Not being able to see anything when closing my eyes and not constantly hearing a voice in my head. I have aphantasia and thought people were always seeking metaphorically about seeing things in their head.
I only more recently learnt that people actually hear things as well as in like an internal monologue. To me, the whole thing sounds exhausting.
it’s weird if you’re an aphant, because you adapt by just speaking outloud, and internally understanding things, the only real situation where it becomes problematic is when someone tries explaining it to you, because you’re on the other side of a cliff, basically.
Very exhausting, especially when your stupid brain makes you roleplay possible future conversations with people in your head all day. Difficult to focus and so exhausting
Oh, I have that as well, it’s just more like … data, I guess? I think sometimes what I wrote makes people think I have no imagination or creativity; I definitely do but it’s just different.
i can build concepts in my head, without words or images. And just put them down, ofc i fumble a bit, because i’m not perfect, but i intuitively and innately understand concepts. Just based on my experience with that particular thing, much like an LLM can spit out actual real grammar and words that make actual real sense when you ask it to.
In both cases, the words just… go straight from words to comprehension? It’s kind of hard to answer that question, because introspection of the process isn’t possible. I mean, I just look at words and know what they mean. From experience, I think I read about 3 times faster than most other people, what with not having to wait to hear them spoken by an internal voice. (Subtitles in the same language as the audio are maddening, because I can’t not read them, and then have to wait so long for the speech to catch up.)
You are assuming the internal voice is more of a presence. Its more the background exhaust of thinking. I don’t have to listen to my inner voice say it, as I read silently they just fall out the back of my head as I go.
Think I have this. Only time I can really picture anything. At least above a part of a vague shape or higher resolution, is when I’ve recently woken up. Even then it’s a hit or miss. Wonder if it’s a wall to creativity.
Not being able to see anything when closing my eyes and not constantly hearing a voice in my head. I have aphantasia and thought people were always seeking metaphorically about seeing things in their head.
I only more recently learnt that people actually hear things as well as in like an internal monologue. To me, the whole thing sounds exhausting.
it’s weird if you’re an aphant, because you adapt by just speaking outloud, and internally understanding things, the only real situation where it becomes problematic is when someone tries explaining it to you, because you’re on the other side of a cliff, basically.
Very exhausting, especially when your stupid brain makes you roleplay possible future conversations with people in your head all day. Difficult to focus and so exhausting
Oh, we can do that, just without the voice.
how can you think of words if not… thinking of the words? That’s really interesting
I am thinking of the words, I’m just not hearing them. Why would those be one and the same?
Oh, I have that as well, it’s just more like … data, I guess? I think sometimes what I wrote makes people think I have no imagination or creativity; I definitely do but it’s just different.
It is indeed exhausting! Warm regards, Joe(s)
What happens when you think? There’s not a voice? How about when you read?
My inner monologue, is just a stream of words, it isn’t encumbered by a voice.
To me that sounds like “I just walk around without taking any steps.”
If you think that is strange, I can rotate 3D objects in my head but there are no images.
i can build concepts in my head, without words or images. And just put them down, ofc i fumble a bit, because i’m not perfect, but i intuitively and innately understand concepts. Just based on my experience with that particular thing, much like an LLM can spit out actual real grammar and words that make actual real sense when you ask it to.
I understand that.
Because I don’t need to tie it to a visual metaphor, a lot of complex concepts, especially math, I find quite easy.
In both cases, the words just… go straight from words to comprehension? It’s kind of hard to answer that question, because introspection of the process isn’t possible. I mean, I just look at words and know what they mean. From experience, I think I read about 3 times faster than most other people, what with not having to wait to hear them spoken by an internal voice. (Subtitles in the same language as the audio are maddening, because I can’t not read them, and then have to wait so long for the speech to catch up.)
I have the same experience including the thing with subtitles. What’s the connection between the no-internal-voice and the maddening subtitles?
Just that I read them so quickly, I’m ready for the show it movie to move on to the next scene, and have to wait for the dialog to catch up.
You are assuming the internal voice is more of a presence. Its more the background exhaust of thinking. I don’t have to listen to my inner voice say it, as I read silently they just fall out the back of my head as I go.
Think I have this. Only time I can really picture anything. At least above a part of a vague shape or higher resolution, is when I’ve recently woken up. Even then it’s a hit or miss. Wonder if it’s a wall to creativity.
Fwiw I suck at visual art but was a musician who at least made some money at it (all original music), and ran d&d campaigns and such.
There’s a whole episode on that topic here
https://pca.st/episode/ff2685cb-5ee7-4299-9fe6-fa430d9fe591
And then there’s people like me, who can make an audio-visual tour in their minds, see things in color, moving pictures, hear sound, feel touch.
Took me a long time to actually focus on mundane tasks and not doing them on autopilot.
I was 41 when I realised…