Pupils Reveal ‘Aphantasia’ – The Absence of Visual Imagination

Re:Pupils Reveal ‘Aphantasia’ – The Absence of Visual Imagin... by kaashif on Saturday April 23, 2022 @07:48PM (#31139847)

I always found the most engaging fiction to be the ones that explore really interesting concepts, rather than ones that try to describe rather mundane things happening. I told someone I absolutely loved Asimov's Foundation series and they had a really weird complaint - they said it was just people sitting in rooms talking. Maybe occasionally they'd smoke a cigar.

I said yeah, but they're talking about something really cool! Would those books have really been improved if Asimov described the smoke or the room or whatever? Like who cares?

I don't even have aphantasia, but man, sometimes there's a really long description of something in a book and I can barely get through it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Pupils Reveal ‘Aphantasia’ – The Absence of Visual Imagin... by cartoonfoxes on Saturday April 23, 2022 @08:38PM (#31140151)

I've read lots of sci-fi, but never Foundation. Knowing how well-regarded it is among fans of the genre, hearing it described as "people sitting in rooms talking" is the best hook I've heard in a while.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Pupils Reveal ‘Aphantasia’ – The Absence of Visual Imagin... by kaashif on Saturday April 23, 2022 @08:49PM (#31140214)

Researching it now, I think Asimov actually had aphantasia, he talks about how he can't visualise at all:

> IA: "I have no talent whatsoever for writing movie scripts."

> Interviewer:"How can this be."

> IA: "Easy. The requirements are different."

> Interviewer: "Writing character or..."

> IA: "Well you have to have a picture in your mind. You can't just tell a story. You have to at all times know what's on the screen."

> Interviewer: "Visual medium."

> IA: "And it's useless to ask me to do that. I never see anything that I write, I only hear it. Conversations, all that I'm aware of. That's why my books are so "talky". One of the reviews of Nemesis says it's talky (oh what do they know) but it's true. It's great talk but he wouldn't know that."

> Interviewer: "But what you talk about is visualizable."

> IA: "I suppose, but that's purely accidental."

From this Reddit comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/Aphantasia/comments/euvz05/apparent... although the video linked appears to be dead.

[ Parent | on HN ]