Links: Different Ways We See the World
Apr. 21st, 2026 08:02 am I have no mind’s eye: let me try to describe it for you: With aphantasia, my mind’s eye sees only darkness, not images. It’s like missing a sense, and only imagination can compensate
Aphantasia: Why I cannot picture my children in my mind: Most people can picture images in their heads - the look of an apple, the appearance of their kitchen or the smile of their best friend - but not everyone can.
Living with hyperphantasia: ‘I remember the clothes people wore the day we met, the things they said word-for-word’ It’s hard to know what people can see in their own mind’s eye. But for Maddie Thomas there was no doubt: she had especially vivid mental imagery
A Brief 200-Year History of Synesthesia: Richard Cytowic, a pioneering researcher who returned synesthesia to mainstream science, traces the historical evolution of our understanding of the phenomenon.
Speaking of Psychology: What is it like to be face blind? With Joe DeGutis, PhD, and Sadie Dingfelder
Why Did We Think We Dreamed in Black and White?: In the 1950's, dream researchers commonly thought that dreams were predominantly a black and white phenomenon, although both earlier and later treatments of dreaming presume or assert that dreams have color. The first half of the twentieth century saw the rise of black and white film media, and it is likely that the emergence of the view that dreams are black and white was connected with this change in media technology. If our opinions about basic features of our dreams can change with changes in technology, it seems to follow that our knowledge of the phenomenology of our own dreams is much less secure than we might at first have thought it to be.
The weird way language affects our sense of time and space: The languages we speak can have a surprising impact on the way we think about the world and even how we move through it.
Aphantasia: Why I cannot picture my children in my mind: Most people can picture images in their heads - the look of an apple, the appearance of their kitchen or the smile of their best friend - but not everyone can.
Living with hyperphantasia: ‘I remember the clothes people wore the day we met, the things they said word-for-word’ It’s hard to know what people can see in their own mind’s eye. But for Maddie Thomas there was no doubt: she had especially vivid mental imagery
A Brief 200-Year History of Synesthesia: Richard Cytowic, a pioneering researcher who returned synesthesia to mainstream science, traces the historical evolution of our understanding of the phenomenon.
Speaking of Psychology: What is it like to be face blind? With Joe DeGutis, PhD, and Sadie Dingfelder
Why Did We Think We Dreamed in Black and White?: In the 1950's, dream researchers commonly thought that dreams were predominantly a black and white phenomenon, although both earlier and later treatments of dreaming presume or assert that dreams have color. The first half of the twentieth century saw the rise of black and white film media, and it is likely that the emergence of the view that dreams are black and white was connected with this change in media technology. If our opinions about basic features of our dreams can change with changes in technology, it seems to follow that our knowledge of the phenomenology of our own dreams is much less secure than we might at first have thought it to be.
They’re in clouds, electric sockets and even on toast. Why do humans see faces in everyday objects? Human brains are designed to detect faces as quickly as possible, which can lead to the perception of ‘false faces’
Neural networks underlying visual illusions: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis
Neural networks underlying visual illusions: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis
The weird way language affects our sense of time and space: The languages we speak can have a surprising impact on the way we think about the world and even how we move through it.