Author: MKW Publishing

Aphantasia, Imagine That!

~ MKW Publishing ~ 3 Comments

A concept that most people (apparently 98%) may find quite far removed from their ordinary thought process. How many times have you heard a sentence start with or have said yourself ‘now imagine’… Well, some people can’t. Literally.

A difference in ability only ‘discovered’ or noticed in 1880, by academic all-rounder Sir Francis Galton, but not named or studied further in much detail until 2015 when it became Aphantasia. A literal translation from the Greek meaning, lack of fantasy. (A = lack of, Phantasia = Fantasy).

Which in itself it’s a bit of a misnomer, it is not a lack of fantasy or imagination, but a lack of visual imagery.

I personally had not heard of this until a number of years ago, when discovered my ex-husband had it. Before this, we had what I thought were general communication issues, despite spending most of our time together and talking frequently about a range of subjects. I couldn’t work out where the differences in opinions and thought processes were coming from as they seemed quite illogical to me, and he is not illogical, so I knew there was something else. At first, I thought it was me, I questioned myself and my brain about what and why, and I couldn’t see it. I am fascinated by thought processes and how they impact our lives and actions and make us who we are, so wouldn’t leave this one alone.

The main point of issue was the fact that I read and write fiction and him not thinking it had any relevant place in society. I wanted to know why, really know how someone could think this of something I felt was so fundamentally necessary. It took many hours over a number of days for me to finally ask the right questions (trying not to make him feel like a test subject), coming to the conclusion of what was going on. I put forward the concept he had not considered or realised. I explained that when I read a book, my brain makes pictures up to accompany the words. Or that I can replay movies I have seen mostly if seen enough times.

“You see pictures in your head! That sounds like witchcraft to me. I can’t think of anything more alien”

And we had it. We had found the difference that explained why he thought fiction was pointless. But that was the tip of iceberg really of what was meant to be a simple explanation of why he didn’t see things the way I did. With a little bit of internet research I found the name. Aphantasia. That didn’t make it easier it turned out. I felt guilt at finding this out, of having to explain to someone why they were different, how they were different and try and support how they were feeling, when I couldn’t possibly understand. But it started to make sense. Enjoyment from fictional books that required you to imagine and picture the scene, are completely lost on him.

We did see the world differently, not just from a personal perspective, but with separate realities too. That might sound a bit dramatic, but it was and still is. Mine possibly not even entirely reality when I gave it more thought. I had always been so sure of my way of thinking, it bought into question for me, the reliability of a brain that can conjure images, pretend at will and change visual memories. Could non-aphantasiac people be trusted at all? My husband asked me one question when I confirmed it is believed most people ‘see images’ in their head. “So when people are driving, sometimes they aren’t thinking about driving and are imagining other stuff? That’s terrifying”.

And it is really.

But changing the way I think about things has helped, I didn’t expect him to as he isn’t wrong in the way he thinks, but neither am I. But I can imagine what it’s like to not imagine – it’s as close as I can get but I see the irony. What I previously saw as difficult behaviour by my standard, wasn’t when I saw it from his standard. That’s where our realities will always be different, and always were, but with a new twist now.

He is better at directions and orientation, his memory is more accurate than mine, he learns quickly, he is focused. But on the downside, he gets frustrated easily, he can’t ‘picture’ me if I am not in the room. There are pros and cons to each thought process, as there usually is with any situation or way of being to a person trying to navigate their way through life.

But while we as a species continue to study memory, thought, ideas and who we are as people, it was inevitable to me we would find variations.  I just didn’t realise what societal implications those variations would have, on both sides. There is a much broader issue here compared to what I first believed.

(c) K Wicks

Homemade Popcorn

~ MKW Publishing ~ 1 Comment

I was surprised at how easy it is to make popcorn at home! I kind of always thought you needed a microwave, and a packet bought from the shops. Not so. And now I’m hooked.

Buy a bag of corn, there is a specific type for popcorn, but you get a lot for what you get out of it.

Butter in pan (homemade butter in this case and probably about 1-2 tablespoons worth), put the corn in as well and cover all the corns with the butter as it melts. Add a bit of salt, and cover on a low heat. Then within about 5 minutes it starts popping away. Turn off when you think they are mostly done, and wait a couple more minutes to remove the lid.

You can also then make your own caramel if you want sweet popcorn. Put some sugar in the pan and wait for it to caramelise (don’t stir it). Once it’s caramelised, turn off heat and tip in the popcorn and toss until coated. Then set aside to cool.

(c) K Wicks

Timing

~ MKW Publishing ~ 2 Comments

As a modern society, we seem rather obsessed with time, and I’m not quite sure if it’s because it has been conditioned into us, or is a natural thing for us to have past, present and future. Is it partly the concept of time that ruins us, by giving us a sense of mortality, and something to allocate time to that which is overwhelmingly important. Life. But perhaps we do not think that way about it at all, as it slips by quite unnoticed often and is treated as a never-ending commodity in some cases. But as I have said before, it’s something you can’t buy more of and you can’t get it back, so use it wisely.

And that was always the thread of the moral in tales and stories, about dreams and regret as well as hopes and a new perspective on something that didn’t essentially change, just your view on it did. Time marches on they say, it takes no prisoners and holds no favourites.

Quantum leap – A great TV series about jumping into and out of different times, people’s lives and experiences, trying to right some wrongs that occurred. I can’t recall if it was known why he had to do that, or who got to be the ‘viewer of history’ and pick the candidates to have life altering moments intercepted by an alternate being to possess you and steer them where they were ‘meant to go’.

The Butterfly Effect – A film about experience, regret and time. As the title suggests, it is shown that actions have consequences and outcomes you couldn’t have foreseen, but with hindsight and an ability to do something about it. An object is necessary in this to manifest it, a diary in his case (and video recordings for his late father). A dark and complex storyline that wasn’t light-hearted in any way, and if anything showed the extreme sadness and regret that can linger on in people.

Somewhere in time – another film, but this one with a dreamy, hazy overtone to it. But this one using the idea that you can mentally time travel by hypnotising yourself – which is rather interesting as I had wondered about it anyway through learning about Chronesthesia and Tulpaism. So, if you can ‘think’ yourself into a different time and manifest reality – is it really that outrageous an option?

Dark (TV Series) – a very strange series, and one of time and it looping back on itself in a repetitive cycle. Quite complex, and not cheery in any way, shape or form. But serious and interesting.

Dr Who – I guess the ultimate in this breakdown being a Time Lord, so one who is not bounds by the same rules and limit as others, recycled as necessary and not mortal. Changes the game a bit when it comes to possibilities if you are not doomed to such a short existence, or at least that is how they always paint it.

Back to the Future – a great set of films and iconic to many who were of that era. But going back and forth through time as needed to again fix the mistakes, or create them as was sometimes the case. I wondered about the method too in that film, the lightning strike, the exact speed and conditions needed for it to work.

They say luck befalls people who are ‘in the right place at the right time’, and equally the reverse can be said too, being ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’, knowing it was a series of moments that led to that one. So, which moment was the right one, or indeed the wrong one, in time? Hard to know I guess until after, when retrospective thought can be applied to make sense of the event if it is at first not clear. And if you factor into that Chronesthsia and all the other mental processes, it’s a wonder we know where we are at all, let alone when we are…

(c) K Wicks