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by jvanderbot 893 days ago
This is so earth shattering to me. I'm completely unable to actually "see" anything when I imagine it, but I think I can visualize in the sense of recalling or imagining how it would look.

Do people actually close their eyes and hallucinate or am I reading way to far into this?
2 comments
jddj 893 days ago
I think there's some of that over-reading.

In these exchanges the language typically gets sloppy and one person's "see" gets translated and reacted to as whoa, with their eyes?.

If you can imagine a red car and see it in your mind's eye (fairly ephemeral, especially if you force it, and nothing like as vivid as a hallucination) I think you're pretty normal from having followed a few of these threads over the years.

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vidarh 892 days ago
If you have aphantasia, you can't "see it in your minds eye", but that does not mean I can't imagine what it looks like.

I know the distinction both from comparing with dreams, where I do see, and with a single experience during meditation (which I've tried many times but so far failed to replicate). They're nothing alike what it is to "imagine" for me.

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jddj 892 days ago
Most people seem to be able to recall memories with some imagery and with some effort explore an object / space with imagery.

It's not vivid like a dream though, and doesn't have that 1st-personness either.

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vidarh 892 days ago
Yes, people do, to varying degrees. Up to and including near picture perfect clarity, though most people have far less clearer images.

Only 2-4% or so see nothing at all.

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