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Mind Unseen: Invisible Landscapes of Perception and Thought
Can you picture an apple in your mind? Do you know some people cannot do that? Let's explore the hidden diversity of inner perceptual worlds.
www.psychologytoday.com
Aphantasia
Aphantasia is the inability to form mental images; a person without a mind’s eye cannot imagine the scene of a sandy beach, for example. They cannot visualize people, places, objects, or other images. This is not a clinical disorder or disability, it is considered a neurological characteristic...
www.psychologytoday.com
Examples of how people can think differently, in even the fundamental basics of thought.
I only learned a few years ago about this aphantasia thing. It blows my mind that there are some people who do not think in pictures.
I never even recognized it as a notable thing at all until my late 20s when I read Temple Grandin's book "Thinking in Pictures"
I just thought that pictures is what thoughts were.
I remember reading something once where someone was looking at a picture of an international model or celebrity, and their comment was "You cannot tell what her thoughts are, or what language she is thinking them in" which seemed strange to me, because I didn't think that our thoughts were in language. I thought we translated our thoughts to language once we were ready to speak.
I never thought about it at all till then (despite my interest in psychology, I had never run across that topic till then)
A fish doesn't know it is in water.
Upon further reflection over the years I realize some of my thoughts are language based, but most of my simpler thoughts are like little gifs, since long before gifs were invented. It seems effortless to translate them to language when needed, except when I am very tired.
My more involved thoughts are like commercials or even full movies.
What are your thoughts like?