psychology

Aphantasia

~ MKW Publishing ~ 2 Comments

A concept that most 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.

Now imagine (!!), not being able to conjure up any image when you think. No mental picture to refer back to or ‘see’ in your mind. A total lack of what they call ‘the minds eye’. This was only discovered relatively recently in 1880 an not even investigated until 2015, when the name Aphantasia was given. For a literal translation from the Greek meaning, lack of fantasy. (A = lack of, Phantasia = Fantasy).

No visual memory system, no dreams, no pictures of any kind to accompany thought and no imagination for what isn’t there. That is where i was completely stunned, to think there are people going through life without these things at their disposal to guide, assist or help. I rely heavily on my visual memory for many things, useful and otherwise. From a early age I retain the information for films, as soon as I hear the title the picture of the cover comes to mind, I see the names, the style and then follows the other information as if I were looking at it again but fuzzier – year it came out, director, story line etc. Even for films I never actually watched, just looked at. Now if I could transfer this kind of memory to something practical it would be great, but at this time it seems to have specialized itself for one main task.

But i am so intrigued by the other side, to not have pictures in mind, to not see dreams visually or be distracted by images long since past or that aren’t even real. Why do our brains concoct fantasy so readily and so easily, why is it that 98% of the population (rough estimate at this time as it is not known how many people really have this variance) have an ability to escape from reality, a hardwired ability to imagine, pretend, fantasize, lie to themselves and everything that seems to go with it. I can see how that might be an advantage. Self denial is sometimes self preservation for us imaginers.

Only 2% of people are thought to have this different thought process, to see the world as it is to them, no frills, no fantasy and no pretend. Don’t get me wrong, visual stimulation works just as well as it does the rest of us with people, TV and modern distractions, but not after the event from what i have learned. Once it is gone, it is gone. Therefore leading to more enjoyment of the moment. No thought of what might come or of what has been, purely being in the moment. I don’t think i know how this feels, there are always thoughts in my mind and thoughts come with pictures, and they distract me into more thought. And there the moment is captured and replayed later, not enjoyed fully at the time. I knew most people thought differently and had all sorts of variations in imagination and creativity, but this is more fundamental than that. I got so much enjoyment from fiction and reading all through my life because i can imagine, because my brain can run away with itself and get lost somewhere else. And recently I had to try and justify and explain why this is, and for the life of me I just couldn’t understand why I was not being understood, if someone doesn’t imagine or see pictures when reading, then no amount of words is going to explain what it is like. There is a massive gulf between these thought processes and I am still trying to work out how this affects everyday life, learning and thinking. It may take some time…

IMG_1617

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(c) K Wicks

 

That Lion Moment…

~ MKW Publishing ~ Leave a comment

It’s funny really, not entirely in a humorous way either. There was an incident that at the time didn’t really seem like an incident to me, it seemed only as if it were a minor thing that didn’t mean anything, brushed aside as a mild lapse in judgement or of my mind being somewhere else. But to the person i was with at the time, it was an incident. It’s taken me a couple of years to recognise what it was and to apply that new knowledge.

We were at a safari park in the UK driving through the enclosures seeing the wolves and big cats. I love photography and took the opportunity to take pictures when possible, but following cars and windows up most of the time made this quite difficult. So when the car in front slowed to a stop, we too stopped and with the window down, I started to try and focus on the tigers ahead of us, not behind fences, but actually in front of us. The car in front had a group of lads making noises at the tiger and i suppose you would say slightly taunting it. I thought this was a marvelous opportunity to get better pictures as the tiger stood up and slowly pottered towards the cars. My companion instructed me to close the window. I did not, instead I looked with dismay and confusion. ‘But the picture’ I said. There was a discussion after this. And many times I have referred to it as ‘The Lion Moment’ (despite the animal in question being a tiger), when noticing how I missed the danger and needed to be more aware.

It bothered me for a while, but I did not know why. I am aware, I like to think I keep safe and can spot developing hazards or dangers, I am interested in psychology and have spent much time looking into the fight or flight mechanism that exists. And it took a conversation of another incident for me to realise my own flaws in this area.

I was on a train many years ago now, it had just left Kemble station in Gloucestershire, when within a few minutes we came to a stop. We weren’t sure why and there was no announcement so we sat and waited, a few people looking round to see if anything could be seen. Shortly we were made aware of the issue, as we could see very dark smoke starting to go past our carriage outside. Looks of concern were exchanged and we closed the windows to stop the smoke coming in. Still we weren’t being told anything, but still we sat, and waited.

Within another five minutes a number of fire engines arrived outside. We couldn’t see the full commotion but people were starting to talk to each other now, asking what could be going on, wondering if we were safe, commenting on the impending issue and possible danger. Mostly, the wondering was when were we going to be told what to do, when would someone come and tell us we were in danger. And there was the problem, I recognised it there, but not fully what it was. For some reason, no-one in the whole carriage had the forethought or presence of mind to take the lead and go and ask someone, or use the emergency exit just to be safe. If it were a worse fire, I hate to think we all would have just burned to death just because we didn’t react.

But for me, it’s made me look and how I think and realise that perhaps I do not perceive danger or the need to react quickly in the same way other people do. Also strange that I would assume all people to think alike or perceive anything the same way, but for whatever reason, the mechanism in the brain that signals the danger or the reaction needed to survive it, just simply doesn’t deploy. There is a shutdown instead. I believe this is considered the third ‘F’ option after fight or flight, and it’s freeze. It’s amazing what our brain is up to either consciously or subconsciously but I like to think trying to understanding the why’s and how’s makes it all just a little bit more interesting…

(C) MKW Publishing 2017