Steve Loyola

Liana, thanks for the article. Like you, I only see images in my mind while dreaming or, as I just learned thanks to your article, during hypnopompic hallucinations (which I often do my best to extend as much as I can). I didn't learn until 2016 that some people could conjure images in their head while awake. I just assumed they had better memory than me (usually of things I didn't care about, like who wore what to a party). Unlike you, my strengths, grades, and interests are almost completely the opposite of yours. I loved math and science, and struggled or had little interest in literature and art (except I love music). I also have an excellent sense of direction. Although I can't "see" maps in my head, I do sort of "feel" maps so I can sense a set of directions or which way is north even if I've been inside a building away from windows. I call it the magnet in my head (like birds have). So, while we aphantasics sometimes wonder if aphantasia may have affected our life paths, I find it wonderfully boring that as a group we seem to have a pretty normal distribution of other skills and interests. We just have the super power of not being plagued by gory images in our head! :-)