Recently, social media went a little crazy when enlightened by the fact that not everyone has an internal monologue. Although I found this interesting, it wasn’t something that completely shocked me. When I brought this up to a friend, another interesting fact was pointed out to me that not only shocked me but changed my view of the world. I have believed that all my life I was a visual learner; I colour-code my notes, sometimes draw diagrams, highlight important phrases in my textbooks so they stand out to me, and even make colour-coded cue cards. However, I recently learned that I am the furthest thing from a visual learner because I simply can’t visualize ANYTHING.
If you were to close your eyes right now and imagine an apple, most people would be able to see the apple. Although some people are extremely visual and when asked to do this, they can not only see the apple but can rotate it, change its colour or even superimpose the image on reality. Others can see the apple, but it may not be very clear or vivid and only a select few, like me, see absolutely nothing. When I imagine an apple, I non-verbally list descriptive factors about an apple in my head. I think about how an apple has a roundish shape, is usually red and might have a little stem on it or even a stem with a leaf attached but I can’t see the apple.
Aphantasia is a rare condition that affects approximately 1 in 50 people (2-5%) and is described as being blind in the mind’s eye. I had absolutely no idea that the majority of people possessed the ability to voluntarily visualize images in their minds. I always thought that daydreaming was another word for ‘zoning out’ or not paying attention in class; I never understood why people would count sheep as they tried to fall asleep, or why those mindfulness tapes where they tell you to imagine yourself on a beach were so popular. I thought that ‘I can see it in my mind’s eye’ was just an expression used when you remembered something so well it was like you could see it right in front of you. I didn’t realize that I was unable to conjure up the images in my mind like everyone else.
After this was brought to my attention, I spiralled into quite a bit of research. I couldn’t help but think about all the ways that I may have interpreted situations or approached learning differently from everybody else. On top of that, I began to question whether I actually dream in images or if that’s different too and I just never noticed. Apparently, some people with Aphantasia dream in images, some in vivid colour, others in black and white; while others dream in thoughts or sensations. I haven’t had a dream that I can remember since learning that I’m most likely aphantasic so I can’t be positive, but I’m pretty sure that I do dream in images like most people.
Although Aphantasia is still being researched, from what I can gather, scientists don’t believe there is any disadvantage to having a blind imagination. The brain is highly adaptive, and it appears that not only do the majority of people experience Aphantasia differently, but the advantages and disadvantages differ on a case by case basis as well.
If you want to know more about Aphantasia, check out the links below: