If someone describes some thing that you’ve never seen, you get a picture in your head of your best guess of what it looks like. That’s why people say “that’s not how I pictured it” or “that’s not the picture I had of it in my head” once you finally see it!
@buildingamystery74
4 жыл бұрын
I can intentionally conjure images in my head, other times the images are spontaneous. I don’t have images in my head 100% of the time but I definitely have inner monologue 100% of the time and I can’t turn off the voice. When thinking I use a combination of monologue and images in different ways depending on what’s useful for the context.
@neutrino78x
2 жыл бұрын
Alison, this is so fascinating to hear for those of us who don't experience it :-O (we are the very small minority apparently) So...is this is like a vivid image? Like is it like looking down at a picture on a smartphone? Or is it fuzzy? Does it get sharper if you concentrate on it more? I am 100% aphantasia....like if I close my eyes and think of an apple, it's properties come to mind...I know it is a fruit, it has a stem and a certain shape, it can be red or green...but I am still seeing darkness. Literally no image whatsoever. It's a purely abstract process. One thing I have been wondering lately is what would happen if a hypnotist put me in the right state of mind and asked me to zoom in on the license plate of a car. Well when I think of a car I don't SEE the car like you guys do, so I would think this wouldn't work...BUT...maybe I would zoom in metaphorically, if you will. To extract that data.
@buildingamystery74
2 жыл бұрын
@@neutrino78x it is super fascinating, I love talking about it. If you ask me to think of an apple I can easily conjure up an image that’s very clear. I can also switch the apple colour from red to green in my mind quite easily. An apple is such a simple image that this is quite easy and the image is pretty sharp. I can add details to the apple like a leaf and stem, and I can take details away. I could picture a bite out the apple. If you asked me to think about a Monet painting this becomes more complicated to see it in detail. I don’t remember what a specific Monet painting looks like off the top of my head, but I can physically see soft colours like pinks and blues and muted greens in my mind. I’m picturing water and soft grass and pink flowers. I can literally see it, but if I compared my image to a real Monet painting, it would be incorrect and lacking the same specific detail of the real painting. My image is very blurry. Hypnotism would be interesting to explore but I don’t know much about that.
@virginiahansen320
2 жыл бұрын
I would describe it the same way, but I've asked a bunch of men and they always seem to have images in their heads, whether they like it or not.
@markmuller7962
Жыл бұрын
Yep, exactly like me
@agadorisabel
4 жыл бұрын
I discovered that my 13 year old son has this way of thinking and so it’s really helpful. Thanks
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
So happy it helps!
@buildingamystery74
4 жыл бұрын
When I see Mrs Potts in the picture book, I don’t need to duplicate the image in my head because it’s already in the book in front of me. My inner voice told me ‘oh I know, that’s Mrs Potts.’
@user-yo7cj1bg3z
3 жыл бұрын
Great explanation Me too I can see her in the book so I just heard my inner voice say “it’s mrs Potts” The visual is already provided so my brain doesn’t conjure one
@jimmyschmidt14
6 күн бұрын
inner voice say “it’s mrs Potts”
@airolg23
4 жыл бұрын
When I see Ms Pots I'm the same as you, I just "know" but if you say Ms Pots I can get a picture/ sound/movie in my head. But I don't think the visual part is as literal as you may think. It's more of "knowing" an image and constructing the memory or thought in an abstract confidence. It's not like a straight up picture book or netflix going on 24/7
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Yeah, I do have to keep reminding myself you guys don't have TVs up there 😄. It's hard not to think so because it seems so fantastical! So, for me, whenever I retrieve information, it's just the same way you get Mrs Potts. I just don't get the pictures after.
@gastogether4ever
4 жыл бұрын
Yes!! This is what I was gonna say. I’m glad you explained it so I didn’t have to try to haha
@trude8073
4 жыл бұрын
Quiet Mind Inside yes definitely what Gloria said. It is blurred and I can't think of a picture, and see details and "find" stuff in that picture that I maybe didn't think of when I looked at it. I can outline it, but I can't "see" it. And no, when I park my car, I don't visualize it. I don't need to, I just know. I don't HAVE to use pictures to find stuff, and I don't use it unless I "need" it, or have to use it for anything. So, I don't know if it's normal to.. use the picture memory only when you need it, or to use it all the time. I CAN though, if someone ask me "can you tell me how to walk from home to the closest store". THEN I need it, and visualize me walking to the store. "Walk to the left and the to the right and cross the road after the crosswalk Etc".. then I picture it. I know and can remember visually where to find spesific items for example. "Bananas? Yes if you look right behind the boxes of soda, it's straight ahead". If I don't NEED it, I don't use it.
@WinterDarkmoon
4 жыл бұрын
They're really jerky TVs. They come on and off whenever, and they tumble lots of pictures through all at the same time, in layers, so no, these "TV's" aren't actually linear storylines either. 😂 It's more like rapidfire vignettes, stacked on top of one another.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
@@WinterDarkmoon That sounds so crazy to me! How are you all functioning 🤣! I can barely write an e-mail while the TV is on. I can't imagine having all that noise in your head that you can't get away from!
@Paolability
4 жыл бұрын
Re: pressure, please don’t feel pressure to make videos. You don’t owe any of us anything. There are other people making videos on this subject. You are likeable, and come across smart and authentic - a winning combo! Even though I’m interested to hear more from you, you do your self-care.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@agirlisnoone5953
4 жыл бұрын
Yes, this comment ❤
@daipayton9991
4 жыл бұрын
I’m a person with Phantasia (I have a mind’s eye). I can think exactly as you, I can pull up the facts about something when I remember. It’s just In Addition, I can bring up images from the movie Beauty and The Beast and Mrs Potts is moving and talking to the other characters. An image doesn’t always need to come up, but because we’re talking about images it comes up. I can alter the images and make Mrs Potts appear in a different movie or setting if I’m daydreaming.
@surayaranjber4740
4 жыл бұрын
no, you don’t always need a picture to know. You showed Mrs. Potts and I immediately knew that was Mrs. Potts. However when you spoke about your husband then I got an image of when I was watching the movie as a kid
@martinfreeman6491
4 жыл бұрын
Amazing
@ABeautyAddict
3 жыл бұрын
Same
@XelsGirl
4 жыл бұрын
The car thing? I just know where my car is. I don't visualize it's location and I don't go "my car is over there by the red van" in my head. I just... go over to where my car is. When you asked who Mrs. Potts was, I just knew and could say as much. After the fact, however, a vague impression of Beast and as my thoughts focus more on the movie, more vague impressions of the characters and what I remember of the plot. Nothing too vivid as it wasn't a movie I watched a ton as a kid. If it'd been something about, say, Lion King, however... I have a ton of fond memories that instantly pop up when I think of that movie. As for daydreaming, and fantasizing, for me I'm always directing it, so it doesn't just spiral off into something I experience, there's always that thought of what I want to happen next shaping it. Now that narration can vary in how actively I'm "hearing" it while I'm daydreaming. Maybe sometimes my brain just filters out the narration while I'm focusing on what's happening if that makes sense? I can definitely imagine character voices, though. Some more accurately than others, especially if it's from a movie or show I love. When I was younger I would zone out hard and get lost a million miles away, and it can still happen now that I'm adult, but it's usually at home when I'm relaxing now! XD
@zumigata
4 жыл бұрын
I don't always have to have a visual. For example, I study dentistry now and on anatomy I have to tell in detailed nomenclature what a certain part of the body is. If I know, I just say it, I spit it out and don't think about it but sometimes I don't know and in my mind I go back to the memory of the lecture or me looking at the anatomy atlas.
@laniakeas92
Жыл бұрын
Really, thanks to channels like this I realized I have an internal monologue. But it was constantly overwhelmed by vivid visual imagery I go through non stop. So my primary way of processing information is visual + different feelings and emotions. But with time I started to "catch" that inner voice popping out occasionaly. That was crazy really. Maybe I can learn how to use it more often to rearrange my thoughts in order. ❤
@laetitiamwilambwe-tshilobo4616
4 жыл бұрын
I was just having the same conversation with my fiancé the other day about daydreaming! I also have aphatasia, however I think I "daydream" but differently from people with visual imagery. My daydreaming is more like a day-listening/feeling, in that I listen to a story unfold in my head. I don't see ANY pictures, but it's almost like drifting off into my thoughts...
@quaymius
4 жыл бұрын
The human mind fascinates me. I’m always interested to hear how other people think. I have an inner monologue, but I also visualize pretty much everything I hear. If someone says a word that I don’t have an image for, depending on the word, I typically won’t know what they’re saying. But I don’t have to visualize everything to understand or know it. Most stuff I just know, like where I parked my car. If I forgot where I parked it, then I have to visualize pulling into the parking lot. Anyway, love your videos!!
@_jared0731
4 жыл бұрын
I just discovered I have aphantasia a few days ago and I’m 29. My mind is blown, it’s such a strange concept to understand. Very relatable videos and thoughts. Thanks for sharing
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
It's really wild for sure! Still can't really wrap my head around it 🤣.
