Author Topic: Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?  (Read 1876 times)

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Offline Glock32

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Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?
« on: May 28, 2016, 01:04:00 PM »
This is fascinating to me, sort of like people who exhibit synesthesia.  It calls into question the boundary between mind and body.  The subject of this article is a man who recently discovered he is "blind" in his mind's eye.  When recollecting, he is able to intellectually assemble facts about the recollection, but he cannot visualize it in his mind.  So for example if asked to think of his wife's face, he could assemble the details about her appearance, her eye color, hair color, etc, but cannot conjure an image of her face.  Scientists have dubbed this condition "aphantasia."

He assumed everyone was like this, and only recently discovered that's not the case when he heard a radio show about the condition and being incredulous he asked his 4 year old daughter to imagine an apple.  She said "it's a green one."

Now I'm wondering if I have some degree of this "blindness" myself, or maybe I just misunderstand the people in the article describing their visualizations.  Do people literally "see" things when they visualize them?  If I shut my eyes and imagine my car (an example from the article -- this guy can't do it and has trouble finding where he parked because of it) I can imagine what it looks like, the color, the shape, and all that.  But my field of vision with my eyes shut is still just blackness.  Does this article mean to suggest that some people, or most people, see a literal image of the thing their mind has conjured?

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160524-this-man-had-no-idea-his-mind-is-blind-until-last-week

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Close your eyes and visualise the face of the person you love the most. The colour of their eyes, the texture of their hair, the detail of their skin. Can you imagine it? Philip can’t.

Although Philip, a 42-year old photographer from Toronto, is happily married, he can’t conjure up his wife’s face because he has no images of any kind in his mind’s eye. When he thinks about a face, it comes to him as an idea, as an intellectual concept, rather than a mental picture.

This newly described condition is called aphantasia and has prompted scientists to reexamine an experience that we so often take for granted – our imagination. What’s more, studying it is offering new insights into how we all might boost our visual imagery to improve our memory, increase our empathy and even gain new treatments for conditions like addiction and anxiety.
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Offline Weisshaupt

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Re: Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2016, 03:54:03 PM »
But my field of vision with my eyes shut is still just blackness.  Does this article mean to suggest that some people, or most people, see a literal image of the thing their mind has conjured?

I don't see an image in my field of vision. I do "see" an image in the same place I see images while dreaming.. if that makes sense. The imagination screen or whatever one would want to call it.   I do have difficulty imagining an entire object in detail -I I imagine  a car - I see headlights, dash, etc, or the general body shape of a car, but imagining them all at once is difficult.  and I often have difficulty recognizing faces , because  when I think of a face, I see eyes, or nose, or mouth or chin... but its very hard for me to see a whole face in my imagination at once.  I actually tend to recognize people by how they move,  so someone who looks completely different can look similar to me if they move similarly.  Also as a result I can usually identify people from a long way away - usually before others identify them.. because they are waiting for facial detail.  Is this an INTJ/Aspergery   thing? Probably.





Online IronDioPriest

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Re: Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2016, 01:16:19 AM »
I have a very vivid picture-oriented mind. I can "see" whatever my mind can imagine.
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Online Pablo de Fleurs

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Re: Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?
« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2016, 08:04:30 AM »
I do as well - can close my eyes & imagine virtually anything. When I dream, I tend to dream in color. Our subconscious mind thinks in images. The whole arena of sports visualization seeks to harness that as a skill (”seeing” yourself sticking a landing, scoring a goal, winning a race, etc).

There’s a great book, The Ant & the Elephant, by Vince Poscente that works on getting your conscious mind (Ant) to work in tandem with your subconscious mind (Elephant).

Advertisers know this and target the elephant in television commercials. That’s why bikini clad women, or young people riding water slides in Manhattan, show up every time a beer can is opened.
 
2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power & of love and of calm, a well-balanced mind, discipline and self-control.

Offline Weisshaupt

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Re: Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2016, 09:05:10 AM »
I do as well - can close my eyes & imagine virtually anything. When I dream, I tend to dream in color. Our subconscious mind thinks in images. The whole arena of sports visualization seeks to harness that as a skill (”seeing” yourself sticking a landing, scoring a goal, winning a race, etc).

There’s a great book, The Ant & the Elephant, by Vince Poscente that works on getting your conscious mind (Ant) to work in tandem with your subconscious mind (Elephant).

