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by jamesdmiller 2546 days ago
Bicameralism seemed a lot sillier to me before I found out I had aphantasia (lack of a mind's eye), and most people see imaginary images while awake. Hearing the voices of imaginary gods doesn't seem all the different from seeing false images.
3 comments

I don't see false images when I use my mind's eye. My actual sight is not impacted by using my imagination to picture something in my head. There's nothing floating in midair or covering my vision. It's like recalling a memory. Can you not recall a memory of a past event?
I can recall memories easily, but I don't see pictures of them.
There's an enormous difference between auditory hallucinations and visualization.

There's a gap in the language and between minds that makes it near impossible to understand and communicate about the actual experience of thought. There seem to be a lot of people mistaking these gaps for the presence of some unique disorder and calling it "aphantasia".

Do you dream? Do you daydream?

As far as I'm aware, most people don't see vivid imagery while awake. I can certainly imagine something but it is not a vivid image like reality, my mind's eye is ghostly and dreamlike.

I dream but don't daydream. Some with aphantasia say they don't seem imagines in their dreams.