Thanks Dennis, I certainly cannot comment on how many people have a similar way of interacting with the world, and that was never the intention of this thread. I have found it fascinating since finding out that there was a name for this way of the mind working. I donât see it as a condition, merely a way my mind works. I have had a very successful career as a Research Scientist with a PhD. Having lead many projects in a variety of industries. So it hasnât held me back, but obviously my mind processes information differently than others. When people say picture this, that can have the effect of me switching off., because I have lived that frustration many times.
The counting sheep thing was my first inkling, hypnosis in 1996 after that.
It is probably every day that my wife talks about some memory or place, that she then acknowledges I cannot picture. I have never been able to.
I couldnât describe to you the shape of the house I have lived in for 20 years. In the past I have driven into my neighborâs driveway and it took a while before I realized what I had done. Their house was very different, and came into my house with my wife laughing and saying why did you go to the wrong house.
It is reassuring to find that other people have similar mental processes. I always wondered whether I could ever hope to be good at guitar without the ability to visualize. Hearing Justin mention it actually made me feel better, the fact that he even uses the visualization terms to describe to others is interesting.
That is clearly a valid observation. That there are individual differences in learning strategies is obviously true. I have long since railed against our typical institutions of learning that have a one size fits all teaching system that our children are funneled through. Myself included. In most cases, itâs not until our college years that diverse avenues of learning are more readily available.
Same with learning guitar. How can one methodology be suitable for every single student?
This kind of self-testing (without doing it I know what it is about) is for many conditions that are in the somewhat more difficult to understand spectrumâŚADHD/ADD and a range of brain-related behavior and feelings and giftedness issues âŚis something that can be very serious but is also abused as a money cow⌠âŚand the sites where you can take these tests, especially if there are communities attached to them, sell courses and/or stuffâŚso it is important to keep the tests as vague as possible so that as many people as possible can diagnose themselves⌠which seems harmless at this club (but I donât know enough about it, but recognize the pattern) but in many cases can lead to very unpleasant situations ⌠financially and/or socially ⌠I have lost acquaintances and friends because of this kind of selfanelyses and persisted in it and became angry and angrier without seriously seeking help ⌠but Facebook and You-Tube stranger blindly trusted
Greetings and thanks you for making this important point for solution-seeking quiet readers
I never heard of aphantasia before this thread, although it seems patent to me that thereâs an broad spectrum of our visual memory recall. I presume itâs simply a trait rather than medical condition (although physical and psychological events can obviously affect it).
Healthcare practitioners are like everyone else. We find what we believe in/think we understand/are interested in/ and are paid for. I know doctors who donât believe in chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), never diagnosing or treating it in spide of it being an accepted medical diagnosis.
Thatâs an awful lot of individuals to assess, looking for specific aphantasia symptoms
The abstract you refer to suggests you might expect to have seen up to 600 (1%).
Most folk here are just sharing their personal experiences. What do I find easy/difficult to do?
Thereâs nothing wrong with a bit of introspection and trying to recognise what makes us unique
As to Rogierâs worry about folk preying on gullible individuals for monetary gain.,
When was it ever not thus?
Not the name âŚbut that there is such thing as seeing no images at all you heard of
Almost always, yes, certainly ⌠but I hope with that little side note that a few searching and wandering people will save money thanks to my words who search on a guitar site and suddenly start doing self-help tests and buy stuff the don`t need instead of guitar gear âŚ
As one of those posters, who noticed an obviously different way of imagination compared to others, I just wanted to clarify, that I didnât do any kind of self-diagnosis to probably fit into a category of âAphantasiacsâ âwannabesâ . Usually, I leave any kind of diagnosis to medical professionals . And believe me, Im not keen on getting a diagnosis. The only thing, thanks to this thread, I got aware of, was the fact, that other people apparently have images close to a photograph in their minds - and I donât.
This. Nothing more and nothing less.
I personally found it helpful to know, that imagination can be so different for all of us. I lived my whole life without even knowing about my âlackingâ ability to imagine visually. Something learned again . Consequences? After all of my health struggles during the last years, this certainly is my smallest problem. In terms of learning guitar or anything else - I keep it in mind - maybe good to know, Iâm no visualizer. For the rest - Iâm enjoying life and my guitar playing, workarounds included!
Just like with all skills (as I previously mentioned) those in the general population will vary in their verbal or visual memory abilities. Those with neuro injury may have specific deficits in either or both of these domains as compared to their prior level of functioning. I never said that I was looking for aphantasia symptoms. I am saying that I personally never assessed someone who had those specific symptoms in the absence of other contributing neuro factors.
For those who like to delve into the weeds, have a quick look at prosopagnosia, visual agnosia or anosognosia. Now these are some interesting things I saw quite a bit of.
One last point and Iâm off to the golf course. I agree itâs useful to be introspective and self-analytical. However, anecdotal experiences are just that. They canât be solely relied upon without further objective study.
Here we are in Nov 2024 and I have just found this thread. Its so interesting to hear what you all say on t he topic. I am also an âAphantâ - i have the condition named Aphantasia. It was mind blowing to me when I discovered that people can really SEE stuff in their mind, in their head! WOW! You mean some folks can SEE loved ones - I canât and that makes me sad.
When I heard about this condition (if thatâs the right word) and told my family they said - is that why you like to have so many photoâs around the house mum! I guess it is. I look at the photo of my handsome dad and remember his gentle nature, his kindness. I love scrapbooking - collecting photographs into collections or series that belong together and trigger memories for me.
I see NADA/NOTHING in my head - its a blank canvas, an empty page that leaves my imagination free to wander and play with words. Iâm a descriptive person when speaking (but hate books that go into detail about scenery, does nothing for me!).
I can remember events that raised big emotions, but its the emotional aspect that is remembered, nothing else. I can even remember verbatim what was said at those times. I was involved in a serious, life changing car crash some years ago - I remember it but I donât have to relive it which is great!
I was never much good at maths and blame the teaching because as an adult I am much better. I have a logical brain and worked successfully as a computer programmer for 25 years, love logic puzzles too.
I donât hear music in my head (did someone say something about a musical memory - not me) yet I âfeelâ music in my body. I love dancing, I love âthe beatâ, I really feel music. So i guess that helps my guitar playing and learning licks is terrific because I donât have to make them up, I copy what Justin gives us and them somehow my body feels how to make it my own.
Its rather cathartic writing all this and might bump it up so that someone new to the community can find it and realise they are not alone and will be able to learn somehow. Our style of learning may not be as easy as it is for those who can actually visualise and/or hear but we aphants have developed our own methods.
Enjoy your guitar journey everyone- I am totally jealous of those of you who can see and hear an inner world that is invisible to me. In many ways I am quite content with my lot!
⌠but I hope with that little side note that a few searching and wandering people will save money thanks to my words who search on a guitar site and suddenly start doing self-help tests and buy stuff the don`t need instead of guitar gear ⌠
. Consequences? After all of my health struggles during the last years, this certainly is my smallest problem. In terms of learning guitar or anything else - I keep it in mind - maybe good to know, Iâm no visualizer. For the rest - Iâm enjoying life and my guitar playing, workarounds included! 