@daipayton9991
4 жыл бұрын
For the imagination question about aliens, it’s almost like when an artist creates a new drawing of a monster. In my mind, I can create what I want the aliens to look like (or they’re just a generic picture of an alien from a movie), then in daydreaming its like a movie playing out and I’m narrating what’s happening and the characters do what I want (but i don’t need to tell them exactly what to do, they just do what i want because i know what I want to happen in the scene). It’s exactly like a movie playing in my mind except I’m the filmmaker/not an existing movie. I hope that makes sense. I’m pausing the video and writing comments as you’re discussing 😁
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
When I read all these comments, I wonder how you guys can get excited about movies when you can do these things is your head! I don't know if I would ever leave my house. I'd just sit at home imagining things all day.
@daipayton9991
4 жыл бұрын
Quiet Mind Inside This happens to me sometimes 😅 but more so when I’m reading a book, like today I spent hours reading a book because it was like a movie that I could control. Real movies are awesome because they’re a chance to see what’s in someone else’s mind come to life. 🤯 Just blew my own mind a little there as I never really thought about the compilation of a movie being the mental vision of all the people who worked on it. It’s the perfect way to share all those imagined stories, characters, aliens, etc
@gabrielsales7402
4 жыл бұрын
Quiet Mind Inside That’s probably why most people prefer the books over their movie adaptations. Because when reading a book, we imagine something awesome. And the movies usually don’t hold up to how we imagined it to be while reading the book. Also not to mention all the details they have to cut out to make movies out of books. For example, if in the book there’s a narration of a fight scene, we can imagine the most amazing fight scene in our heads. And when we see that same fight scene played out in a movie we can have one of two reactions: we either get disappointed because the fight scene in the movie was nothing compared to how we imagined it, or we get amazed if the fight scene in the movie is a perfect representantion of how we imagined it or better than how we imagined it. The challenge for the author of a book is to use the appropriate words to put on paper what his imagination is so that the reader can imagine the same things. But a good author will always leave room for the reader’s imagination to run free.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
@@gabrielsales7402 It sounds so cool! I guess that's why I was obsessed with Jackie Chan growing up; I couldn't imagine fight scenes in my head 😄! It does sound harder to enjoy movies if you have such good visualizations of a book. Do you think it's easier to enjoy movies you don't know the story of then? Or do you watch it and think of a better version in your head?
@gabrielsales7402
4 жыл бұрын
@@quietmindinside4808 Yeah, if a movie is an adaptation of a book, it's very unlikely that you'll enjoy the movie more than the book if you've read the book first. I'll still watch it, though, just out of curiosity, because I wanna see how loyal to the book the movie is, and how good of an adaptation it is. It's just two different forms of entertainment. But if the movie is original, as in not made out of a book, it's always enjoyable. While watching a movie, I can just sit there and enjoy the movie and take it as it is. But if my imagination happens to be very active or the movie is really boring, I can have fun imagining how they could make the movie better in my head.
@ParasocialActivity
4 жыл бұрын
I have this, I found out in March. It blew my mind that people actually see mental images!
@donmorris1709
2 жыл бұрын
I've known I don't see images in my mind for over 50 years, when I first discovered many people do and are not speaking metaphorically. I thought I DID have an internal monologue. But in listening to some videos my inner experience is much closer to yours than to the people who say they have the monologue. I don't hear sounds in my mind eitgher, so I do not hear any dialogue in my dreams (which I do have). My voice does not change, and does not really sound like a voice anyway. I can rehearse complete thoughts in my min d before speaking them. i can think my thoughts without moving my lips. When I was younger and had better vision I could read whole paragraphs at a time. I did not have to subvocalize each word. I could skim over pages and pull out the most important points. My comprehension has drastically reduced when I have had to read more slowly or listen to an audiobook or use a text-to-speech program. I speed up the reader or software to a point other people say it sounds garbled to them. I am completely aphantaasiac, seeing no images at all. I guess I have some kind of inner monologue, but it is not like "normal" people descri be. All very interesting.
@barday21
4 жыл бұрын
I would say my inner speech is consistent throughout the day where as imagery is more intermittent. So when parking my car - I will purposely take a visual snap shot where I parked my car (basically a photographic memory note). Then when looking for my car - my inner monologue will say "where did I park my car" and then I will just retrieve that image I stored away. And you asked if one would always have to get an image to remember something - i.e Mrs Potts. For me, I would recognise Mrs. Potts and then would receive imagery from memories childhood. If asked to recall specific information i.e name - i would try to retrieve as many memories, although I might not hear the name spoken in my memories, its almost like the memories takes me back to that time I knew the name so well and it just pops into my head. I pretty much always get visual images when talking about past memories. They just get automatically get triggered and can use them as reference. But I really still dont understand how you can possibly imagine without images? i.e imagining your princess Leila - you wouldn't get an image of her in your mind? You wouldn't visualise how you looked in her dress? What would be the point of imagining? How are you getting anything from it? I just don't see how it is possible to imagine without actually visualizing and seeing it. So if I said to you imagine your in Antarctica - you wouldn't see ice? or in the desert - you wouldn't see sand? I find that so hard to understand! Also when fantasizing, it's all completely directed by me too. It dosent just play out on it's own like a movie. But I think the reason people get so immersed in day dreaming is because it's s so much more fun then reality. It's escapism - you can be and do anything you want! I don't know who is more likely controlled by aliens. Would have to give it some more thought! But I just assumed that our inner speech and imagery was recognition of who we are inside and our human experience - basically human consciousness?
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
No, I definitely don't see ice or sand. I know what Antarctica looks like and a desert looks like, so I could tell you descriptions, but I wouldn't see myself there. I could together a bunch of descriptions to make a story of it, but I wouldn't see myself doing it. For the Leia imagining, it's funny because I didn't think of her dress until you said it. When I build fantasies, I build them through actions and don't think about the world building at all. It's all just a concept or idea of what could happen. I guess it's like having the coordinates for a scene? I can't see it, but the info is there to build it.
@Toertsch
4 жыл бұрын
Human consciousness? You're what sees the image, hears the voice - you're not the image and not the voice. Even when there are no such contents, consciousness is still around.
@andr3zon
4 жыл бұрын
Omg we love you
@loverainthunder
4 жыл бұрын
Yes, she has a great personality and way of explaining and expressing herself. 🥰
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Aw, thanks!
@ziyanda95
4 жыл бұрын
The picture in the mind thing doesn't happen 100% of the time. It helps more when you've forgotten where you know something from, because you kind of probe your brain and it brings up pictures that could help remind you what the familiar thing is. With finding your car, i don't have a picture pop up in my head, I know the general direction of where i parked it, so i look for it in that general area. I'm still so stunned at this discovery, i keep asking all my friends if they have mental pictures and voices or not hahaha
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
I stop my husband all day asking him how he got an idea, what pictures he used. It's really fascinating.
@Pjsev
3 жыл бұрын
@@quietmindinside4808 It blew my mind to find my husband didn't have an inner monologue and he refused to answer my questions...he just said he always knew he was different. He didn't care how I "think" and said he thought I was crazy having voices in my head...ha ha. It sure has answered a few of my questions, but has also created more questions than I have gotten answers. When he would be sitting in his garage, no music or anything, I'd ask him what he was thinking about, and he would say nothing....I thought he was lying. ha ha..now I think he really has an empty mind. How can you even remember conversations without playing them over in your head? He seems to be able to bring up conversations...how???
@maddiefisher5836
4 жыл бұрын
You’re very easy to listen to! You explain things actually pretty well! If you decide to make more videos I would love to watch them. I commented on the last video too so I don’t mean to overload you with more comments. You seem like a very nice person and a great mother to your children!! Thank you for taking the time out of your day to make videos for those of us who are curious and nosy! Lol
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you and You're welcome! 😄
@dooql
4 жыл бұрын
I hope this comment makes sense bc it took a while of explaining this to get my sister to understand. But, I think in levels. The first and biggest level is the one that’s the base for the rest of the levels. This one is my inner monologue and all the other levels feed into this one to get a running narrative. There isn’t really deep thought in this one, this is where the immediate answers and quick thoughts are. This one is the loudest. The second layer is the one that’s interpreting and thinking about what to say, what it means, how to say it. Sometimes this layer can be thinking many things at once, like separate thoughts. For example, I can be thinking about what my professor is saying and trying to apply it to things while also thinking about what I’m making for dinner, at the same time. And then I have a third level that’s kind of the emotional interpretations of the stimulus. This level tells me how I’m feeling and helps me understand why I’m feeling this way. And then I have the final layer that’s the fun one. This is where my daydreams and fantasies are. This is the one that feeds jokes and fun stuff into my inner monologue. All of these layers work at the same time, I’m having at least 5 different thoughts and cognitions per stimulus. Now just some thinking things I’ve noticed. I always have to think before I speak, I craft my replies in my head before I say them. I daydream constantly, even when preoccupied or focused on something else. My mind is never empty. Memories give me physical reactions, like butterflies or heartache or shortness of breath. I often talk out loud to people I’m upset with, but they’re a manifestation of my mind, they’re not really there. I just imagine them being there so I can work out whatever emotions I’m feeling toward them so I can process and interpret my emotions in context with the situation. This has helped me gain emotional clarity and maturity. This also allows me to be able to communicate better with those people because after I do that I feel more at peace and calm with my emotions and the situation. I can have conversations with myself; two different voices but both controlled by me. So if I’m trying to see if an answer/question makes sense, I simulate a conversation in my head to see if it is clear. I’m sure there’s more stuff, but this is long enough lol.
