Mark C. Amos

Mostly semantic - I remember plotlines/threads, facts, environmental settings. I'm terrible with names of characters (and the actors who play them...)

Ooooh - I like this one!

And I "hear" words when I read or type them. In fact as I type this sentence, I hear the letters in my mind as I type them.

Our first corporate e-mail system was CompuServe back in 1980 - we moved it in-house a few years later. I remember getting a bill for a forum that I played with for hours, not knowing I was being charged by the minute...

I'm aphantasic (with SDAM) and I spent my career in IT (mostly in operations and security - I retired from a DevOps position.)

Just black when I try to visualize anything.

Though I do have vivid, visual dreams. And I “hear” my thoughts (in fact as I type this, I “hear” the letters as I input them.)

I think my aphantasia and SDAM are related - my memories don’t include many images - mostly facts.

My wife is like that, while I am aphantasic with SDAM - makes sharing memories oddly interesting.

Yeah - I keep looking.

Constantly hoping, one day, to find one that isn't rubbish...

(Nice to see you again!)

Where's the fookin' hug emoji?!

Only a few years ago this would have been a headline in a poorly written Sci Fi novel.

"The Anthropic CEO says AI company 'cannot in good conscience accede' to Pentagon's demands to allow wider use of its tech and AI for military purposes...."

It's this kind of propaganda that SkyNet lives for.

I just recently reconnected with my cousin with whom I've been out of touch for 50+ years. We used to vacation at her parents house in the summers. I have a few memories of that time, but I honestly think they're memories of photographs...

I'm the same way (SDAM) - I can't "see" anyone. It seems that most of my memories of childhood are memories of pictures of me as a child... I know the facts - just don't relive them as memories.

I’m the same way - vivid dreams and hypnogogic imagery, but waking apantasia.

The brain is an interesting place…

oh, that's so cute!

I'm the same way (but I have an internal voice. When I'm typing these letters, I hear their sounds as I type.) I also have SDAM so, while my semantic memory is just fine, when it comes to autobiographic memories, it's all facts, dates and the pictures that I've taken to tie memories together.

I rather embrace Jung's philosophy of integrating the various parts of my psyche, including the "shadow" impulses. Somehow, it makes me feel OK about darker desires, knowing that they're just a part of me - not the whole me.

My wife says she experiences this when in a hypnogogic state. I just see black unless I really try to focus. Then I see some dim lines and indistinct phosphenes.

Solid, honest answer!

I am aphantasic and I read voraciously as a kid (and an adult.)

The descriptions in novels informed, even if they never evoked images.

It’s not that aphantasics don’t have an imagination - we just don’t visualize.

That’s how I do it: things like “that protrusion is to the left, so if I rotate it it’ll be to the right.” I use the verbal “model” to rotate objects in my head.

I’m aphantasic - completely dark “visualizations.”

I have the same conditions (aphantasia and SDAM.)

There are a few pluses. Grieving seems easier for me than "normies." Ending friendships/relationships is also easier.

When I found out that other people could "relive" memories, it made me a bit sad, but overall, I've had a pretty good life.

Lovely bum!

I have aphantasia - whenever I describe an actor or actress to my wife, I have to do it by referebcing the film they were in rather than by physical description.

Ouh là là, quel décolletage!

I think she sometimes doesn't believe me when I tell her she looks nice or hot or whatever. She doesn't have this aphantasia issue, so for her I think it seems that my compliments are disingenuous, but they're really not!

I enjoy seeing my wife each time she appears. I have aphantasia so it truly is a kind of new experience when I see her. I often whistle at her when she's naked.

It's a typical false consensus effect, AKA consensus bias.

Aphantasia Network - Understanding the Mind Without Mental Imagery Join the global aphantasia community. Access research, resources, and connect with others who experience the world without mental imagery. Discover tools, studies, and support for aphantasia.

aphantasia.com has lots of resources for understanding and dealing with it. I've found it useful, anyway.

I wrote a short story once about the ascendancy of hive-minded androids.

Humans required them to use a human language when around humans.

Because of a loophole in the law, they picked ancient Sanskrit.

Only monks in India knew what they were saying - and they didn’t understand much of it…

Thanks - I haven't been on Reddit for quite some time. I'll check it out.