Random epiphany

[maize]

I just realized that when people talk about not being able to un-see something they literally mean that the image is stuck in their mind forever. 

My mind is a pretty non-visual place, I don't have any kind of clear images in there--traumatic scenes or faces of family members or anything else.

I often wish there was some way to experience the reality inside another person's head. We tend to assume that other humans experience the world more or less the way we do, but I think there are actually some pretty dramatic differences from person to person.

[rebcoola]

I use this phrase but can't see pictures. People see it as a deficit but I kind of like not being stuck with disturbing images.  It would interesting to be able to trade and experience how other brains work.

[freesia]

I always find this so fascinating. I  am completely visual here. I see everything anyone says as a movie reel. I don’t watch gruesome things because, yes, the image is stuck there and comes back when someone mentions a similar situation.  I’ve always wanted to spend a day in someone else’s brain, too. I can’t imagine ( picture lol) what your brains feel like bc there’s always pictures or colors when I think. 

[maize]

1 minute ago, freesia said:

I always find this so fascinating. I  am completely visual here. I see everything anyone says as a movie reel. I don’t watch gruesome things because, yes, the image is stuck there and comes back when someone mentions a similar situation.  I’ve always wanted to spend a day in someone else’s brain, too. I can’t imagine ( picture lol) what your brains feel like bc there’s always pictures or colors when I think. 

My brain is mostly full of words--spoken words. I carry on imaginary conversations inside my head all the time.

[freesia]

18 minutes ago, maize said:

My brain is mostly full of words--spoken words. I carry on imaginary conversations inside my head all the time.

Isn’t that distracting and noisy or overstimulating? Lol I guess you are used to it 

[Carol in Cal.]

I remember images vividly. That’s why I can’t watch horror movies.  

[Indigo Blue]

Just now, Carol in Cal. said:

I remember images vividly. That’s why I can’t watch horror movies.  

And so many vivid dreams. 

[Indigo Blue]

This is why I really hate to see a dog or cat ran over by a car. I will completely fall apart, and then can’t get the image out of my head. 

[Pawz4me]

37 minutes ago, maize said:

My brain is mostly full of words--spoken words. I carry on imaginary conversations inside my head all the time.

Same

 

18 minutes ago, freesia said:

Isn’t that distracting and noisy or overstimulating? Lol I guess you are used to it 

Yes, often it is. There's a fairly common saying, or at least I think it's fairly common, about having a large number of tabs open, your browser is spinning and you have no idea where the music is coming from. That's how my head is sometimes. 😉 As I've aged I've learned a few things that help me zone out and quiet the voices when I need to. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

My mental movie has both sound and visuals.  Reading a book can be interesting. . .  I was reading a book where the character was also depicted in movies and everything he said was "heard" in my head in the actor's voice. 

[HomeAgain]

I am an image person.  When I can't unsee something, it's there forever and ever.  My mind is full of visualizations of the world, right down to a D shaped calendar and music movement.

Coincidentally, it's also why I struggle with faces. The range of emotion and aging that takes place makes it difficult for my brain to continually replace one image with another. I identify most people by their voices, walk, or body language, because that changes less than facial characteristics.

[cintinative]

Did you know there are people who literally cannot visualize something in their head?  I just learned about this. It's called aphantasia.  https://www.verywellmind.com/aphantasia-overview-4178710

My friend just figured out she has this. So if you say: picture an apple--most of us would be able to and could describe it to varying degrees. She can't picture it at all. 

Edited June 17, 2023 by cintinative

[rebcoola]

23 minutes ago, cintinative said:

Did you know there are people who literally cannot visualize something in their head?  I just learned about this. It's called aphantasia.  https://www.verywellmind.com/aphantasia-overview-4178710

My friend just figured out she has this. So if you say: picture an apple--most of us would be able to and could describe it to varying degrees. She can't picture it at all. 

Yes this is me I really thought picture thos was an expression until at least my teen years. 

[Jaybee]

One time I asked my son who has dyslexia if he thinks in words or pictures. He immediately answered, "Pictures," which blew my mind a little, because I think in words. I think it kind of blew his mind too, because he had a hard time understanding that I think in words. I can imagine in pictures, but I don't really "think" in them. I guess my mind works more like an illustrated picture book, lol. 

ETA: typo

Edited June 17, 2023 by Jaybee

[MercyA]

My dad can't picture more than four (or five?) letters of a word in his brain at a time. Like, close your mind and picture, "saxophone." He literally cannot do it. 

He loves to read, though. 

Brains are interesting.

[wintermom]

I'm both visual and auditory. I can hear music in my head, with the voice of the singer. It's hard to "un-hear" a song, as it's really hard to "un-see" an image. I avoid certain kinds of movies and TV shows, as I'll keep seeing the image. 