@dooql
4 жыл бұрын
I also remember things positionally. I have a semi-photographic memory (self proclaimed, idrk what this is lol). For example, if a study guide has the same questions as the test, if I can remember where that same question was on the study guide I can recall the answer purely based on the position; even if I didn’t know the answer. I just remember the words in the question, where they were, and what the answer looked like and then write it down.
@tannakaobi1
10 ай бұрын
I learned last week that I am aphantasia which blew my mind. Now I have discovered I don't have an inner monologue either. I don't really know what to think about it all. It really explains something that I always had a problem with, I was always confused about meditation. I never understood what people meant when they said you must clear your mind, particularly when people struggled with this.
@tsurek
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you. This is very intriguing! Yes, some people only get pictures (no internal monologue). Myself, I get pictures and an internal monologue. Its a combination of both. Although my internal voice is more dominant. I feel like Ive always been bad at keeping a journal, because I have so many thoughts and conversations in my head, I forget to write things down. People with an internal monologue its very automatic, it has a sound, a pitch, and full on conversations. I can quiet the images in my head much better than my voice. My voice is very automatic.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
If you have to remember something for a short time, like someone tells you a phone number, and you just have to remember it long enough to put in your phone, do you repeat the number in your regular internal monologue voice, or does it sound like a different one?
@tsurek
4 жыл бұрын
@@quietmindinside4808 In that scenario, my memorization skills kick in and I repeat the number out loud or forcefully (actually trying) inside my head. Its not my automatic voice doing it. :)
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
@@tsurek This is the same as I would do. That actual trying to force it in your head is how it feels when I try to force my inner voice I think.
@WinterDarkmoon
4 жыл бұрын
This part of your video actually made a whole lot of sense. I was surprised to realize that my internal running monologue is actually slightly and subtly different than my "forced thought rendering" voice. I don't always have an internal monologue either. The "voice" isn't "hearing voices" though. It's also not something I'm really "hearing" though my brain is really fairly good at approximating sound. What it's actually doing though, is "making echoes" that sort of sit at the back of the skull - like there's always this sense that the images and sounds are muted, they aren't ever realistically vivid to the point that they're High def movie quality. It's like if you actually stared into a mirror to see everything, and you slightly let your gaze go unfocused. Try doing that, and you'll see how the "images" might appear in the back of the skull to someone with visual memory. My mental images are always sort of blurry like I'd need glasses with massive correction if that is how I actually saw things in the real world.
@WinterDarkmoon
4 жыл бұрын
Also, my "voice" is always my own voice, but it's how I hear it when I speak. (You know how your voice sounds different on video to yourself when you first hear yourself speak? My "head voice" is the voice that I actually hear when I speak out loud. It's not the voice that other people hear when I actually speak.) I can "scream" in my head, but it isn't loud. It's like you said where you can't control the volume, but I can control my impression and feeling of the volume. The difference between the thought rendering and stream of consciousness voices are that stream voice is "mumbled" and kind of quiet. The thought rendering voice is assertive and forceful because I need to remember. (And sometimes I still forget. haha.)
@deearzola2209
4 жыл бұрын
I do enjoy your videos and I appreciate you sharing this info.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much!
@nickjunes
Жыл бұрын
I also just know things as well. The pictures are there when I need them, but plenty of times I just know things and act on what I know. Also when I'm thinking about something I will use what I know to build what I'm picturing so it goes hand in hand.
@Paolability
4 жыл бұрын
Re: grief, I understand where you are coming from. However, you seem like a regular, emotional and compassionate person with a family and career. Sure, you have a missing HDMI cable, but you just got to where you are differently. For everything you feel you are missing, you must have different abilities to compensate. For example, I envy your memory. 🌸
@ToriLoverly
4 жыл бұрын
When you showed the picture from beauty and the beast in my head I picture scenes from the movie. Yes I just know it's Mrs. Potts but the visual just pops in my head.
@johnlebroski7715
4 жыл бұрын
we have the same brain!!! I felt sad at first... but now the thought of my brain being flooded with non-stop Visual and inner monologues seems exhausting.... I am now really appreciating my quiet peaceful brain and the power of just knowing!!!
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
I feel like I'm doing better with it the more time goes on. Perhaps the shock for me was greater than for others. Focusing on the benefits has definitely been helpful. I honestly don't know if I could handle the constant bombardment of images and sounds. It seems very distracting.
@chantellea3751
4 жыл бұрын
It's definitely distracting and also feeds anxiety, as negative inner voices can get repetitive and trigger distressing images. It also just delays actually getting stuff done, I can waste so much time planning/rehearsing in my head. This can sometimes make activities a disappointment when they turn out differently and are over much faster than imagined.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
@@chantellea3751 It sounds really hard. I don't know how you guys handle it.
@supersayan6318
Жыл бұрын
When you said that you get a voice whenever you read, or write, and the voice is not something that you can speed up or slow down, I found that interesting how you described it, but I assumed that was your inner voice. But later when you were describing about the MRI studies, and forcing people to say something, etc... I remember this thing called "intrusive thoughts". "intrusive thoughts" are thoughts/voices that come up that you are not thinking. Usually they are negative, and hard to get out of your head but eventually you get rid of them. But it could be different from person to person, and they could easily be gotten rid of or ignored.
@rembeadgc
4 жыл бұрын
I'm a jazz musician. I can hear music in my head when there is no music playing. I can envision myself playing when I'm not actually playing. When I am listening to music I can imagine and "hear" variations that aren't what I'm listening to. When I am playing I strive to go beyond playing what I can think or visualize and just spontaneously create, where I mentally become as much of an audience member as I am a creator of the music or rather a vessel for the music to manifest through. I think this all comes from having a mind that is seeking to operate on every viable and possible level. Some musicians only play what they've read or heard someone else play before. The improvising jazz musician is trying to draw from influences music related and non-music related in a way that doesn't require conscious thought., but like you, simply manifests without a mental pre-performance.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
That's very interesting. I can hear music in my head, but I can't manipulate it at all. It's always just whatever version I was listening to. Kind of like an internal radio 😄. Someone told me before that they can create music in their head and layer different sounds on top of each other to build it up, and that sounds so amazing!
@rembeadgc
4 жыл бұрын
@@quietmindinside4808 It's also interesting that people take for granted what you're thinking is amazing. Bottom line is, it doesn't matter what talents or abilities you have, it'a about whether you use what you have and to what end. Many people are highly gifted and misuse it. At the end of the day they have added nothing worthwhile to human growth while someone with what some might regard as a deficit, impacts the world for great good. Perspective.
@kier
4 жыл бұрын
I mostly always get videos, my mind is always super active. I have a good amount of memories in my mind that I can play back as little video clips. Sometimes if i see a picture from a vacation from my childhood I can then remember more and play a little clip in my mind from that exact vacation. I can still remember my childhood home that we moved out of 15 years ago. I can like tour the house in my mind, It's kind of like a video of me walking through it and it still has all the decor it had when we lived there. When you showed the beauty and the beast book, I got a clip in my mind from the movie.I do have a photographic memory tho, SO when it comes to tests, I can think of the study guide and see the paper in my mind as a photo. In your last video. you mentioned imagining the beach, when i think of the beach I can see the waves, i can even hear the waves and the seagulls and sometimes I can even smell the air. Sometimes scents can trigger a memory for me.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Wow! That sounds amazing. I remember my childhood home, but it's just like a vague blueprint. I couldn't tell you what color the walls were painted or anything like that.
@kier
4 жыл бұрын
@@quietmindinside4808 Oh wow thats so interesting! Thanks for replying!
@kevinjohnson3738
4 жыл бұрын
For me, sometimes there are things that I can't verbalize or fully recall, when it comes to memory, without visualization (creating images of the memory). Some of these may include things that utilize a map of sorts, ie. Trying to give directions to a location: I usually don't just know unless I visualize the path to the location. It's typically with complex things that I can only recall with visualization. It's like simplification of a greater puzzle. Sticking with directions, I may not know exactly where a store is in the grand scheme of the entire state or in relation to other stores. But I may know that if I go down this street, turn left, then right, I should find the store at the end of the street ( I can only recall these directions through visualization). So I can't use a quick short phrase to say where the store is because I'm new to the area and my brain doesn't know or I just don't remember. But I can visualize the path to get there. It's like when you have some puzzle pieces of a large puzzle matched up, but you still don't know how the other prices fit in. If I don't get this visualization when it comes to directions, it's because I don't remember enough. But it always happens when I do remember and that's how I can recall and also how I would go about planning the best or most efficient route for errand running. I may also see a park when visualizing a route, and think, oh I forgot that park was there! So, it helps me recall or remember things that my brain typically doesn't otherwise.. I hope this makes sense and isn't rambling. But I would be very curious to understand how you recall information of paths/directions if say, someone were to ask for directions to your local grocery store for example. And also, how do you go about planning stops while running around town so that it's most efficient?
