Think about you enjoying a beautiful sunset at a beach. A colorful sky, sparkling water hitting the rocks, cool breeze brushing your hair – can you paint a picture of it all in your head? The human mind has the capability to paint a clear picture in the mind whenever we talk about a scenario. The majority of people will be able to create precise mental images, but there is a small fraction of people who are completely blank.
Aphantasia: An Inability to Visualize
Aphantasia is a condition in which a person faces mental blindness. They are unable to create any picture in their minds, and their minds go blank when asked to ‘imagine’ a scenario. Experts also know this condition as image-free thinking. In fact, they don’t even have the ability to recollect a memory in their mind. According to experts, this syndrome is so rare that only one to five percent of the world’s population has it. Well, we don’t intend to alarm you, but maybe you would want to actually notice if your mind can paint a picture of the device you are holding once you close your eyes.
Why Talk About it Now?
Aphantasia became a topic of discussion when Courtney Hubbard, a 23-year-old fitness instructor, posted a video on her TikTok account. In that video, she explained how her boyfriend informed her that he is one of those rare humans who has Aphantasia. She couldn’t wrap her head around what her beloved told him. Hubbard had her doubts, and she asked her audience to confirm if it really is true. After her video went live, many people flooded her comment section. Most of them showed their disbelief. However, there were some who were sailing in the same boat as Hubbard’s boyfriend.