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This is a thought experiment "Ball on a Table" for detecting whether someone has Aphantasia. What do you see when you perform this experiment? (lemmy.world)

submitted 4 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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This is more of me trying to understand how people imagine things, as I almost certainly have Aphantasia and didn't realize until recently... If this is against community rules, please do let me know.

The original thought experiment was from the Aphantasia subreddit. Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/Aphantasia/comments/g1e6bl/ball_on_a_table_visualization_experiment_2/

Thought experiment begins below.

Try this: Visualise (picture, imagine, whatever you want to call it) a ball on a table. Now imagine someone walks up to the table, and gives the ball a push. What happens to the ball?

Once you're done with the above, click to review the test questions:

What color was the ball?
What gender was the person that pushed the ball?
What did they look like?
What size is the ball? Like a marble, or a baseball, or a basketball, or something else?
What about the table, what shape was it? What is it made of?

And now the important question: Did you already know, or did you have to choose a color/gender/size, etc. after being asked these questions?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (5 children)

Oh my! I didn't know what to expect, and I have to say... I was quite surprised by some of your answers. Also confirmed to me that I am definitely not normal

Not many replies that are indicative of Aphantasia so... here goes nothing. I tried really hard at this okay

spoiler

I don't "see" see anything when I close my eyes. I can create a very vague concept of a ball, a table, and... kind of a person in my head, but I don't actually see the scene, I used to think when people say imagining things they were just making a metaphor. Things get really funk from here... But the overall schema feels more like one of those badly drawn scenes from the hit visual novel Slay the Princess. And yes I imagined it in 2D for some reason

Color: the ball doesn't have a color
Gender: it wasn't even a real person; it seems like a silhouette of the hand and back of a person
Looks: As I said, the person isn't even facing me
Size: No idea; in retrospect it's fairly large compared to the table (diameter probably 1/2-1/3 of table?), but the table is also an abstract concept so...
Table: no clue, it is a square table but that's it. If anything it looks like the things served on Pizza Hut pizzas
Well I spoiled the question for myself so... but I didn't have to choose, heck I couldn't choose even if I know what the questions are

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

Just as an exploration with you on this. Use your same instructions for the placing and actions with one difference.

The room is pitch black, and you can't see a thing.

What do you hear?

Click for review questions:

what did the steps of the person sound like? Can you tell what kind of shoes they have with "heal/toe" impact sounds? single thumps indicating flat footfalls? nothing?
how long were they walking before they got to the table?
Did the ball make any sound as it rolled on the table? What kind of sounds? What kind of table would make that sound?
When the ball hit the floor did it bounce or fall flat? Was there an echo? Did the sound of the fall indicate you're in a tiny room or a giant room?
How close was the person to your point of observation?
Could you hear the person breathing?
What else did you hear that I didn't include here?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago

I am not joking; the only thing I can imagine is for some bizarre reason a bowling ball noise followed by a comical noise of striking pins. I know there is a person but I couldn't imagine that person

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