@Wingularity
4 жыл бұрын
It can feel like giving a PowerPoint presentation only the slides are in my mind. For me its not just images tho its more like a small movie with sound too
@redskittlez12
4 жыл бұрын
No i don't have images ALL the time, like if I'm looking for my car I just know where it is lol, and I have a mind's eye
@MultiWhit3
4 жыл бұрын
This is how I can explain inner monologs: heat me out, your washing the dishes and the radio is playing in the background. Its playing your song, so then you (internally) flip the station to a podcast and now you hear the song and the podcast. The podcast explaining a time of your life that song reminded you of, but all of this in your head. And for day dreaming or for seeing images think of those old projections back in the day that flashed a few images and played for a split second. Then your body makes the connections and brings you to feel a type of day. Like if you are seating down and watching a movie. But all of this in your head. Or whem reading a book, instead of reading the words or like you that they over lap, instead of that you see it projected in your mind. (Like when a profesor or teacher is teaching and showing you something on the projector, doing them both at the same time - but in your mind. I never knew that not everyone's mind worked like mine. So its so fascinating to me to hear your perspective of things. And this is me giving you and example of what its like in my head 24/7, yes bc even when I sleep a still have a "movie" playing in my head. Thank you for you showing us your side of the world!
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for sharing. That's a good explanation. It sounds so busy, but like a movie - not real life! I really can't imagine it. I don't know if I'd be able to focus on anything 😄.
@MultiWhit3
4 жыл бұрын
@@quietmindinside4808 it is busy... i think thats why meditation was created 😅 there is always a lot of thoughts running threw my mind.
@llldustin
3 жыл бұрын
I only discovered aphantasia has a name yesterday I have no mental images or visualization I knew I was different from everybody else when I was in sports as a preteen and the coach kept asking us to visualize the play and what would happen in the game or to visualize the previous game and what we did this was in the seventies I have never I also have no true inner monologue I like how you mentioned how your words just come in thought stream and are not a true dialogue either in your head I also have dyslexia and I have a poor biographical memory I won't say poor I can remember things I know I have physically gone and I can describe them really accurately but without the emotions so I'm learning more about this and how it affects other people and myself now my second day of finding it thank you for your videos are quite helpful for a 50 year old man finally understanding just how different people are
@corey2272
Жыл бұрын
as someone without an inner monologue, and aphantasia, you have explained everything well, down to a T. I’ve never been able to explain my brain processes to people who do have those things we are missing, and watching your videos have helped tremendously. I hope you come back!! Maybe make a video on what you’ve learned since your last video? Curious to hear!!
@jayleenmendoza
Жыл бұрын
I just found your channel and I love hearing all about your experience with aphantasia. I don't have aphantasia so I have pictures, movies and imagination in my head all the time. it's so interesting to hear your point of view. I think I would love the quietness in my head.
@intekwaly6332
3 жыл бұрын
My husband used to zone out a lot and I was like "Where are you right now"? He used to say no where and thinking of nothing - I just could not believe it!!! Now I do but he does not want to hear about it. He also reads a lot - especially fiction, sometimes he doesn't remember what he had read and I suspect he also can't imagine although he writes very tangled stories - of places he was there and also took notes of - otherwise he can't remember. I have entire conversations in my mind when I know what he would say usually based on what he ALLWAYS says but he is like "how do you know what I am going to say" and I say "based on what you always do"! Also the whole meditation thing does not work on him so he thinks it is all a rip off thing. Can you meditate? Not just to empty your mind but also to inspire yourself "see how you are in a big house in the future" and so on? "Feel you are a brave person" and you are?
@KPpivot
4 жыл бұрын
i dont always need to see a picture of my car but like. i either remember where i parked or if i don't then i need to recall the memory of me parking and where i was and try to find my way back
@lizzyespo
3 жыл бұрын
I dont always need to picture something in my head to remember something. Can be spontaneous. It can be a mix of both for myself
@agirlisnoone5953
4 жыл бұрын
I love your earnesty if that's a word. You're so curious and ask questions I'd never even think to ask.
@nickjunes
Жыл бұрын
Yes I almost always see pictures especially when I'm thinking about the location of something. I will fly around in my minds eye and look for things sometimes or map things out.
@johnbilly7819
4 жыл бұрын
thank you for responding that was very nice of you
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
No problem!
@ksmontanaro
4 жыл бұрын
I think your conclusions about visual daydreaming are pretty spot on. When I am acting out scenes in my head, for instance wondering how a tv show I like will go in the future if the characters make various choices (I am a colossal nerd), I feel like it’s a dance between very actively directing the situation, as if I am writing it, and watching it play out as an observer, which I think is directed by my subconscious fears, desires, and memories. Sometimes, I will reset the scene over and over, trying to make different things happen. It might be 75% actively directed, and 25% observation, if I’m just doing it casually. And it seems that the more I become an observer, the more spaced out I then become, to the point of forgetting my surroundings for a moment. At that point it approaches dreaming in sleep, where I mostly find myself observing, and rarely influencing the story. By the way, that comical trope in movies, where someone sees the person they have a crush on, and they imagine something romantic happening, and then we hear someone’s voice interrupting, and they suddenly snap out of it and realize it was a daydream? That’s not too far from reality, although exaggerated for comic effect. When you see someone’s eyes glaze over while you’re talking to them, it’s very likely they are so distracted by whatever they can see in their mind, that they actually become momentarily unconscious of what’s going on around them.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Oh, that's great! I never thought about that, but yes, it's in like every rom com ever. I had no idea that could really happen to people!
@ksmontanaro
4 жыл бұрын
@@quietmindinside4808 The place where they exaggerate is usually right before the daydreamer snaps out of it, because they like to pull kind of joke where the love interest starts talking with a weird voice and it turns out to be the voice of the best friend or parent trying to get the daydreamer's attention - I suppose that's possible, but it's never happened to me! I'm sure there's an entry for it on tvtropes.org, it's such a tired old gag. If I can think of similar tropes that are phantasic-dependant, I'll poin them out.
@ksmontanaro
4 жыл бұрын
Yep, here it is: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DaydreamSurprise
@trevorama
4 жыл бұрын
Sweet, another video! So much to unpack. First, I’m a professional screenwriter, and since watching your videos, have been imagining a world where aliens can’t control people with aphantasia. Great minds! 😀 Next, you must continue using the brilliant expression you coined - “milk voice”! I think it’s so simple, descriptive and original. As a lover of words, that novel term now pops into my head several times a day. Lastly, your explanations, analogies and insights are once again super helpful and immediately graspable. Such a fascinating brain you have. Thank you!
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Sounds like a great idea for a movie! I'd definitely watch it! 😄 Milk voice isn't mine, though. I picked it up in the Aphantasia Facebook group. I'm not sure who first started using it, but I'm glad it resonated!
@Claego
5 ай бұрын
Okay, when you asked me who that was, I immediately received an image of Ms. Pots, almost like an AI generated image that is a combination of every time I'd seen Ms. Pots. But it sort of has a vintage tv sheen over it, like a memory of me watching it when I was a kid or something. Nothing I can specifically pin down. Then, immediately after that, I remember how and when I first met her in the movie, and that fills in her character and what kind of person she is. And then I'm brought back to what you were saying, and I started looking for her on the rest of the page.
@Claego
5 ай бұрын
I recently had to explain to my fiancé that when I read the Harry Potter books, I didn't really picture anything clearly. Everything was like a smudged painting and no specific facial features other than the very generic ones described. But after watching the movies, now I have a very clear picture of everything and substitute them in my head whenever I'm reading the books again. Daniel Radcliffe becomes Harry. Robbie Coltrane (rip) becomes Hagrid. Etc. They are inextricably linked, and it really helps my enjoyment of the book more. The same goes for any tv show or movie based on a book or comic. A movie or show almost always enhances my image of what I read in the book.
@hotwasabi1085
4 жыл бұрын
I just found your channel and watched all your videos tonight. I think part of the reason your channel has done so well already is because this topic is just fascinating. Even between people who have an inner voice, no two people can ever know exactly how the other person thinks in their mind, not even identical twins! We don’t have any proof that we are looking at the same colour we call “blue” or that “itchy” feels the same to me and you, you know? So I think people are always interested in analysing thought processes because it’s one of the few things we can never truly understand about another person. To answer your question about needing to see a picture to know something like needing to see a picture to know that it’s Mrs. Potts or where my car is, I don’t think most people “need” the picture, I think it just comes up anyway, if that makes sense? And for people who always get the pictures it’s probably impossible to imagine not getting them which is why they think they need them. I don’t always get pictures, like I know disney well so I didn’t need it, but if you asked me who one of the transformers was, I could try to use pictures and thoughts in my head to figure it out, if that makes sense? Also for your question about what do we see if a person is speaking about something we’ve never seen. That was a great question, really made me think lol, but I guess for me I just try my best to visualise it. For example, in your first video you spoke about the first type of computer which I honestly have never seen and barely heard about so I just pictured the oldest computer I could think of and then matched it to the description you gave. I think that’s a common thread that if you don’t know something you probably match it to the closest thing you can think of but maybe not!
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the comment! The transformer one really made me think, too. I definitely know them, but it's hard to describe them besides robots that turn into cars.
@SWEmanque
3 жыл бұрын
When I zone out I can sort of feel the presence of people's faces right up against my face, I can't see them. It's like I feel their spirit. I can simulate their breath in an abstract sort of way. I can sort of sense movement and power so if I fantasize about a car it's the momentum and the aura of the car I imagine, and I can only do that for small pets of the car at once, the spirit of the door handle, the turning of the wheel, the flow of a side panel. But I never actually see it. I have this reoccurring fantasy of my dream city, but I can't see it, I can only feel it's life, follow the cables in the wall mentally. It's more a concept of a city.
@quietmindinside4808
3 жыл бұрын
That's interesting! I know I saw somewhere on Reddit people talking about being able to feel imagined movements and feeling, but I can't remember what it was called.
@mildredjohnson7166
3 жыл бұрын
I am so glad that I found you. Although I am 71 years old I finally know what is wrong with me and why I am not like other people. It is good to know that I am not an undercover lunatic.
@ingridh5324
3 жыл бұрын
I sort of know the fact that it is Ms. Pots without getting any image, but then right after or almost simultanously some visual memories from the movie will pop up in my head. I can imagine her in a different setting than in the movie if I want when daydreaming. Daydreaming to me is pretty visual and auditive, I can hear people talking and see them doing whatever. But I cant imagine taste or smell.
@war5561
4 жыл бұрын
Yes. Even as you are talking and you say ms pots I have flashes of a snapshot of ms pots. Although it’s less like a movie and more like a still frame. Just a stationary picture of ms pots. Or you said “sound” and “Ewok” and I immediately heard the Ewok sound in my head and I saw flashes of chewy and Princess Leia. If I don’t know a word there is nothing. No meaning no pictures. I would have to find a way to make an association like looking up a picture.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
So, if someone was talking about something completely new to you, would you tune out or you keep like a record of the words to look up after and then make pictures of? Also, when you say something like "I can't picture it". Does that mean you want more information so you can build the image? I've always been using that expression when I think something is so amazing or wild to express how crazy or unbelievable I think it is. Now I think I may have been misinterpreting it.
@soburlvt
4 жыл бұрын
As you are talking about inner voice, I am talking to myself (in my head), do I hear a definable voice? No. It's a 'conversation' but it is totally silent. I would have the same party as you with Hugh and Emma. I would know who they were but they wouldn't be speaking 'audibly'. Dreams are weird. For me, at least. Emma might be in my dream but it may look nothing like her. But I would know that is was her. Also, I have dreamt about things that I have never seen. It may be a house. It may be people. I can even describe them later when I am awake. There is a flash of a room that I have never been in. Just a corner of it. I can still 'see' it all these years later.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
That's interesting. When you see one of those things like "Read this passage in James Earl Jones's voice", can you do it? I "know" what his voice sounds like, but I can't recreate it in my head.
@soburlvt
4 жыл бұрын
@@quietmindinside4808 I don't think I could read a passage in JEJ's voice. I, too, know what his voice sounds like, but it's too complicated to make 'him' speak in my head. I could remember dialog that he has already said but I don't think I could make him do something new. However, in a dream that could happen.
@derstreber2
4 жыл бұрын
This is going to sound stupid, but here we go. When you said "princess leia", for some reason my mind was blanking and I did not immediately think "star wars". (Note I am writing these out in words, but they where not words in my head.) I knew I heard the name before. I knew it was a character in a popular movie. I knew she had very unique hair. Her hair was like two buns... snap... star wars, brown hair, young, white dress, fair skin, saved by whats his face. (and, don't get mad, I haven't even seen the movie, just clips)
@tarakmax3620
2 жыл бұрын
Ok so I’m super confused with my self right now, I think I have it, but then in other cases I think of pictures, so maybe I sometimes have it and other times don’t? I’m so confused. I also have ADHD which adds to the whole thing lol. So I agree with you on the teacup thing but I agree with your husband on the alien thing. 🥴 I also daydream regularly because of my ADHD and it being hard for me to focus. But I can also have conversations in my head and can work around a problem with words in my head I can also zone out so I think sometimes I don’t have it and other times I do.
@fluffiddy6515
3 жыл бұрын
I don’t have aphantasia, but I’m the same. I just know that is the character Pots. However, if you asked which character has a handle and is the object where you can pour tea in without showing me a picture, then I will picture that description in my head to determine which character that is.
@rachelhawk4562
3 жыл бұрын
You said it! It’s all like a stream of consciousness! Not always super vivid
@aida9864
4 жыл бұрын
My inner voice doesn't stop. It's always there 'cause my brain is always thinking. But I can control my imagination. I don't have to imagine everything to understand it or to answer. When I saw Mrs. Pots I knew who she was but suddenly an image of her and her children popped in my head. I didn't had to imagine her to find out who she was. I just knew it. I'm pretty sure inner voice and daydreaming is something you can develop. Based on what you said It's like we all have inner voice but for some of us it is more developed. My inner voice is mostly in English although English is not my first language. I think it's because when I was studying English i had no one to talk to them in Eng so I would talk to myself in front mirrors in my head. Maybe it has to do something with being sociable? I don't like talking with people but I really enjoy spending time alone. Maybe it kinda developed my inner voice without noticing.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
I was actually thinking that I never developed an inner voice because I spent a lot of time alone as a child, so I was able to talk out loud to myself whenever I wanted. Not sure, though. I am really good at being alone, I think.
@mahiragauthier1194
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much ! You do explain so well and I do not day dreamings either. I am a retired professor and worked at Universities with graduate MBA students. I thought Management, Soft Skills, Organizational Behaviours, Business Cases etc.... I loved lecturing as all information and data just came flowing down from a sort of pipeline, my brain I guess, no pictures. Was I popular in my field of Education ? Yes, great assesments 4 /4, perfect scores and I asked my students why ? They said that I could explain so well the concepts and put them into action like they never had that experience before in previous undergraduate studies. It was also really easy for me to lectude in Spanish, French and English. I think that aphantasia is an added value to our life and we are so lucky ! I reiterate, thank you for the great work that you are doing with these videos.
@dickstarrbuck
3 жыл бұрын
For my car, I have 2 ways, 1 - A map in my head. Like a full on visual map you see in like video games. As I go thru an area (undiscovered or not) my head will do a visual mapping of sorts,. And even better when I can get a north south east west bearing, then i can add it to a bigger map 2- programmaically. Like coding. "when see coffee shop, make left... go about 100 feet, make right past fountain" so if I'm looking for my car, I can just do those steps in reverse. Typically I do this in areas until my brain has developed a visual map of it.
@quietmindinside4808
3 жыл бұрын
Is the second one just like seeing words then? Like looking at code? Or are you saying it to yourself until the map builds?
@ikonographics
3 жыл бұрын
I’ve been binge watching your videos! About a year ago I realised I have no inner monologue and then yesterday thanks to a video that popped up in my Facebook feed I realised i have aphantasia. So many things make sense now.
@Irosado65
4 жыл бұрын
I think we all have an inner monologue.. but some are better at paying attention or focus on it, and others just skip over this focus and there mind just get to the point.. this inner voice can get in the way sometimes and in others it can be overwhelming. My friend has schizophrenia; his inner voice can have a mind of its own and he hears voices, see images and feeling which to him, appear as if they are external and separate from him and he sometimes cant distinguish between if a sound, say I call his name if I'm in another room, if its me or his inner voice . So he put a test and waits to here it a third time to react and answer back. He apparently has no control of this "focus". His medications dull these voices so they aren't as overwhelming. I , myself, like when you read, words overlap,... I think too fast for me to write things down and I think multiple things at a time. I just think that like everything in this world ...In its garden there are many flowers and all are beautifully unique and specialized. Thanks for sharing.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
That's interesting. Thanks!
@CobyDooood
3 жыл бұрын
I only realized that this was a thing a week ago. And I have had an extremely hard time explaining it to anyone. Thank you! The writing bit, I did not even think about until now. You blew my mind with that lol. I write out and sketch out everything to work out how something should go or work etc. And the zoning out part is spot on! My wife will ask me what I am thinking about and I feel weird always saying nothing. And then I always wonder why I was thinking about nothing. Then its all gone again and I carry on.
@MrScientifictutor
5 ай бұрын
I watch your videos to help better understand the world.
@phily8093
Жыл бұрын
People like myself who have vivid imaginations, and have an internal monologue, and can see pictures, or hear sounds, or recreate objects or almost any scenario in my head, it doesn't mean we have to see an image. We can just have thoughts too in blocks of data, without having the monologue, similar to how you describe it. But if someone is describing something we don't know about, we can try and formulate a picture of what you're describing in our minds, using our imaginations, or by adding to points of teference we do know. Or if we don't understand it, we might not get a clear picture, or no picture, in the same way that you just wouldn't process it properly if you didn't understand it.
@alisafoxy1
4 жыл бұрын
Very interesting question! When you ask about ms. Pots my mind gave me a picture of the broom moping the floor with little cups (children of ms. Pots) playing around the broom. Just becouse it was clouse to the picture of ms. Pots. But inner voice told me - it is mother of cups. And when you told her name it was like : Oh, yes it is ms. Pots.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Interesting! So you do the image and voice together! Is that typical for you to have both pop up at once when trying to remember something?
@alisafoxy1
4 жыл бұрын
@@quietmindinside4808 it can be both. But i think image was faster. But image don't gave me an answer and voice desided to add an explanation.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
@@alisafoxy1 Got it. Thanks!
@nickjunes
Жыл бұрын
It does sound like you can rehearse dialog to some extent. Also when we daydream with images we have to be very active about it. It doesn't just play on it's own. That would be a hallucination.
@brielleoliver753
4 жыл бұрын
Hello! I never comment on videos, but I just find this so interesting and thought I'd respond. I doubt you'll see this since your video was posted a few months ago, but I'll leave this here anyway. I am notorious for being a bit of a space cadet. In other words I daydream, a lot and I've always been that way. I can't speak for everyone, but daydreaming isn't always a conscious act. I mean, I can intentionally "daydream" or imagine/visualize a "movie" in my head, but more often than not it just...happens. When I daydream, I dissociate from reality. So much so, that I could be in the middle of a conversation with someone, trail off in my own head, and TOTALLY miss entire chunks of the conversation. I have missed exits on the parkway while driving, randomly walked to the wrong room or put something down and have no recollection of where I put it, because I was so immersed in my own little world. It's almost as if my brain doesn't have enough space to daydream and consciously interact with my environment, so my body goes on auto-pilot, and it just... does things. All the while I'm "watching a little movie" in my head, hearing the sounds and even feeling the emotions I would feel if it were really happening. It's actually really inconvenient sometimes because I can't control it all the time, and it makes it difficult to focus in class or remain attentive in a conversation. As for the voice in my head, I hear my thoughts in my own voice. Especially when I am distressed. For instance someone choked in front of me once and I totally panicked. My inner voice in that moment was amplified, like I could clearly hear my own voice above all else. I can still hear and see everything else happening around me, but its just muted. So say you were having a conversation in a crowded restaurant. You can still hear everyone else chatting, but its mostly background noise because you are focused on the person you're taking to. You really only hear what the other person is saying. When I get really distressed thats what happens to my inner voice. I very very clearly hear my own thoughts but everything else around me is sort of muted. Like my brain prioritizes my own inner voice to cope. I could go on but I think this response is lengthy enough lol.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks, that's really interesting. The crowded restaurant was a really good comparison, so it helped me get it a bit more. It honestly blows me away that you guys can function with all that going on in your head at once. The driving thing seems terrifying!
@brielleoliver753
4 жыл бұрын
@@quietmindinside4808 Ha! Well the cool thing about the brain is you can operate on "auto-pilot" to conserve energy. So for instance, most of the time I can just drive to work because I know the route, I don't have to focus on it, I automatically just drive there. So I can just daydream away while I go, everything is just automatic. BUT sometimes, I'll get so distracted that I'll do something weird like drive to my grandma's house when I meant to drive to work. Or put my phone in a weird place because I wasn't paying attention and I was just in my head.
@Calithrade
4 жыл бұрын
I love your insight and videos- I had no idea that people thought so differently like this. Thanks so much for sharing. I don't ALWAYS see an image in my head. So you showed Mrs Potts- but for me the image was there as you've showed me so I didn't need to see an image. If you asked me 'what does the teapot from beauty and the beast look like' I would recall the image and describe it. If I didn't know what a word for example an animal I would be thinking about what was being said eg it has 4 legs, it's a dark brown colour on most of its body but it has zebra stripes on its bottom. It has a longer neck than a horse but not as long as a giraffe" etc etc for each adjective an image would be brought to the forefront of my mind and layered up until the animal was created. As for day dreaming sometimes it's just as if my consciousness is at the back of mind and I'm thinking about something mundane like what I need to do so what I'm looking it what is happening around me at isn't at the forefront of my mind. Like a camera panning to the side to think off on a tangent and then pans back to be conscious in the moment.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
The camera panning is interesting. I've been trying to wrap my head around how these visuals look. Are they big? Small? Do they overlap what you're seeing in the real world? The panning idea makes me think it's more off to the side, like peripheral vision.
@markmuller7962
Жыл бұрын
11:05 You're completely correct in that
@crystallake6198
9 ай бұрын
you're asking some really good questions
@karaf.3863
4 жыл бұрын
I don’t necessarily see an image in my head when I see a picture of Mrs. Pots. I would just automatically recognize her and remember what movie she is in. Actually, I did not remember her name before you said it, but still recognized the character. BUT, I can create an image or even a little moving picture of her singing in Angela Lansbury’s voice and pouring coffee or tea into her son Chip. Pictures don’t always pop in my head, but it does happen a lot. I work in accounting and sometimes when I am trying to reconcile accounts I look up and to the right as I am thinking about processes and almost putting a puzzle together. Those sometimes are little flashes. If I am talking to someone in person and they say something that conjures up an image, I will see a quick flash, but know what the image is. If I were to have a complete visualization while someone is talking my eyesight kind of goes out of focus, my hearing lessens, and then I can concentrate enough to flesh out the image. So basically if I get too caught up in an image I will no longer be cognizant of what the other person is saying. When I was in school it was so hard for me to take notes because I would hear what the teacher was saying, keep repeating it in my head so I could write the full sentence down and then consequently not hear a dang thing after that sentence and probably miss something more important. So I tend to not take notes. I do still lose concentration during a speech I am listening to because I try to imagine what was said in a way it relates to something I am working on. Honestly, I just think everyone is on a spectrum with thinking, visualization, etc and no two people in a room of 10 will think the same. I can think in never-before-seen images if I try and sometimes if I don’t try. My husband can only see pictures in his head if it is something he has physically seen before. No “imagination” to make something new. Like, he cannot think of a pink banana, only a yellow banana, and he said the color only stays for a second and then kind of goes into a black and white image before disintegrating.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Wow! A lot of interesting stuff here. I agree that it seems there's a huge spectrum of visualization abilities, and it's fascinating finding out about how different it is for everyone. I really like your note-taking story because I am exactly the opposite. I always took a lot of notes, and it really helped me remember what the teacher was talking about. But when I'm writing notes, it's secondary to listening. I'm always 100% focused on the speaking. I've actually been in situations where I was note-taking and the speaker would tell me that I didn't need to take notes because they would hand out sheets afterwards. I always thought it was weird that they would say that, but now I wonder if they thought I wasn't really listening to what they were saying because I was writing at the same time 🤔.
@fionamcarthur
4 жыл бұрын
After reading a comment below asking how well you did in school I remembered thinking on a previous video, by another aphantasiac, that people without an inner voice seem able to concentrate and remember things better. I was always (and still am) so distracted sometimes when I'm actively TRYING to focus on something I need to memorize. My mind wanders so much that I only half remember everything. Like the important things are fuzzy because I had sort of a white noise machine in my head playing crap the whole time I was trying to force myself to study. People without an inner voice also seem more productive because I could easily sit and daydream for hours each day if I allowed myself to, whereas I gather you like to be doing something? I am so amazed by this. Thank you for explaining it all so well, you describe it so I actually feel I understand it now! :) x
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
So glad it was interesting! Yes, I'm actually really good at memorizing facts, and the more I talk with people, the more I think it is due to less distractions. Since I can't really daydream, when I was in class, I really was just paying attention the whole time. It was pretty boring 🤣.
@michellemcquillan2290
4 жыл бұрын
Your videos are inspirational, I've spent the last 2 years now understand why I am the way I am because of aphantasia. I'm so glad I dont see images,I'm so sensitive to emotion that I'm glad I dont..it would be overload. One less battle to ha e with the brain x
@Scorp1u5
4 жыл бұрын
I don't get a flood of images unless that's what I want. If I am designing something, then I think visually. If I am recalling a memory, it'll most likely be visual, but smells and sounds don't always always trigger a visual. I'm 90% inner monologue, hearing words in my head. I can see them if I want, but not always. How do I know where my car is? I remember where I parked, what it looked like when I got out, I'll know the route from the car to where I am going, getting the to car is the reverse of that. I guess I make a map, pretty much like a top-down map. But if there are elevators, I try to recall the imaginary. To answer your question, I don't always need a visual, though they can tag along. It seems the thought of Ms. Potts can come as a multimedia experience. Sometimes image, sometimes her voice, sometimes the ideal of her "the talking pot from the movie" . The hypothalamus controls attention regulation. It seems yours is stuck on 100% . My inner voice is generally like a real voice at a real voice speed, and it can take on many emotions, and sounds like what I would sound like speaking with the emotion that I am feeling. How do you deal with and work through anxiety? Which is a 99% inner monologue thing for me. FWIW, I don't think I'm that good at visualizing things. I definitely can't project.But if you tell me to imagine a red star, I can definitely imagine a red star, but it's like it exists for a fleeting moment, somewhere between my brain and my vision, kinda super imposed. www.reddit.com/r/Aphantasia/comments/aioyga/simple_aphantasia_test/ It's 6, even with the graininess.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
I can feel anxious or worried, but it's more just that feeling in the pit of your stomach. Like clenched, stressed, physical sensations. I've never had big, long-term anxiety issues, though. The closest for me was I guess my post-partum depression after my daughter was born. With that, all I had were physical symptoms as well. As for not being able to project your visualizations, I think that's pretty common, too. Seems like many people have difficulty with that as well. I believe my husband may actually be a hypervisualizer because many people have commented that he seems to be able to do a lot with his visualizing.
@jaimimelissa7495
4 жыл бұрын
When I see a picture of something such as Mrs. Potts, I don’t have a visual memory. I just know that that is Mrs. Potts. However, when I am thinking of what I’m gonna do in a day such as dropping my children off at school, running to the post office, stopping by the grocery store, as I think of each thing I’m going to do my mind flashes a picture of that place.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Oh, cool. So when you wake up, you kind of flash a list if images? As you go through the day, do you have to go through them again as you kind of check things off your list?
@jaimimelissa7495
4 жыл бұрын
Quiet Mind Inside I have an inner monologue that will run through a list of things I need to do or places I need To go, kinda like talking out loud but in my head. Like “hmmm... today I think I’ll run to the post office and then stop my my moms” and as I think of the places I have a visual of some aspect of them. For example I might visualize the post office, or I might visualize the item I need to mail out.
@Wavewave583
5 ай бұрын
You do not need to see a picture or hear a word to recognize something. The brain can recognize past sensory information through the senses in real time without having to conjure up a sensory experience of the memory in our minds. If we always had to recall the sensory memory in words or pictures it would be slower and have a safety and survival disadvantage. However sometimes when you look at something words and images can pop in.
@ThingsThatAreLovely
3 жыл бұрын
I love your videos and all the insight. I think everyone has different levels of this. I remember only recently getting a massage and all I wanted was some quiet, but my inner voice talks so much I have to put a lot of effort into thinking of nothing. I then notice i'm holding my breath to concentrate on stopping that inner voice, haha. The same goes with daydreaming- i often miss whole chunks of a TV show because i just zone out. In some ways not having these two things helps you live completely in the present moment without any distractions.
@nicholasdavidson5683
4 жыл бұрын
I've done some self study on this. I've noticed that with unconscious habitual tasks each subset of the routine is accompanied by a picture or movie representation of I was thinking about the first time I learned that task (default unconscious representation) or sometimes it's a visual memory of what was dominating my thoughts last time I performed it when i consciously looked at my visual process (conscious overwriting) Its difficult to watch the visual memory string without overwriting it. It's kinda like half way between conscious and unconscious. I guess because I'm more of a visual learner. I find it best to be taught information with accompanying visual material, or sometimes an object (kinesthetic) that demonstrates something like it's a simulation to help create the mental image equivalent.
@nicholasdavidson5683
4 жыл бұрын
I'm interested to see how your mind works :) it seems like to me that it's comparable to practising clear awareness without any day dreaming and you just know and do stuff clearly and speak deeper about topics. But for me that involves conscious effort.
@jeweliedee4299
Жыл бұрын
I have images and a monologue in my mind. But sometimes, like with Mrs. Potts, the name is just instantly retrieved. You already have the image in the book, so you don't need an image. But if someone just says, "Mrs. Potts," without showing a picture, then I do get a picture in my head that goes with her name.
@leonieazelie6343
4 жыл бұрын
I recognize Mrs. Pots without having to visualize her, but I could visualize her if you told me to visualize her without looking at the picture. As per your question about thinking of something I’ve never seen before, I imagine it based on the description. It’s always surprising to eventually see what the description actually looks like (for example, if someone’s describing someone’s home and then I eventually see it in person) because it’s usually different.
@Rae_is_Bae
3 жыл бұрын
when i think about reading my moms astrology books as a child i get visual flashes of the bookcase they were kept in. just angular visuals that jar the feelings i have associated with the experience and all of the emotions i have compounded upon it that memory along my years. Yet if I desire I can visualize the covers of the llewelyn books i devoured...
@localvillageidiot6828
3 жыл бұрын
This is extremely interesting. @4:21 I think I am beginning to understand how you must feel when describing you know something. I looked around the house to identify objects to see how I process them. I looked at a sign hanging above our doorway and immediately identified it as a "sign". I don't always do this with everything as I still have an internal monologue and can visualize thoughts (although the majority of the thoughts are mentally spoken). It sounds as if you have a direct line to your subconscious, and others like myself almost have an "unnecessary" added separation with internal monologues and visualization. Probably something you haven't experienced, but when I am taking an exam, sometimes certain questions can get me to recall specific moments of when I was studying. I would visualize these moments to help uncover an answer I don't immediately already know, and sometimes this can take a while as if I don't have access to these stored memories. I'm just speculating, but it seems to me that I was trying to prime an answer out of my subconscious that wasn't immediately available, while you seem to be able to perfectly seat yourself at the dividing line between consciousness and subconciousness.
@amayat6088
3 жыл бұрын
On the topic of preparing for a job interview... When I'm preparing, I visualize (in my head) an interviewer asking me questions (image and sound) and I sort of mentally prepare for what they may ask as though I'm there. If you were curious about the perspective of someone who's brain never seems to shut up...
@marionaplanas6331
4 жыл бұрын
Yeah hahahah we have like images all the time and it's soo hard to stop it, just like the inner voice. That's why meditation is so hard and meditation masters are such genius to me. Also, if I hear a word that I don't know my mind will make speculations of what the word means because maybe the sound will be similar to another word. For example, if there is a new word called "abanani" I will think it is something similar to a banana and I will involuntarily imagine a weird banana in my head. However, when they explain to me the meaning of the word and it has nothing to do with a "banana", then I will start imagining (so like picturing in my head) how the new definition of the word "abanani" looks like. And most probably I will still involuntarily imagine at first a banana whenever I hear the word "abanani" but then I would also unconsciously change it into the new image I created on my mind when I found out the meaning of the word. HAHAHHAH love minute 7:08
@jayy7754
4 жыл бұрын
The section on writing was so interesting! I have visual images and an internal monologue, (on a previous video I described myself as having a TV and two radios playing over each other,) and I'm a writer. Like you, I actually had the idea that I write because of the way I think, specifically that there's so much going on in my head, and it's so tangible and visual, of course I have to put some of it onto paper. (In fact, I'm currently 20k words into a .txt file because I had an idea floating around that didn't seem like it would be more than a few pages, and it turned out to be much bigger than that. I've been meaning to copy it over to a different program...) Perhaps both our extremes are drawn towards writing. Or maybe we're just trying to understand our own writing through the view of how we think, but the passion for writing is a separate thing in itself. One thing I do when I'm working my way through a story is I get "stuck" in it during the day. I'm at my day job and find myself in my head on some character's problem or another, or on a point in the story where I have a choice of a couple directions to take and haven't chosen between them yet. It's not quite as obvious at my desk job now, but when I worked retail you could see me slow down to a snail's pace as I folded towels. I'd still be directing the thoughts within the daydream, but unable to redirect out of it in a lasting way. I'd would go write as much as I could into a notebook during my next break to escape and focus on my job again.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Interesting. When I write, I'm never in the head of the character, always an outside observer. I think that's why I would start lots of stories and never really finish them. I couldn't move them ahead as you can. And this is so cringy, but I wrote a lot of fan fiction as a teen. I think it was easier because the world building was done for me. Before I had my kids, I was actually working as a text book writer 😄
@jayy7754
4 жыл бұрын
@@quietmindinside4808 As a teen, I was also writing a lot of fan fiction and never moving ahead in a story :) But I do very much enter into the heads of my characters and what they're going through. It's the dominant experience of writing, to me. Back then, I'd get stuck in particular scenes and not have the ability to sew them together in a whole story. I'm only just now (late 20s) starting to work my way around them. I still find myself getting stuck in a scene that's too far ahead but I can redirect better to closer ones and bridge the gap. So you continued to write, just non fiction! What subjects? I don't think you've talked about this in your videos yet, but I want to know more about your educational path and what you studied.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
@@jayy7754 That sounds so similar to me! I'd have a bunch of disjointed scenes, and could never think of a way to get them together, so I just left them to move to something new. I didn't study writing in school. I guess it never dawned on me to do so. I took a few communications classes and found them so incredibly boring. I actually lucked into my writing position. A company who needed ESL curriculum writers found my resume online, and contacted me. I didn't have any experience in it, so I'm not sure why they did, though. They ended up giving me a job, and I moved up to chief editor quite quickly. I was there about three years, and I saw an ad for ESL textbook writers, and I decided to apply. I got that job, and I got to work on the team that produced high school and trade school textbooks. I really liked the job, but it's not for everyone. I saw a lot of people come and go because it was hard for them to have their writing critiqued regularly. Generally, when I was given a new book to do. I was given a lot of parameters to follow. Topics of each chapter, word count, vocab to use, sentence structures to highlight, etc. I loved it because it was like a writing puzzle, but a lot of other writers would get frustrated because they couldn't be as free as they wanted to. Also, there were a lot of rewrites. Someone might decide the chapter you just finished didn't sound right or was too similar to something they did before, so they'd throw it out and make you start again. That never bothered me. I can happily rewrite something over and over. But a lot of people got frustrated with this and would complain. They usually didn't last long, either. It was really the perfect job for me, and I hope to do it again when my kids are a bit older. There's something about seeing your name in a book 😄.
