A survey to try to research "mind sight"/phantasia

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2ukenkerl
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10 Nov 2019, 5:28 pm

This stuff should all be pretty well known, etc.... but with metaphors and workarounds, various people, like me, made assumptions, and others did, and so all thought others were able to do the same things. So I came up with a number of questions. I will also include MY answers. If you could answer the same questions for YOU, that would be great!

1. About what is your age closest to(5,10,15,20,25, etc...)? 60
2. Sex you were born with? Male
3. When you close you eyes, what is the most you have physically seemed to see? Nothing.
4. Could you ever force anything to seem to be physically seen? no
5. Could you perceive them in color? N/A
6. Did you always have this ability? N/A
7. What helped you develop it? N/A
8. Do you have to close your eyes to do it? N/A
9. Can you perceive things ALMOST as if sighted? yes
10. Can you perceive them in color? yes
11. If the answer to 3,4 and 9 are no, what do you do to handle this? N/A
12. If you LOST the ability to physically seem to see, what do you think caused the loss? N/A
13. Are there times that you seem to be better able to control your physical sense of sight? N/A
14. If so, what would you attribute it to? N/A
15. Did you ever have an imaginary friend growing up? no
16. Have you ever dreamed, feeling that you used your physical sense of sight to see the area? yes
17. Are you blind? no

I really hope that someone, or maybe some group, can give some answers that lead to a clue. This sounds like a neat ability. My ability requires some effort if I do it consciously. Sometimes I get lost in a book, or rehearsing some discussion I plan to have(I actually, imagine myself with the people that might be there, and have the discussion with them), and it is easier. I can't really explain it. I know they are there, how they are dressed, etc.... and hear the words in my mind, but I know I am not there, and nothing is actually perceived through physical senses.

I always thought this was what imagining was!



2ukenkerl
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20 Nov 2019, 11:15 pm

WOW, I didn't get any responses.

Well, I wondered if my father had aphantasia. I decided to ask him some questions without giving anything away. He doesn't have aphantasia. I wish I thought to ask my mother about this before she died. I wonder if she did. My father did so well in so many respects, that I could understand him being able to do this, but if others have that ability, why are they so bad at so much?

It doesn't make sense. They have memory contests, for example, and some of the challenges are merely remembering 52 cards. MOST people wouldn't think of competing for THAT reason! People have to write down what they will carry, on a board at school, to do it. WHY? Science has determined that people can only remember about 5-7 new things at a time, like words. WHY? Phone numbers are "chunked" SPECIFICALLY because things longer than 4 numbers are harder to remember. WHY? I mean COME ON! A picture is worth a THOUSAND words!

Anyone remember RAINMAN? WHY were those feats so fascinating? I mean a lot of them should be SIMPLE for one without aphantasia.

Even when I was growing up, some talked about the residual image from a picture fading on the retina. They never talked about it STAYING there.



firemonkey
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20 Nov 2019, 11:24 pm

1. About what is your age closest to(5,10,15,20,25, etc...)60
2. Sex you were born with? Male
3. When you close you eyes, what is the most you have physically seemed to see? Nothing.
4. Could you ever force anything to seem to be physically seen? no
5. Could you perceive them in color? no
6. Did you always have this ability? no
7. What helped you develop it? N/A
8. Do you have to close your eyes to do it? N/A
9. Can you perceive things ALMOST as if sighted? With eyes shut-no
10. Can you perceive them in color? no
11. If the answer to 3,4 and 9 are no, what do you do to handle this? nothing
12. If you LOST the ability to physically seem to see, what do you think caused the loss? think I was born like it
13. Are there times that you seem to be better able to control your physical sense of sight? no
14. If so, what would you attribute it to? N/A
15. Did you ever have an imaginary friend growing up? no
16. Have you ever dreamed, feeling that you used your physical sense of sight to see the area? no
17. Are you blind? no

I can't imagine images,smells,sounds, taste and touch