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?

  • @[email protected]
    7•4 hours ago

    I find it very interesting that the vast majority of people saw a red ball. I did too.

    ::: spoiler

    1. red
    2. Indeterminate, mostly just an arm
    3. shoulder-length brown hair, androgenous body, hidden face
    4. Like a rubber bouncy ball you’d get in a party bag
    5. wooden, square

    Mostly I already knew, but it felt like things were “filling in” as I tried to “remember” the image to answer the questions, especially around the person.

    :::