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?

  • @flubba86
    1•2 months ago
    • Ball rolls about two feet and stops just before it rolls off the table.
    • White ball, polished surface, shiny
    • Male
    • Tall person, slender build, light brown hair, clean shaven, white button-up collared shirt, blue jeans.
    • Ball was a bit bigger than a billiard ball, but smaller than a baseball. Smooth, and heavy. Like a white cricket ball but with no seams.
    • It was one of those large common fold-up trestle tables but with a white table cloth on it.
    • I knew all those without having to think about it, or choose afterwards.

    To me the imagery seemed like a cheesy “how to push a ball” educational video with a paid actor to demonstrate how to push the ball in the correct manner.