So I just read something and that makes me wonder...
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So I just read something and that makes me wonder...
Do people with aphantasia (like myself) more often have an inner dialogue that is "speech-like", you know actually speaking words in a language
Or (like me), more often just "vibes" and their inner thoughts only becomes language once these need to be expressed
(I also added the options for people who have no aphantasia [have phantasia I guess] so we can compare results
)Boosting is appreciated
️There might not be a relationship /at all/ or, probably, any relationship is purely coincidence but who can blame a dude for being curious

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So I just read something and that makes me wonder...
Do people with aphantasia (like myself) more often have an inner dialogue that is "speech-like", you know actually speaking words in a language
Or (like me), more often just "vibes" and their inner thoughts only becomes language once these need to be expressed
(I also added the options for people who have no aphantasia [have phantasia I guess] so we can compare results
)Boosting is appreciated
️@hvangalen My thoughts are, for the most part, extremely verbal - as in not just words but full sentences most of the time. In different languages, too (any language I have a basic grasp of). And I get a bit stuck at times if I can't get the grammar right.
I do have visual thoughts, but they are much less prominent and often play a supporting role. On the other hand, I do seem to have thoughts based on other senses (taste, touch, smell) that stand out and are more independent of verbal thoughts. So most definitely no aphantasia there.
I have spoken to at least two people who do have aphantasia who said that their thoughts do not take the form of words and sentences either and are much more abstract. I have a hard time imagining how that works, probably as much so as they would find it hard to imagine the shape of my thoughts.
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@hvangalen My thoughts are, for the most part, extremely verbal - as in not just words but full sentences most of the time. In different languages, too (any language I have a basic grasp of). And I get a bit stuck at times if I can't get the grammar right.
I do have visual thoughts, but they are much less prominent and often play a supporting role. On the other hand, I do seem to have thoughts based on other senses (taste, touch, smell) that stand out and are more independent of verbal thoughts. So most definitely no aphantasia there.
I have spoken to at least two people who do have aphantasia who said that their thoughts do not take the form of words and sentences either and are much more abstract. I have a hard time imagining how that works, probably as much so as they would find it hard to imagine the shape of my thoughts.
@wynke Thank you, interesting.
That last parapraph describes exactly how it is for me (but interestingly, at this time, zero people have chosen the "aphantasia with inner dialogue being just vibes"-option, but it's early days)
For me, visual memories, like peoples faces are also stored in an abstract manner and they fade away really fast. Of course, I do recognize people, but I can't see them in a "minds eye", so I like to have pictures of people close to me.
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So I just read something and that makes me wonder...
Do people with aphantasia (like myself) more often have an inner dialogue that is "speech-like", you know actually speaking words in a language
Or (like me), more often just "vibes" and their inner thoughts only becomes language once these need to be expressed
(I also added the options for people who have no aphantasia [have phantasia I guess] so we can compare results
)Boosting is appreciated
️@hvangalen Hm, I almost said I don't see a correlation, but I do struggle to make up voices in my head when reading, less so while daydreaming (but the voices still aren't as rich). It's easier with voices I hear often. For a month or two, my inner voice was Jason Mantzoukas.
Made life a bit more interesting.
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@wynke Thank you, interesting.
That last parapraph describes exactly how it is for me (but interestingly, at this time, zero people have chosen the "aphantasia with inner dialogue being just vibes"-option, but it's early days)
For me, visual memories, like peoples faces are also stored in an abstract manner and they fade away really fast. Of course, I do recognize people, but I can't see them in a "minds eye", so I like to have pictures of people close to me.
@hvangalen A funny thing is that many of my *memories*, as opposed to real-time thoughts, are visual (and/or the equivalent in relation to other senses) to me, but they're kind of harder to access (the visual ones, at least) because they're less compatible with those same real-time thoughts.
And for my recognition of other people, their face plays only a relatively small part. It's just as much based on shape, posture, the way they move... And when someone unexpectedly changes their hairstyle it can really throw me off (shape more so than colour).
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So I just read something and that makes me wonder...
Do people with aphantasia (like myself) more often have an inner dialogue that is "speech-like", you know actually speaking words in a language
Or (like me), more often just "vibes" and their inner thoughts only becomes language once these need to be expressed
(I also added the options for people who have no aphantasia [have phantasia I guess] so we can compare results
)Boosting is appreciated
️@hvangalen @mayintoronto I have some aphantasia (mainly struggle with visualising things) and voted for "vibes", but it's a mixture, I think. By default, it's "vibes", but when I start to really focus, it morphs into words.
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@hvangalen @mayintoronto I have some aphantasia (mainly struggle with visualising things) and voted for "vibes", but it's a mixture, I think. By default, it's "vibes", but when I start to really focus, it morphs into words.
