Some Of Us Can't Picture Things

Part I: What Exactly Is Aphantasia?

Let’s start off with a little experiment in today’s blog. I want you to close your eyes and visualize a table with a ball on it. Then watch someone push the ball.

Can you answer these questions now?

1. What kind of table was it? Was it wood? Metal?

2. How big was the ball? What color was it?

3. Who pushed the ball? What happened to it?

Some of you were able to imagine the scenario with vivid details while others couldn’t imagine them quite as well. Or some like me weren’t able to see them at all.

I am an aphantasiac.

Along with 1-4% of the global population or an estimated 80-320 million people worldwide, I am unable to visualize a mental image voluntarily. In other words, when someone says, “Well, picture that” or “Imagine that” — I can’t see anything — except maybe a flat, black silhouette, a scribbled-like drawing or a printed word.

Aphantasia is not a disability; it is a neurological variation that affects how people think, dream, remember and learn. It’s not just black or white. It comes on a spectrum. Before I even knew about aphantasia, I used to joke with my students, “How do you know we’re all seeing the same green?” I guess even back then I had a sense that I was different.

Photo: Here is an example from the website www.aphantasia.com of what people with different degrees of aphantasia may see in their mind’s eye.

Although aphantasia was first documented as “non-visualizers” way back in the 1880’s, the term aphantasia was only coined in 2015. It’s derived from the Greek words phantasia meaning appearance or image and a meaning without. Since then, significant research, using neuroimaging, is being done to understand the condition.

As I said earlier, they have discovered aphantasia is on a spectrum. People who are able to create extremely vivid images in their heads are considered to have hyperphantasia. At the other end of the Imagination Spectrum is the complete inability to create images voluntarily in one’s head — aphantasia. Here is a diagram from the aphantasia website that illustrates several variations. Sometimes I fall under the hypophantasia category. Most of the time I just “know” things.

Do you fall anywhere on this Imagination Spectrum? Or are you among the 96% of people who can visualize things clearly?

At this point, there is no known cause for aphantasia. Researchers speculate it comes from genetics, brain structure and/or cognitive processing. And it seems to be more common in males. There is an interesting video by Tom, the founder of the Aphantasia Network, on the website I linked above.

You might think people who can’t see images aren’t very creative, but, the truth is, there are lots of creative aphantasiacs. For example, Craig Venter, a prominent scientist with aphantasia, was instrumental in decoding the human genome, and Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar, did animations for The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Their creativity just flows through different channels — words, concepts, spatial reasoning and hands-on experimentation.

Next time, I’m going to share how I think aphantasia actually made me a better teacher. So, please, come back next week.

As Maya Angelou once said, “In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”

It’ll Be OK.

I’d love for you to share how The Ball on the Table Experiment went for you. So leave a comment below. Can’t wait! ~ Jan xoxo

“Oops! Sorry I didn’t respond to your text. I answered in my head and thought it was in real life.” ~ Notsalmon.com