Sadly, I also wish that I could un-read certain books, and they can be really disturbing, too. I have to be really careful about reading books, as it can be so upsetting. 

I definitely had to structure my career to avoid jobs where I'd be dealing with too much trauma. I can handle sport injuries, but I'd never make it as a nurse, or other HCP career. 

[maize]

34 minutes ago, cintinative said:

Did you know there are people who literally cannot visualize something in their head?  I just learned about this. It's called aphantasia.  https://www.verywellmind.com/aphantasia-overview-4178710

My friend just figured out she has this. So if you say: picture an apple--most of us would be able to and could describe it to varying degrees. She can't picture it at all. 

I can't picture an apple.

I have a mental concept of an apple, but it isn't exactly visual.

[maize]

2 minutes ago, MercyA said:

My dad can't picture more than four (or five?) letters of a word in his brain at a time. Like, close your mind and picture, "saxophone." He literally cannot do it. 

He loves to read, though. 

Brains are interesting.

I can't picture any letters!

[MercyA]

.

Edited June 18, 2023 by MercyA

[Pawz4me]

I can visualize things but unless I concentrate really, really hard I can only hold the visual for a few seconds. It fades out quickly.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Pawz4me

[Scarlett]

I can repeat a conversation word for word.  It is like watching a movie in my mind of what happened.  
 

I am sometimes a lucid dreamer.  My vision in my dream is like turning a video camera from one scene as I tell myself, ‘no I want to dream this instead’.

I ‘see’ numbers in my head too. 

[Indigo Blue]

13 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

I see’ numbers in my head too. 

My son sees every number as a color. For example, 12 is always green, 3 is always red, etc. I wrote them all down once and asked him again several months later. Not one single one of them changed from the original color. I find that so fascinating. 

[Kidlit]

It's hard for me to even think about this!  Lol. I THINK I think in words.  I e always been a word person, but how I THINK hasn't been something I've given much thought.

 

[Farrar]

I'm not super visual but really strong upsetting images are like that for me.

A few weeks ago I saw someone go sideways behind me and then completely flip their car upside down in a bypass lane on the Delaware Memorial Bridge. I am still seeing it. It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. And also horrible. The driver apparently didn't die?!? Because the report that I saw afterward didn't refer to it as a fatal crash. But at the time I thought surely the driver was dead. The way it happened, I thought (or hoped) that maybe they were already dead and that's why it happened in the first place. I don't think I'll ever forget it.

But for something to impress me in this way, it has to be that level of memorable. I mean, sometimes I remember random images too, but not as much.

[KidsHappen]

I am a visual learner and remember things visually. I thought that was the way everyone was until I talked to my second eldest dd about two years ago and she told me that never has visual pictures in her mind. It blew my mind. She can not even picture her hubby or children if they are out of sight. I can't even imagine. But she has very good memory and can hold lots of info in her head at the same time. 

[Amethyst]

4 hours ago, maize said:

I just realized that when people talk about not being able to un-see something they literally mean that the image is stuck in their mind forever. 

My mind is a pretty non-visual place, I don't have any kind of clear images in there--traumatic scenes or faces of family members or anything else.

I often wish there was some way to experience the reality inside another person's head. We tend to assume that other humans experience the world more or less the way we do, but I think there are actually some pretty dramatic differences from person to person.

I think this is one of the plot lines in The Candy House. 

[EKS]

I had the opposite experience when I was a TA for a multivariable calculus class. I was always explaining things using graphs because I thought it drastically simplified things, but I had a student who absolutely hated graphs and because of this thought about the math completely differently than I did.  It was fascinating to hear how she did the problems.

[Melissa Louise]

I always thought 'cant unsee' was more of a metaphor, right up till this thread! 

 

 

 

[Not_a_Number]

38 minutes ago, EKS said:

I had the opposite experience when I was a TA for a multivariable calculus class. I was always explaining things using graphs because I thought it drastically simplified things, but I had a student who absolutely hated graphs and because of this thought about the math completely differently than I did.  It was fascinating to hear how she did the problems.

In my experience, most kids don’t understand graphs because they’re badly taught.

[Not_a_Number]

I both think in images and words. I have internal conversations and also movies running at the same time.

I also think in abstract connections and social dynamics.

[EKS]

4 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

In my experience, most kids don’t understand graphs because they’re badly taught.

These were math majors, which I realize doesn't necessarily mean anything.

[Storygirl]

I can't see things in my head, either.

Like Maize, I have a concept of things like an apple in my brain. I can get a fleeting, fuzzy kind of memory when I think of an apple -- or specific people -- so I know HOW they look. I just can't conjure up a picture of it -- or a person -- and hold it in my thoughts.

