Chris HallbeckSep 29, 2023
Apple. #comics #webcomics #aphantasia
Show threadIsaac Freeman

@Chrishallbeck I’m still not entirely convinced that anyone actually just “sees” or “hears” things in their mind. Like… how then do they make connections between concepts? Don’t they find it distracting when they’re trying to think? Does anything they visualise _mean_ anything to them?

I mean… I can see that people with hyperphantasia operate perfectly well in the world, I just don’t get how it works.

Oct 2, 2023 at 10:17amWeb
Show threadChris HallbeckOct 2, 2023
@isaacfreeman You think it’s hard to make connections between concepts when you can do it visually?
Show threadIsaac FreemanOct 2, 2023

@Chrishallbeck Kind of, yeah. It seems like visualising objects would entail keeping track of a lot of extraneous specific detail that would get in the way of understanding the concepts.

The best way I can relate to it is that I see things, reduce them to a network of concepts and store those. Other people tell me they store entire unprocessed images and reduce them to concepts every time they recall them. That seems like a lot of work!

Show threadChris HallbeckOct 3, 2023
@isaacfreeman I have no idea what “Store entire unprocessed images and reduce them to concepts” means.
Show threadIsaac FreemanOct 3, 2023
@Chrishallbeck We may be reaching diminishing returns for mutual conprehension here, but… when I think of the apple I just ate, I don’t remember details of what it looked like. I remember that it was mostly red, with some green parts, but not the exact pattern.
People who don’t have aphantasia tell me they can literally visualise an apple like they’re seeing it in front of them. So when they remember a particular apple, are they recalling all that unnecessary detail? If so… weird.
Show threadIsaac FreemanOct 3, 2023
@Chrishallbeck To put it another way, how does one visualise an object without also having a photographic memory? I get these aren’t the same thing, I just find it hard to imagine where one ends and the other begins.
Show threadChris HallbeckOct 3, 2023
@isaacfreeman It’s the same as when you were originally experiencing the Apple. The memory isn’t any more overwhelming than the real one was. But it’s more useful to me in creating new things that aren’t just playback of a memory. I can climb out onto my roof and put on a jet pack and fly around my neighborhood. I can watch Star Wars with different camera angles. Stuff like that.