Ryan J. Shaw
@rjs
When I read LOTR as a kid, I couldn't stand the scene descriptions that ran for multiple pages. Drove me mad, didn't understand what it was there for. Many years later I discovered I have aphantasia, no wonder I hated it.
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Blue Cockatoo
@bluecockatoo
Wow, when/how did you realize you had aphantasia? Is visualization something you can develop as a skill or would that condition just make that impossible? I wonder what causes it. My life is so enriched by being able to visualize things in detail. I wish you could too!
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Ryan J. Shaw
@rjs
2 yrs ago. I'm not 100% unable to visualize, I get a brief blurry flash if I try to recall an object. It might be possible to practice it, but it seems my brain used the wires for other stuff... eg. I think of things in terms of graphs (x is related to y in z way), this allows me to quickly detect mistakes in reasoning
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Blue Cockatoo
@bluecockatoo
That is fascinating. That way of thinking also sounds like a natural fit for software engineering with the requirement for algorithmic thinking. And useful in the reverse engineering of systems like your Degen guide. Sounds like you recognize patterns (and outliers) easily.
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