@mayintoronto @ruben For me thoughts become words when typing or writing. That's why I really like typing on a computer! I can easily rephrase or add clarity as I struggle to do that in my mind before actually writing

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So I just read something and that makes me wonder...
Do people with aphantasia (like myself) more often have an inner dialogue that is "speech-like", you know actually speaking words in a language
Or (like me), more often just "vibes" and their inner thoughts only becomes language once these need to be expressed
(I also added the options for people who have no aphantasia [have phantasia I guess] so we can compare results
)Boosting is appreciated
️@hvangalen wow I had to look up a lot of these words but I get it. I have the phantasia, quite vivid but hard to hold in place for more than a second or two which is a pain in the ass. any thoughts I have that arent images are either in text or in speech – and the proportion seems to be affected by whether I read more book and text, or listen to more audiobook and video.
what an interesting general topic all round
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So I just read something and that makes me wonder...
Do people with aphantasia (like myself) more often have an inner dialogue that is "speech-like", you know actually speaking words in a language
Or (like me), more often just "vibes" and their inner thoughts only becomes language once these need to be expressed
(I also added the options for people who have no aphantasia [have phantasia I guess] so we can compare results
)Boosting is appreciated
️@spiegelmama @hvangalen What's Aphantasia?
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So I just read something and that makes me wonder...
Do people with aphantasia (like myself) more often have an inner dialogue that is "speech-like", you know actually speaking words in a language
Or (like me), more often just "vibes" and their inner thoughts only becomes language once these need to be expressed
(I also added the options for people who have no aphantasia [have phantasia I guess] so we can compare results
)Boosting is appreciated
️@hvangalen Aphantasia with inner voice and vibes but split about 2:1
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@hvangalen wow I had to look up a lot of these words but I get it. I have the phantasia, quite vivid but hard to hold in place for more than a second or two which is a pain in the ass. any thoughts I have that arent images are either in text or in speech – and the proportion seems to be affected by whether I read more book and text, or listen to more audiobook and video.
what an interesting general topic all round
@falcennial Yeah it's an interesting "affliction"! I first read about it a decade ago, blissfully unaware it was a thing. The author of the article also thought that "too see it in ones mind" was a figure of speech and not a real thing
I struggle reading books because of it. It really takes a toll to try and make sense of descriptions of environments, I just skip them but later they seemed crucial to the plot and it flies all over my head. I can read manuals and historic annals just fine.
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@spiegelmama @hvangalen What's Aphantasia?
@spiegelmama @NicksWorld No mind's eye. No ability "see things in your head". We do have an imagination, just not visually/graphically.
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@spiegelmama @NicksWorld No mind's eye. No ability "see things in your head". We do have an imagination, just not visually/graphically.
@hvangalen @spiegelmama oh, okay. I have the ability to see in my mind's eye even though I'm blind.
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@hvangalen @spiegelmama oh, okay. I have the ability to see in my mind's eye even though I'm blind.
@spiegelmama @NicksWorld This is so fascinating to me. Curious to know if you have always been blind. (I don't need an answer if you don't feel comfortable sharing)
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@spiegelmama @NicksWorld This is so fascinating to me. Curious to know if you have always been blind. (I don't need an answer if you don't feel comfortable sharing)
@hvangalen @spiegelmama Yep, born blind.
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@hvangalen @spiegelmama Yep, born blind.
@NicksWorld This is so intriguing that a blind person can have a mind's eye, but my mind's eye is blind.
The mind and body work in mysterious ways, eh
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@NicksWorld This is so intriguing that a blind person can have a mind's eye, but my mind's eye is blind.
The mind and body work in mysterious ways, eh
@hvangalen @spiegelmama It can be very vivid sometimes. I can make entire worlds in my head when I feel like it.
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So I just read something and that makes me wonder...
Do people with aphantasia (like myself) more often have an inner dialogue that is "speech-like", you know actually speaking words in a language
Or (like me), more often just "vibes" and their inner thoughts only becomes language once these need to be expressed
(I also added the options for people who have no aphantasia [have phantasia I guess] so we can compare results
)Boosting is appreciated
️@hvangalen@mastodon.nl I htink the easiest way to describe is "vibes based"
if I focus on the thinking it will take the form of a dialogue, but as I read or just exist, it'll mostly just be shapeless thoughts yeah -
So I just read something and that makes me wonder...
Do people with aphantasia (like myself) more often have an inner dialogue that is "speech-like", you know actually speaking words in a language
Or (like me), more often just "vibes" and their inner thoughts only becomes language once these need to be expressed
(I also added the options for people who have no aphantasia [have phantasia I guess] so we can compare results
)Boosting is appreciated
️I need my inner voice to shut the fuck up he’s an asshole
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I need my inner voice to shut the fuck up he’s an asshole
@banneduser Yeah I can imagine that sucks