this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2024
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Wow. That's wild. I suspect a lot of folks here without aphantasia are wondering what it even means to "know" something without being able to see (or hear/smell/taste/feel/whatever) it in your head.
I guess I "know my birthday" by virtue of the fact that I hear the words "August 17th" (not my real birthday, but yeah) in my head when I casually wonder what my birthday is.
If I know my birthday is on a Wednesday this year, I can picture a calendar page with the middle square of the third row "highlighted" like The Picard Maneuver was talking about with controlled squares above.
For me, I'm not sure I can imagine "knowing" something without either hearing or seeing (or otherwise sensing via some anlogue of the 5 senses) it in some sense in my head.
If I ask you your birthday, I’d expect you to hear “August 17th” in your inner voice before answering. But if I asked you “is your birthday January 3?” would you have to mentally say your birthday before answering “no”? I’d assume not.
My inner voice is used almost exclusively for forming sentences before speaking or typing them. If I’m alone, not thinking of conversations, and not reading, there’s rarely anything there except maybe a song stuck in my head. My inner voice isn’t constantly there saying “let’s go switch over the laundry” and stuff.
Folks with aphantasia are also more likely to lack an inner voice.
I wouldn't say my birthday in my head before responding. My inner voice isn't so different from yours, except being in a conversation mine is silent. With typing as well mine isn't always present. Typing on my phone I have to think the word to swipe it, but on a keyboard I sometimes just type.
That would describe my experience. Aphantasia only affects the ability to visualise something, not the mental voice that I believe everybody has.