Anyone Else Like This? / Help Fix Me!

Recently, I got really sick of being told to "picture this" after the teacher said something when explaining our assignment in AP English or whatever. I made a comment to one of my buddies who was sitting next to me that essentially consisted of "Why do they insist on saying that when you can't even picture something."
He then responded with "You can..."
To which I said "What the hell do you mean, you can?"
He then went on to explain that he can imagine things in his head, and visualize scenes and imagine sounds and everything like that.
And then everyone spoke up and I found out I'm the only one in third hour English that has no imagination.
I found out that normal people actually imagine the books they're reading, everything like that.
I did a lot of research trying to figure out some way to gain this ability, and stumbled across this guy who is a ton like me (although I think I can see fine in my dreams and stuff). http://dfan.org/visual.html (He does a lot better at explaining the condition then I do.)
There's one thing called Image Streaming which I've tried doing a couple times, but I've had a really hard time with it, and I'm still skeptical that it'll actually work.

So I guess what I'm trying to get around to asking is... Is anyone like this, or does anyone know anything about it, or did anyone used to be like this and then did something that fixed it?

 

Thought I'd bump this before I went to bed....

 

Interesting, so your dreams have no visual or auditory component? It's just blackness, always? and you can't close your eyes and in some sense "see" a scene that is not one your eyes can see?

 

I think I can see in my dreams, but very brief flashes of images/scenes. I can't really recollect them much though.

Whenever I close my eyes, I just see black. If I'm looking at a light or something, I can see the brightness from that through my eyelids, but that's the extent of it. Or if I rub my eyes or put pressure on them, I sorta see color patterns.

 

wow. it must suck to lose your keys. "thats what the mind is for- picturing where you left your car keys." George Carlin.

thats really unfortunate though, personally, my mind is mostly pictures.

 

I know. I just sit around and think about how much I'm missing out on. I can't remember anything at all. I can't get directions from people and remember them. I can't give directions. I can't draw (that's likely not all to blame on my mind. I think that can mostly be accredited to my artistic retardation).

I figure if I fall down some steps and hit my head just right, it'll knock some pictures in there or something.

 

maybe. but you bring up a good point with drawing. maybe you should use that to practice picturing. see if its possible to learn it. try to think of the shape of a giraffe. close your eyes, and try to think of the long neck (good idea to build associative memories, think about why it has a long neck) giraffes have long legs and knobby knees. and large patchy patterns. think about the adjectives that describe a giraffe. then try to draw one in a notebook. it doesn't have to be great, its a mental exercise.
or sit in front of a house or building for 15 minutes, trying to take in all of the features, trying to create the image of it in your mind. a window about here, a rock by a tree there, etc. then turn around and try to duplicate it. i would keep a small sketchbook on hand for this. tell anyone who picks on you to fuck off. i didnt even know there were people so afflicted.

 

Yeah. I mean, I can't draw anything from memory. Unless I'm looking straight at something, I can barely draw much outside of a cube. I mean, I can't even draw a guitar, even though I play for a good 2-4+ hours a day.

I know all the features and everything, I know what the fretboard should look like, everything like that, I just can't picture it and transfer it to paper.

Frustrating stuff.

 

i wish i could help you. and there is almost no information on it. i got a wiki for amnesia, and this article
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623120837.htm
but thats not really helpful. a bunch of quotes from famous people about how cool and fabulous and vital imagination is, and how deprived anyone without is, also not helpful.

and its all stuff thats a twisting of language anyway "kids have no imagination, computers are bad " but thats not a true statement. if what you describe is true, then you have no imagination, like a medical diagnosis. but any real info is tucked behind all the criticisms of people with no imagination, what if its not a choice? i am really frustrated by the lack of support and information available to you.

 

You may lack an ability to visualize but I'd wager you have other assets enhanced in a way that most of the rest of us can't match. Your writing style suggests to me that you are well spoken and appear to process information quite well. Use your mind for what it is and don't sweat what may not be there. Dwelling on a particular challenge you may have apart from others will only empower it to bring you down and distract you from using the considerable mind you've been blessed with.

