I was in the library reading LOTR (Just finished the Fellowship, my god would I recommend it!), and at the beginning of the session, I was reading the book and the descriptions and prose were so magnificent that I willed myself to try imagining what everything looked like in my mind’s eye. So this raises a question. Do you see the picture while reading? If so, how vividly? And is it automatic?

Just to clear up confusion, I’m not just talking about understanding the text. Or retroactively creating an image. I’m talking about while reading the text, you imagine what’s happening visually. And when something changes in the text, say the grass becoming dimmer, do you imagine that process happening?

  • Mathena31415@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    I see nothing while reading, not even if i make an effort. Instead I focus on the story, emotions and writing style.
    I think that is one of the reasons why im not super into books which describe things in much detail, they are more likely to bore me because i don’t see them.

    • MadDingersYo@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      I can’t even really comprehend this. Is it just fiction or any kind of reading? Does it apply to anything, regardless of reading level?

      If someone sent you directions via text message saying something like “turn left after you pass the big purple house,” would you be able to understand that?

      • Mathena31415@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        Whenever I’m reading descriptions of something i havent seen before, i can only see the rough shapes/colors of it, if i actively do that. No details. That applies to fiction, non-fiction, all reading levels and all languages i understand.

        For the purple house, i would know that im looking for a purple house and look for it, but without having an image of some purple house in my mind while thinking about it. Also im actually good at remembering visual concepts I’ve seen, like routes on maps or mindmaps or graphs, things that have some logical connection.

        As has been mentioned by someone else, I think that I’m close to an aphantastic experience.

      • mycolortv@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        Not who you asked but it’s called aphantasia. Of course they would be able to understand that though lol. You don’t need to visualize a purple house in order to recognize a purple house.

      • monsterosaleviosa@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        I don’t understand the concept of needing to visualize that to understand it. There’s going to be a purple house. I don’t need to visualize it now, I’m going to see it when it’s there. I still conceptually understand the idea of a house and the idea of the color purple. And at that point I’ll turn left.