←back to thread

Some people can't see mental images

(www.newyorker.com)
183 points petalmind | 3 comments | 30 Oct 25 17:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
Show context
tekacs ◴[30 Oct 25 18:25 UTC] No.45763375[source]▶
For those who find themselves wondering whether they 'have' aphantasia or not, I would really recommend looking at the aphantasia apples:

https://lianamscott.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/f4c55-1_b...

As in: if you look at this image, can you place yourself on a scale of 1 - 5 of as to the fidelity with which you can picture an apple if you try to imagine it?

I'm a 5 for example, and in asking many people this question I've gotten a solid spectrum of answers from 1 - 5. Generally in a single group of a handful of people I'll get several different numbers.

replies(7): >>45763465 #>>45763522 #>>45764205 #>>45764309 #>>45765208 #>>45766101 #>>45766339 #
1. phainopepla2 ◴[30 Oct 25 19:26 UTC] No.45764205[source]▶
I have sometimes wondered whether there is a personality or cognitive trait that makes one unable to respond to tests measuring personality or cognitive traits.

Every personality test I have ever taken, on many of the questions I've felt that I could answer almost anything and still be truthful.

When I see this apple scale, I simultaneously feel that both 1 and 5 apply to how I visualize an apple. It's hard for me to describe what's going on in my brain, and I don't think language or images are very helpful at illuminating it.

If such a meta-trait were to exist, which would have more to do with the narratives and metaphors we use to describe our mental processes than the processes themselves, it would be funny if that's actually a good deal of what was being measured all along.

(Or maybe it just means I'm a 5)

replies(1): >>45764297 #
2. tekacs ◴[30 Oct 25 19:32 UTC] No.45764297[source]▶
Something that might help - in this specific instance - is trying to contrast with others.

That is: if you show this photo to people that you know and you compare and contrast _how detailedly_ you can imagine the apples, that can help.

For example: are you imagining a _specific_ apple? What high-level color is it? How about more specifically? How does the color change across the surface? If so, does it have any distinguishing features? Leaves on the stem or no? What does the bottom look like? Can you turn it around and describe that?

Folks who are high up on the spectrum (like 1) can often answer these questions specifically, whereas as you go down the spectrum these tasks seem progressively more impossible.

replies(1): >>45765842 #
3. phainopepla2 ◴[30 Oct 25 21:54 UTC] No.45765842[source]▶
That doesn't really help me, because I feel that I could answer those questions in detail but also truthfully say that there is no image at all of the apple in my head.

I guess what I'm saying is that image / not-image binary doesn't really map on to how I perceive the experience of my own imagination.

But again, maybe that just means I'm a 5 and I'm coping.