I am an excellent speller on paper but cannot spell as well aloud, because I have no picture of the letters or words in my head, even after I say them out loud.

I am terrible with directions and get lost easily. I discovered that I may not recognize a stretch of highway, even if I drive it regularly, if I get on it from a different exit. I'm sure this is related to having a non visual brain.

[Faith-manor]

5 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I remember images vividly. That’s why I can’t watch horror movies.  

Me too. Very vivid images in my noggin that can be hard to expunge.

[Corraleno]

I primarily think in words and have a monologue running in my head pretty much nonstop, so for years I assumed that was just how everyone thinks. It wasn't until I started reading about visual/spatial learners, as a way to better understand my dyslexic/ADHD kid & then-husband, that I discovered they primarily think in moving 3D images and not words at all. That was a huge lightbulb moment for me and made me realize how incredibly difficult the standard education system must be for people who are wired that way.

I can also picture things very vividly though, and can "watch" movies in my mind, although that's not primarily how I think. But there have been many times when I was so engrossed in a book and so immersed in the "movie" of the story that was playing in my head that when I was interrupted and looked around, I was totally disoriented for a few seconds while realizing that I wasn't actually in the setting of the story. (In fact I once missed a train stop and accidentally ended up in Belgium because I was so engrossed in a book I never even heard the conductor calling out the stops.) Sometimes that happens just from daydreaming, too.

One thing my brain cannot do, though, is imagine things in 3D. I have no sense of direction and I cannot rotate objects in my mind like DS can. I remember DS's art teacher being blown away by a drawing he did when he was 7 or 8 — he had drawn fish moving towards and away from the viewer and an octopus with arms that naturally passed over each other, all with proper foreshortening, and other fish coming into or going out of frame. The teacher said it's really rare for kids to draw like that at such a young age, but DS said he just drew it the way he saw it in his head. (One reason dyslexics often have so much trouble distinguishing b, d, p, q is that those are all the same shape, just rotated in space, so to them it's like saying that a chair turned upside down or sideways is no longer a chair, it's a totally different thing.)

[ScoutTN]

6 hours ago, maize said:

My brain is mostly full of words--spoken words. I carry on imaginary conversations inside my head all the time.

Me too!

[EKS]

2 hours ago, Melissa Louise said:

I always thought 'cant unsee' was more of a metaphor, right up till this thread! 

I think many times it is a way of saying, essentially, "can't unknow."  But, yes, there are images that stick with you.  Or me, as the case may be!

[Carol in Cal.]

4 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

My son sees every number as a color. For example, 12 is always green, 3 is always red, etc. I wrote them all down once and asked him again several months later. Not one single one of them changed from the original color. I find that so fascinating. 

I have this for digits of numbers, not for multi digit numbers.

[Carol in Cal.]

I remember sounds of things, too, and I always have music playing in my head—perpetual ear worms, a variety of them.

When I want to remember a long number, like a phone number with area code, I consciously put the area code in my visual memory, picturing it, and the rest in my audio memory.  Neither part can hold the whole thing without a recheck, but both parts together can.

[EKS]

5 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

My son sees every number as a color.

Yes, me too.  In my head, not on the paper though.  It's more like an association for me.  I helps me remember numbers.  I also associate months and days of the week with colors.  

[Kidlit]

Along the same lines--how do y'all envision time/the calendar/months?  I see it as linear, much like a calendar, so that Monday is to the left of Tuesday and so on.  This is kind of an "of course" thing, but it's a stronger association than just "it is what it is" because OF the calendar. 

[maize]

3 minutes ago, Kidlit said:

Along the same lines--how do y'all envision time/the calendar/months?  I see it as linear, much like a calendar, so that Monday is to the left of Tuesday and so on.  This is kind of an "of course" thing, but it's a stronger association than just "it is what it is" because OF the calendar. 

Since I'm not envisioning anything at all there's definitely no left-to-rightness.

[fraidycat]

8 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

This is why I really hate to see a dog or cat ran over by a car. I will completely fall apart, and then can’t get the image out of my head. 

This just triggered a memory for me and now the whole "movie sequence" is playing in my head - sights and sounds. RIP poor kitty ca. 2001. 🥲

[freesia]

26 minutes ago, Kidlit said:

Along the same lines--how do y'all envision time/the calendar/months?  I see it as linear, much like a calendar, so that Monday is to the left of Tuesday and so on.  This is kind of an "of course" thing, but it's a stronger association than just "it is what it is" because OF the calendar. 

Me, too. Months are on calendar pages which are mostly one after another as if you are scrolling ( except most are a bit offset from the month above-except October through December which are side by side. ) da it d if the week are same as you. 

[Not_a_Number]

My calendar is annual and goes in a kind of rounded square thing. Summer is on bottom.

