Aphantasia Quotes

“I love books. I don’t visualize the descriptions but mentally accept them as part of the story.”
― Alan Kendle, Aphantasia: Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights

“Before I knew I had Aphantasia, it didn’t even occur to me that imagination could be visual process. I just thought of concepts in a more abstract sense, and mentally added other elements or concepts to it as my imagination allowed. No images necessary.”
― Alan Kendle, Aphantasia: Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights

“My father was a painter and photographer, and my sister became an architect. We were surrounded by images. They were in my head, and I have strong visual memory, but I cannot “see” them with my eyes closed.”
― Alan Kendle, Aphantasia: Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights

“I picked up tons of information which just floats around and ‘pops up’ when I need it. So although I don’t have access to facts and figures, I do have good intuitional leaps, so can keep ahead of the game most of the time.”
― Alan Kendle, Aphantasia: Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights

“I mean, I know what a beach looks like and I can describe it, so I would just think about those things. But no picture appeared.”
― Alan Kendle, Aphantasia: Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights

“I describe it thus: think about walking through your house in the middle of the night when all the lights are out. You roughly know where everything is, because you are very familiar with the space, even if you can’t see it. This is my mind and memories — darkness, but awareness of the space I am or was in.”
― Alan Kendle, Aphantasia: Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights

“One of my major ways of thinking is what I call ‘spatial’ – it’s hard to describe, but I have a 3D representation of form that’s not visible. Echolocation might be a good analogy? Or a computer-generated 3D landscape with no lighting – the landscape is still there and the computer knows where it is, but it’s not visible.”
― Alan Kendle, Aphantasia: Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights

“I am not able to recall smells or sensations of touch. I have the five senses and can smell, touch, etc., but I cannot store that sensory event to recall at a later date. Having said that, I know I can recall and remember some senses given the right circumstances and the correct trigger, but I do not know what they or it is.”
― Alan Kendle, Aphantasia: Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights

“Many people with Aphantasia would describe their memory as ‘poor’ but have a great capacity for remembering facts.”
― Alan Kendle, Aphantasia: Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights