[30 Oct 25 19:22 UTC] No.45764150[source]▶
> Personally, I can see images when I dream.

If I dream I don't ever remember them - I assume I must, I think everyone (barring medical issues) has REM sleep.

I envy people that, dreams sound amazing.

replies(3): >>45764208 #>>45764237 #>>45764378 #
2. kaffekaka ◴[30 Oct 25 19:26 UTC] No.45764208[source]▶
In my experience remembering dreams is a matter of practice and stress levels. When life is calmer I remember alot more.
replies(1): >>45764307 #
3. Semaphor ◴[30 Oct 25 19:28 UTC] No.45764237[source]▶
I went from frequent lucid dreams as a child and teen, to no (remembered) dreams, back to vivid (but very rarely lucid) dreams. Ask while having aphantasia, I wish I could get even approximately close to dream images while awake.
4. noir_lord ◴[30 Oct 25 19:33 UTC] No.45764307[source]▶
Not for me, never remembered them at any point, I asked my mum once if she remembered me dreaming when I was a kid and she couldn't remember it either, no dreams/no nightmares.

I have an active imagination and I read a lot of fiction and I don't think I have aphantasia, I just go to sleep, wake up and never remember a thing in between.

5. kulahan ◴[30 Oct 25 19:39 UTC] No.45764378[source]▶
Have you tried a dream journal? We forget most of our dreams because we might have them at 2 am and wake up at 7 am. If you wake yourself up in the middle of the night one or two times, you're more likely to have been in the middle of a dream, and it's still up there in your brain enough to write down. The more you do this, the easier it becomes.
replies(1): >>45764723 #
6. pm215 ◴[30 Oct 25 20:07 UTC] No.45764723[source]▶
Personally I strongly do not want to get better at remembering dreams. At the moment I very rarely remember anything about dreaming, and on the very rare occasion that some fragment of memory from a dream pops into my head it is super confusing until I identify "oh, that must have been from a dream". I prefer to keep my memory uncontaminated with random garbage :)
replies(2): >>45764967 #>>45765169 #
7. chao- ◴[30 Oct 25 20:32 UTC] No.45764967{3}[source]▶
I remember my dreams quite well. Years ago, I did a dream journal to up that even further. At the time, I discussed doing so with a friend, and she expressed a similar sentiment to yours. In our discussion, she explained not wanting to "carry emotional baggage" from a dream into her day, being distracted by it, and so forth.

That phrasing of "carrying emotional baggage" stuck with me, because together we realized that people can relate to their dreams very differently. If she remembers a dream, she remembers the feelings and feels them all over again. I regard dreams as junk data, and can't imagine "feeling" anything about one longer than a few moments after I wake.

8. kaashif ◴[30 Oct 25 20:51 UTC] No.45765169{3}[source]▶
As someone with very poor natural dream recall, I think you're right. One time I kept a dream journal and got really good at dream recall.

It was just hours and hours of random junk every night.

I threw away the journal and realized forgetting dreams is good.