Advertisers know this and target the elephant in television commercials. That’s why bikini clad women, or young people riding water slides in Manhattan, show up every time a beer can is opened.

Well there you are. I  have always sucked at anything athletic (Or at least involving quick movements and timing...) and commercials have never worked on me.
Mind its seems to be a subject oriented thing.  I can see the bits in great detail, but zooming the camera back is near impossible.  Maybe a result of being near sighted almost from birth and not having it corrected still the 5th grade perhaps?

My subconscious mind often feels very separate from me.- I feel  it there - working in the back ground as a sort of hum. It will continue to work on problems  for me - usually delivering an answer on the 3rd day (if the problem is solvable)  or  in the case of our current  large and unsolvable dilemma, he just keeps humming along about it , and I can't get him to relax - well not without alcohol anyway. And I haven't had a good dream since I quit drinking ( I decided the weight gain and cost were no longer worth it)   Its always family members in trouble or distress in some way shape or form.

Online Pablo de Fleurs

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Re: Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2016, 09:57:52 AM »
I can see the bits in great detail, but zooming the camera back is near impossible.

A grade-school friend of mine dared me to go out for Cross Country with him during our freshman year of high school in 1973. I did and...43 years later I still run (completing numerous races as well as 1/2 & full marathons along the way). I began learning/realizing the importance of the mental side of sports in the summer between my freshman & sophomore years - when I realized that it'd be better to remain in shape, than re-start every September. I began doing long runs (10-12 miles) on my own - which paid big dividends during the racing season.

I learned that if I got alone for a few minutes before each race and both quieted my mind and visualized me passing people on the track (most races finish on a track) that I would perform better - to the point of beating competing team players whom I wasn't "supposed" to beat! My mantra was, once I passed you "All I need is a lead" - and you would not pass me back. Once I beat the top runner from the opposing team...reeling him in over the final 2 laps of the race; he was so upset, that he grabbed his sweats and left the meet immediately after he finished.

Over the years, various muscle pulls or ankle sprains forced me to buy a Nordic Track for cross-training purposes - a wonderful workout in & of itself - but boring compared to being on a trail or long country road. During these workouts, in my basement gym, I visualize some of those races, hearing the coach & my teammates enthusiastically cheering me on - and it helps me to perform better as the muscles respond to the mental imagery & stimulus.

I often visualize about certain politicians...but that's best left for another thread! ;)
2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power & of love and of calm, a well-balanced mind, discipline and self-control.

Offline Libertas

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Re: Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2016, 09:13:43 PM »
I have a good imagination...but sometimes what I imagine is difficult to translate into reality...but I try not to fret over it.  :D
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Offline Glock32

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Re: Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?
« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2016, 10:27:32 AM »
So for those who can do this, say for example you need to imagine a red apple.  You cover your eyes to block out all light and imagine the red apple.  Do you actually "see" a red apple, just as if your eyes were open and looking at a real one?

I can't do that.  I know what an apple is, and I know what red is, so I can imagine it, but I can't "see" it.
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Online Pablo de Fleurs

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Re: Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2016, 10:43:23 AM »
Yes. Or green broccoli (dark green tops, lighter stems), or yellow bananas & a tutti-fruiti spiraled lollipop...

[...or a Victoria Secrets model (with white stockings) reaching out with...that...red...apple... ;D]
2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power & of love and of calm, a well-balanced mind, discipline and self-control.

Offline Libertas

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Re: Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?
« Reply #9 on: May 31, 2016, 11:35:47 AM »
Oh, you so had me going for a bite!   ;D

Her name must be Eve, eh?
We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.

Online Pablo de Fleurs

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Re: Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?
« Reply #10 on: May 31, 2016, 01:16:16 PM »
Oh, you so had me going for a bite!   ;D

Her name must be Eve, eh?

Reminds me of the very first conversation (also a palindrome) ever:

Quote
He: "Madam in Eden, I'm Adam"
She: "Eve"
2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power & of love and of calm, a well-balanced mind, discipline and self-control.

Offline Predator Don

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Re: Are you blind in your Mind's Eye?
« Reply #11 on: May 31, 2016, 01:29:08 PM »
I can see it....Walk into the light.....
I'm not always engulfed in scandals, but when I am, I make sure I blame others.