Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark

A blog dedicated to informing the world about aphantasia, as well as building a community for those with aphantasia and those interested in learning more!

[aphantacia-blog]

I just learned something about you and it is blowing my goddamned mind. Here it is: You can visualize things in your mind.

In April, 2016, Firefox co-creator Blake Ross wrote a blog post about a mental condition he had just discovered and he found it applied to him. In the post, he described a lot of symptoms that may be unique to him and a lot of symptoms that seem common among aphantasiacs. Overall, this is an excellent introduction to the kind of mindblow someone experiences when they find out about their aphantasia.

[aphantacia-blog]

Aphantasia Discord Server

There is an aphantasia Discord server! Join and chat about visualization as it relates to media, dreams, drugs, and anything else that may come to mind.

[aphantacia-blog]

Aphantasia

Aphantasia is a mental condition where one cannot produce mental images; where one cannot visualize things in their “mind’s eye”. This generally includes auditory images, olfactory images, and so forth. When we close our eyes and are told to imagine an apple, we do not visualize an apple within our head. We think of what an apple is, perhaps focusing on the word or the concept.

We may think in a very different way from people without aphantasia, who we have decided to call “seers” (because that sounds cool). Very little research on aphantasia has yet been done, and it is primarily a self-reported condition.

Having aphantasia does not mean that we are handicapped in any way. We may hypothesize: I know multiple aphantasiacs with memory issues and difficulty remembering faces. These may be the results moreso of the small sample size, and scientific studies are still in progress. We have no diminished artistic or creative ability, that is certain.

This blog will be focused on aphantasia: we will post studies on aphantasia, artwork by aphantasiacs, facts about aphantasia, and other such stuff. The goal of this blog is to raise awareness of the condition, merely so that people may understand themselves better.