these types of essays are so utterly strange to me because I have nearly the opposite type of "projector"--it's (almost) only images in there, and the idea that someone could write competently without this capacity is totally unfathomable to me. For instance, how do you know that the spots on an apple and a paper bag belong to the same group of colors? Do you imagine a phrase or sentence that contains this information? How do you recognize people you know? Etc, etc
I have never come across the idea of spatial interiors before and it sounds beautiful and inspiring. I also have no visual inner life, for me it is patterns, in numbers or in people.
Attempt at supportive comment that Terry Pratchett said about his own characters that he heard their voices more than he saw their faces and that was entirely apt for what made Terry Pratchett famous. Sometimes what we want from imagination is that we hear the characters' voice and the author's voice and that these things are not standardized either commercial or MFA prose more than that the author made us see anything.
Thank you. This paragraph could have been taken from my head: "Until recently, I thought ‘picturing things’ meant thinking about them. I thought no one actually saw pictures in their heads besides a few savants out there. I considered myself normal. During Covid, when everyone was on the internet too much, I learned about my aphantasia, which made me question what it is that I do when my mind wanders."
And it is so difficult to explain what I 'see' without internal pictures. The movie projector without a screen is good.
So true for me too. I was so worried on my first date with my now husband that I wouldn’t recognise him. At the same time, my mind is always running and exploring.
these types of essays are so utterly strange to me because I have nearly the opposite type of "projector"--it's (almost) only images in there, and the idea that someone could write competently without this capacity is totally unfathomable to me. For instance, how do you know that the spots on an apple and a paper bag belong to the same group of colors? Do you imagine a phrase or sentence that contains this information? How do you recognize people you know? Etc, etc
I have never come across the idea of spatial interiors before and it sounds beautiful and inspiring. I also have no visual inner life, for me it is patterns, in numbers or in people.
Attempt at supportive comment that Terry Pratchett said about his own characters that he heard their voices more than he saw their faces and that was entirely apt for what made Terry Pratchett famous. Sometimes what we want from imagination is that we hear the characters' voice and the author's voice and that these things are not standardized either commercial or MFA prose more than that the author made us see anything.
(Pictures are not on my mental hard drive. They have to be fetched from offsite for a specific purpose. But I can see them.)
Probably absolute pedantry but Proginoskes is a cherub*im* and has no interest in letting you forget it.
Thank you. This paragraph could have been taken from my head: "Until recently, I thought ‘picturing things’ meant thinking about them. I thought no one actually saw pictures in their heads besides a few savants out there. I considered myself normal. During Covid, when everyone was on the internet too much, I learned about my aphantasia, which made me question what it is that I do when my mind wanders."
And it is so difficult to explain what I 'see' without internal pictures. The movie projector without a screen is good.
So true for me too. I was so worried on my first date with my now husband that I wouldn’t recognise him. At the same time, my mind is always running and exploring.