[Momto6inIN]

I have the running commentary of words in my brain too. Sometimes I even type them out on a ticker-tape type thing going across my mind. I can and do visualize things, so I'm not completely non-visual, but words are primary for sure.

I remember being surprised by my husband explaining to me that putting his thoughts into words is an actual thing he has to concentrate to do. I always thought that was just an expression. How does one think without words???? What the heck else was running around inside his head???? Turns out it's images and he has to think quite a bit before he puts them into words.

[freesia]

3 minutes ago, Momto6inIN said:

I have the running commentary of words in my brain too. Sometimes I even type them out on a ticker-tape type thing going across my mind. I can and do visualize things, so I'm not completely non-visual, but words are primary for sure.

I remember being surprised by my husband explaining to me that putting his thoughts into words is an actual thing he has to concentrate to do. I always thought that was just an expression. How does one think without words???? What the heck else was running around inside his head???? Turns out it's images and he has to think quite a bit before he puts them into words.

When I am tired or stressed this happens to me—having to think to put the images into words. Sometimes it happens at other times but only when someone asks me to explain why I think something (usually a deep thought.). It’s like I have a level of thinking that isn’t word ready. It’s hard to connect all the visuals into a stream of words that makes sense to others sometimes. 

[Katy]

I think in movies- vision and words much like life. I also frequently have lucid dreams, but I rarely care to change them because usually my brain has come up with some plot so fascinating it's like watching a movie and I want to find out what happens next, not decide to do something else like fly. Sometimes if I'm very tired or stressed I have nonsensical dreams that make no sense when I wake up, but in the moment I'm usually too tired to decide to dream something else.

[stephanier.1765]

17 hours ago, wintermom said:

I'm both visual and auditory. I can hear music in my head, with the voice of the singer. It's hard to "un-hear" a song, as it's really hard to "un-see" an image. I avoid certain kinds of movies and TV shows, as I'll keep seeing the image. 

Sadly, I also wish that I could un-read certain books, and they can be really disturbing, too. I have to be really careful about reading books, as it can be so upsetting. 

I definitely had to structure my career to avoid jobs where I'd be dealing with too much trauma. I can handle sport injuries, but I'd never make it as a nurse, or other HCP career. 

For me, reading books is like watching a movie so I definitely don't read horror, not only because it can be upsetting, but because those images transfer into my dreams. I don't watch horror for the same reason. Not until this thread, did I truly understand why I don't read or watch sex scenes. I either skim through pages to find the end or fast forward a movie. I don't want those images stuck in my heard either.

[NorthernBeth]

This issues caused huge communication issues for my husband and me at the beginning of our marriage.  I am a huge visual thinker and he is hugely words only/ non-visual.  We would have the most frustrating conversations as I was often using "visual" oriented words that he simply could not relate to.   So for example:   What do you see us doing this summer?   What do you picture as the perfect house?  What is your vision of a job you would love?   Since he couldn't picture ANYTHING,  he often just answered  "I don't know."   It drove me crazy because I just thought he was shutting me out or not trying.  It drove him crazy, because he honestly couldn't even figure out what I was trying to get at.   We were years into our marriage before we realized that that kind of terminology will generate zero useful information in our conversations.   I don't think I have found the perfect terminology yet, but I try hard to steer clear of any terminology that implies he will need to "envision" something.

Whereas if I think of the future or the perfect house, or the ideal job,  I get an instant stream of images and movie shorts that need to be sorted through to find the one that "feels" right.  I have a hard time putting all those images into simple , understandable words. I still picture emotions as colours and have the hardest time trying to name what emotion I am even feeling.  I had no idea everybody else's head wasn't a constant stream of movies, images and ongoing dialogue.   It is so interesting to see how different we really are, right down to how we think.  

[historically accurate]

On 6/17/2023 at 11:18 AM, maize said:

I just realized that when people talk about not being able to un-see something they literally mean that the image is stuck in their mind forever. 

My mind is a pretty non-visual place, I don't have any kind of clear images in there--traumatic scenes or faces of family members or anything else.

I often wish there was some way to experience the reality inside another person's head. We tend to assume that other humans experience the world more or less the way we do, but I think there are actually some pretty dramatic differences from person to person.

I'm not visual at all either. I have an audible (to me anyway) commentary though if I focus really hard I can get the ticker tape of the commentary for a second or two. I do use the phrase "can't un-see" since that is common usage even though I can see anything. 

The aphantasia article linked above - yeah, I know what an apple is and I can describe it, but I don't have a visual in my head at the time of the describing. I can't pull up my kids' or husband's face or anything like that.

I don't have any kind of picture for time; I can't figure out what you guys are seeing when you describe time.