 

It means you are really down to earth and your mind doesn't wander.

I envy you in some ways.

 

yah like he said focus on your stengths instead of weaknesses. If you have problems visualizing to remember or make associations, try and focus more on verbal cues to help your memory. focus maybe on tactile (touch) sensations and smells as well. Basically focus whatever senses are your most acute to compensate.

 

I heard if you watch a lot of tv it can hinder the imagination, but probably not to this extent. I feel really bad for you though. I want to teach you imagination, or let you borrow mine. it's big!

 

Nah man, I almost never watch TV. Never had either.

I understand what you guys are saying about trying to appreciate what I have. I'm super smart logically, so I normally fare pretty well on all those standardized tests and stuff, which is cool.

I don't really have a heightened sense that I'm aware of. Touch is the only one that I'm more in tune to then most people. I don't have great hearing (not bad, just nothing special). My sight is 20/20 but I overlook and miss a lot of things that people normally observe. I'm a bad reader and often don't catch things that should be obvious, despite the fact that I read a ridiculous amount of books when I was younger, and still read pretty consistently nowadays.

My mind certainly wanders. I never really pay much attention to stuff, and I don't have much of an attention span.

I play a lot of music, guitar and piano namely, and I sorta decided it would always take me so long to learn songs because I can't remember things by their sheet music or tabs; I have to play them until I develop muscle memory of the songs. Not a fun process.

I remember reading this article about Tesla and then realizing how envious I am. http://www.badassoftheweek.com/tesla.html

I'm also jealous of Disney and all the people out there with synthenesia. But yeah, that's a whole other story.

 

yah synesthesia would be nice to have. I've experienced it under the influence and to be able to channel that on a daily basis would be amazing especially when it comes to things like playing music.

 

I can't imagine what this is like because it seems like the complete opposite of me. I have a very visual memory. I can look at an image and close my eyes and hold that image for quite awhile, pretty much as long as I concentrate on it. If I didn't think this way, I would have to study a lot more, and cramming wouldn't be nearly as effective. I can remember how my notes look and are organized when I take a test, and in a sense I can flip through them in my mind and see what they say.

 

If i push my eyes in, like with allergies my vision goes completely white for a few seconds until i blink like a few strenuous ones.

 

Yeah. I can't really study like a 'normal' person would or anything. Like, the only point where studying becomes effective for me is if I repeat something an obscene amount of times where I know it instantly without having to think about it and it becomes almost instinctive for me. So yeah. I fail tests on a pretty regular basis. It's swell.

I've talked to some people that don't have a visual mind, and all of them have told me that when they get stoned, they can picture things and everything. It's not like that for me though. Still the exact same thing; that accursed blackness

 

I'm a lot like this. I've been an artsy person since I could pick up a pencil. But drawing something from a visual memory is just something I can't really do. I just can't picture it in my head. I know what teenage mutant ninja turtle looks like, and I can draw them over and over, but it's because I've done it a billion times. I'm the same way with music also.

Herb hasn't ever really enhanced any visualizing for me. Just gives me some wacky ideas and motivation.

It would frustrate the shit outta me see'n kids in my art class that could draw all kinds of things out of memory. I would ask them questions like,"how did you know that wrinkle was supposed to be there?"

they would just tell me that that's just what would happen if somebody were in that position. They could picture it. I got nothin.

On the other hand, I will often bring a sketch book with me. At randomn times I see something like cracks in the sidewalk that looks like an eyeball. I could sit down and draw that eyeball I saw no problem. Sometimes I like just drawing random shapes and then sit back and look if I can make out anything.

If you find any good info, you should shoot it my way. I've looked around but haven't much. Super interested though, nice to know I'm not the only one thinkin like this.

 

do you see anything is Rorschach patterns?