Hyperphantasia is strange. So, I was phoned by a very close friend of mine a little while ago, saying he had gone through a mental imagining test, and had no ability to form images independent of what he had actually seen. It was apparently so unclear, he had to remember the images of postcards with the watermarks left on because he struggled to think of anything else. And then said 'Imagine a sunset on a beach, how clear is it?' For me, the image was so clear it was like I was really on a Caribbean beach, and it wasn't just an image - I could hear the sound lapping on the sands, I could smell the sea, and even though I was in my house, I could feel the wind on my face. That's how real it was. So my friend has aphantasia, as it turns out, I have the opposite, hyperphantasia. Hyperphantasia is characterised by an unusually strong, or vivid imagination. This led me to do a bit of reading, and apparently people who have hyperphantasia are, like me, not always in full control of their own imaginations. It is not just images, or sounds and feels, but also tastes. I can walk around worlds that in my mind's eye feel so real I can touch the cold stone of a castle on an otherwise warm day, and there's a blacksmith working somewhere down below - even though as I write this I'm typing on my laptop and it is night in the middle of a modern village - and I can imagine the feel the warmth from the sun that doesn't exist. I can change the image: now it's a forest, for some reason it changes between spring and autumn randomly, and a deer runs by even though I was not thinking of a deer I'm just 'walking around' in a forest. Does anyone else know about this? Or do I sound crazy, like I probably did to my friend?
Never heard of hyperphantasia or aphasia before now. I searched for aphasia and seem to get a result in a dictionary that says something about it being "the loss of a previously held ability to speak or understand spoken or written language, due to disease or injury of the brain." The opposite of hyperphantasia seems to be aphantasia, did you mean that your friend have that? My mental images are a bit blurry, sometimes clear. I don't sense them with all senses, I only ever see them. But I can imagine quiet some extraordinary things when I do. I suppose in the dream world I can experience more senses. You do not sound crazy, I am a bit jealous of your ability to have such a clear experience in your imagination. It can be quiet the good thing, to be able to escape from the real world and into an imagined paradise. Almost like having a holiday ticket wherever you may be.
I can only do that when I dream. Just sometimes. I could never flip on sensations sitting here right now. That's awesome that you can pull that off. So I guess you're still on your own because that's pretty unique. If I'm very tired, I can make myself hear things. That's close to what you're saying. But that's skirting the dreamstate again. Sometimes it fires off on its own, and that's spooky. Imagine someone speaking in your ear while you're in bed, but no one else is around. I have to be tired though. I'm trying now and it doesn't work . . . I'm too awake. Lately I've gotten pretty good at this hypnopompic imagining. I basically wake up, sort of, and then stay in a dream while I'm barely awake. I like to wake up very early, about 4:00 am, definitely no alarm and dream while I'm awake. (I can wake up at will. I don't actually own an alarm clock.) I'm a weird sleeper though. It's probably not healthy.
To be honest, after reading about these two things, it's made me wonder how different peoples' imaginations work. Ironically, I can't imagine what it's like to have aphantasia, because picturing things and playing around with the mental image is just second nature. I've heard it's possible to practice imagining - Like using references to imagine different things about an apple. The mind is fascinating. That's a good way to look at it, but for some reason it's harder if bored, annoyingly.
There's two of them. Hypnopompic (from waking) and hypnogogic (into sleeping). It's the "Twilight Zone." That's literally what that title means, the border between waking and sleeping. Some people have horrible nightmares then. They're sort of awake but their brains are firing REM signals. Something like that. I should read more about it, haha. I think I spelled those correctly. . . Usually it's called hypnopompic hallucinating because the person thinks there're crazy things running around their bedroom. Shadow people holding them down, alien invaders, etc. Here, I looked this one up: parasomnia — a type of sleep disorder that involves undesirable experiences that occur while you're falling asleep, during sleep or when you're waking up. I like most of my dreams so I don't consider it bad. I do have nightmares though. Not during those borderline states in particular. I'm a dreamer, like Randolph Carter. haha I'd love to be able to do that while awake though. I bet you have a lot more control over it than a person would with a dream. (I also bet Xoic will show up in this thread. What that guy knows about such subjects is off the charts.)
I just went and took the questionnaire on aphantasia.com. My results said I'm probably hyperphantasic, and if 10-15 percent of people probably are then it doesn't seem too improbable. I'd be satisfied with saying that I have a vivid imagination, though. Yours sounds more vivid than mine. I have always had some problems with controlling my imagination like you mention, though, in particular reference to motion. Sometimes I can't control motions. I might imagine a ball rolling around and around in a circle, but maybe I can't stop it from rolling. It just won't stop, and this used to infuriate me when I was little. I have to stop imagining the ball entirely.
I tried that website. Im fairly certain my imagination can do that too... but it's not a clear picture as much as a collage of different visuals and sensations. Does that mean it's vague or is it photo-realistic? Because I can't hold unto an image of a door say, it always ends up shifting to me knocking my hand against it or the colour can shift or the door opens. That kinda thing. Weird to try to measure your imagination like that. Kinda feels funny.
Ooh the ball rolling thing i relate! Ya sometimes my mind goes into a spiral and it's really annoying.
That's really interesting, I had no idea about that. Do you usually have quite long dreams? Nightmares can be incredibly vivid, to the point that they can leave you disturbed long after waking up. I really need to read more about this too, to be honest. And about the effect of imagination - like, trying to imagining something no one has ever seen before, you're still going to use the world as a reference, if you know what I mean. It is weird concentrating on imagining, isn't it? I personally found that forcing myself to imagine, say, an apple or the image of a friend made it the image little less distinct and clear, but if it was unprompted it was stronger. I have no idea what that means, haha. I'm somewhat similar by the sounds of it. It's almost like the image is coming from somewhere a lot deeper than your conscious mind. I really do need to read more about this.
Off topic but I've heard of Aphasia, only because it was an early track by the hair band 'Europe'. May have been instrumental.
I took the quiz and it said that I probably have phantasia which I guess is like the average person's imagination. I have problems with quizzes like these that ask the person to rate themselves as it's subjective. I didn't give myself a 5 for anything but some people may think that recalling any similar image is a 5. This reminds me of the thing with internal monologue and something I read where a certain number of people can't do it. I'm of the opinion that anyone that has mastered language can do it, and those that say they can or can not aren't interpreting the question the same way.
I'm rather closer to your friend's end of the spectrum. It's not that I can't imagine images, but I don't unless prompted. Ask me to imagine a sunset on a beach and what I've got in my head is the concept of a sunset on the beach. If you then ask what colour the sky is then I'll fill in the detail, but until that question is asked there's no image there.
Sure I can. It's just not the default state, I have to actively prompt myself to build up an image if I want one. One of the reasons my writing tends toward the less-is-more style of description.
Phew! No I meant it was strange if you couldn't do it yourself but could if someone else prompted you. But still, it seems similar to how I visualise as well. I have to "prompt" the colours and shapes.