@TheSoulAlignmentCoach
2 жыл бұрын
No I don’t always get a picture. Often I just know. But sometimes that knowing comes with a picture. But like in my previous comments, that picture isn’t as tangible as you may be thinking it is. It’s not a vivid clear image in some specific place in my mind. It’s more of an awareness that it’s a picture but it’s hard to explain how I see it. It’s almost like a clear on clear image but I know it’s there. But it’s not anywhere. I can “see” a red apple but I can’t actually see it. It’s just an awareness.
@EsmereldaGudgenpin
4 жыл бұрын
Listening to you on this video makes me think I might have aphantasia to some degree. I have an internal monologue but the imagery and difficulty there is familiar. I'm a mental health nurse and I listen to a lot of trauma but I don't have any pictures developed in my imagination from them, my colleagues have talked about it but I didn't really pay much attention but now I'm wondering if I'm missing the images in my imagination. It's really interesting as I enjoy reading books both fiction and non fiction. I'm going to read more on it 👌🏻
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
We actually had a really interesting discussion about this on the Aphantasia subreddit! Since I have no mental imagery, it was shocking to find out mental health professionals were creating pictures of their patients' traumatic experiences in their heads. (It honestly kind of freaks me out a bit, even knowing that it's involuntary) It seems like no or limited imagery could make one more suited for working in these kinds of fields, though. If you want to talk with more people about it, the Aphantasia Awareness Group on Facebook has lots of great people and information.
@justme-dee6888
4 жыл бұрын
I think there must be a great variety in inner voice or inner vision because I don't see pictures all the time. I think you're right I think our brains pull up memories similar except I do have an added visual flash memory. It sounds to me like much more of your thinking processes are subconscious and those who have an inner monologue or intervisualizations are able to separate or bring forward a portion of their subconsciousness to conscious level.
@clarafrusciante
3 жыл бұрын
You did an amazing job explaining your thought process! It's very similar to mine, as I have total aphantasia (can't simulate any mind senses) and the only voice I hear is when I am reading, writing or doing some complex mental processes.
@quietmindinside4808
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much! It's really such a hard thing to explain, and I worry a lot about whether or not I'm doing it well enough. It's really helpful to hear from others that it's making sense! 😄
@abcde228
4 жыл бұрын
i love seeing you explain how you think! thank you for these videos ❣️
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@HenryBloggit
4 жыл бұрын
Now that you mention it, all of my memories are accompanied by a picture, unless they happened in the dark or with my eyes closed, and then they are accompanied by a picture of blackness. When you point to Mrs Potts I see her dancing around on my television.
@cherisebest9448
4 жыл бұрын
First I want to say thanks for making these videos. I’ve enjoyed learning how other people think. I do have an inner voice and can see pictures in my mind. Like you I have been talking about this with my husband. It blows my mind that people are like you. I am also a writer and my inner voice and pictures in my mind are essential for me to write. I can see the scene and characters in my mind and then I just write down what I see and hear. Like playing a movie and then writing down what was seen and heard. The best I can figure out, the way you think is much like my mind works when I’m just talking. I don’t have to think about the words I’m going to say. I just know and they come out in the order they are supposed to. From what I understand that is how your thoughts work too, right? Also, it’s not like pictures are constantly playing or a voice is constantly speaking all day every day. It’s more like when things are quiet and still or when you need them, they are there. I hope this helps clarify some for you. By the way I think your the way your mind works is so fascinating and cool! Thanks again!
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much! Yes, the way you think during a conversation is just how I think all the time. I think it's so cool that you just have a movie in your head that you can turn into words. It sounds like a lot of fun!
@lorenioppolo3679
3 жыл бұрын
Holey Moley this is me too! I just discovered this today, and my mind is blown. I'm still trying to understand how my husband can see moving pictures in his head. I kind of knew my brain was a bit different, my mum always called me "unsentimental" for some reason. It's starting to make things a lot clearer to me. I don't think my inner monologue exists either. if I try to force it all I can achieve is a slow voice that cant really push out or finish a word. My husband reckons he can have an internal conversation with himself! It sounds weird now that I say it but I feel not much really going on in my head, just neutral.
@julienaruse1721
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you, I can relate so much ! I can daydream too but it is totally blank, as if I was absent for a moment. I have been diagnosed with ADHD (ADD mostly) so I daydream more than an average adult. My inner voice is weak too. I can't really medidate. (Meditation = nothing happens, my head is void and I get bored and stressed )
@fibimusic
4 жыл бұрын
This is so interesting. Thank you for making these videos! So basically to answer your question; The way it is for me and, from what I know a lot of people with both an internal monologue and the ability to see in their minds is that it’s a constant movie. Its not pictures necessarily. It’s a constant movie playing. Most of the time it’s random things that pop up. Like for an example, I know I’m thinking of my coworker because I’ll suddenly have a vision of something they did today. By “vision” I mean, I’ll play back in my mind a segment of my day as if I video taped it. I know I’m thinking of something when those “videos” (which are stored memories) are played in my head. The visions and “videos” (visual memories) never stop. And most of the time I’m not consciously thinking of making any image pop up. It’s just always seeing things, or playing back memories in my head sporadically from my childhood, randomly thinking and seeing my mom, etc. Like if I question wether I fed my dog this morning I’ll play back my entire morning as a video in my mind just to get to the part where I fed my dog. Idk if this makes sense. My point is, think of filming a video on your phone and playing it back to remember the moment. That’s what seeing in your mind is like but it’s a constant, random, shuffled video album of your life.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Wow, that's so interesting! I can't imagine having something running in my head all day like that. So, when the visual changes, that's when you know you're thinking of something else? Would it be possible to think of something else when you're getting a visual of something else? Like, if you're replying a video of talking to your coworker, could you remember about feeding your dog without switching the visual? Or would you have to switch to seeing your dog?
@fibimusic
4 жыл бұрын
Quiet Mind Inside no the visual changes as soon as I think about something else! The video is a guide to me knowing what I’m thinking. But while someone talks to me, I’m visualizing scenes from what their saying. And then I visualize my ideas to form my response. It’s like being a video director and your imagination creating scenes to form a response. Again all in video ! Anything you say to me becomes a video. You can tell me a story about a unicorn flying in the sky and I will literally see a unicorn flying in the sky in my head. 😂 I think my way of thinking is what people mean when they see in there head. There is a downside though. If you have negative thoughts or anxiety about let’s say, something bad happening to your relative that’s not picking up their phone. You’ll see scenarios that feel very real of your worries such as seeing them get into a car accident with like ambulances all over them lol. Everything is a video. Known as “intrusive thoughts”. Can you have intrusive thoughts when you can’t see or talk in your head? When I think of my future and maybe giving birth let’s say, I see a video of me in a hospital bed giving birth. I know it’s a funny example but that’s how it is! Or if Im planning on going to the store to buy something, I visualize the whole act of me going to the store, picking out my item and purchasing it before I actually physically go to the store. The videos are a test run to know if I want to do something or not. Based on the emotions that pop up while the videos are playing, and if it looked like a good idea. These are all examples but it’s amazing to me that you can think so clearly without this!
@fibimusic
4 жыл бұрын
Quiet Mind Inside the visuals have to switch in order for me to think of something else. But the visuals happen quickly and switch quickly! I’m really wondering how it is for you and I’m wondering if someone can be sociopathic and still think in the way that you do. Because the way you think seems very emotional based! Like a pure way of thinking haha.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Wow! That's pretty amazing. The giving birth one really resonates with me because it's something life changing that I've done. I couldn't see myself giving birth at all up until it was happening. I had no idea how my life would be with baby at home. I used to tell my husband that I couldn't picture myself as a mom, and now I'm realizing what he thought I meant and what I actually meant were two completely different things! I just meant that I literally couldn't imagine it. Like it was so different and crazy that I could even think about it. But he must have thought I saw myself doing different things with my life that didn't involve children 🤔. I honestly haven't ever been able to picture myself doing anything in the future. I guess I'm just not built that way.
@fibimusic
4 жыл бұрын
Quiet Mind Inside thank you for answering!! This really opened my mind. I’m just wondering, if you can’t see your future, how do you decide what you want to do? Is it just like an instinct ?
@margaretlinscott7099
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you. I have found your videos helpful. (And can relate and now recognise what I thought were my peculiarities alone)
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
So glad you find them helpful!
@cherro19
4 жыл бұрын
I can’t see images in my head, but I daydream A LOT. (I do have an inner voice) The way I daydream is like if reading a book. The way I read a book, I never see images, never ‘gotten lost in a book’. I just know what the words mean. Usually like seeing the movie first then reading the book. To help with visuals. So I daydream as if I’m the narrator. My inner voice just speaks for hours on end. But all other characters also have my inner voice, but I can distinguish who’s who. I actually sometimes catch myself acting out things (because I can’t see it) I do lots of hand motions and face expressions while daydreaming. This is still crazy to me haha.
@quietmindinside4808
4 жыл бұрын
Interesting! I can't imagine daydreaming for hours!
@merfwriter
3 жыл бұрын
If you point to Mrs. Potts in the book in my mind a lot of it is image recognition while at the same time I also get a flash image memory in my minds eye of Beauty and The Beast movie. I see an image of Mrs Potts that will pop into my minds eye for a split second.
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