Aphantasia

Experiences, Perceptions, and Insights

By: Alan Kendle

Narrated by: Peter Baker

Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Close your eyes and picture a sunrise.

For the majority of people, the ability to visualize images - such as a sunrise - seems straightforward and can be accomplished "on demand". But, for potentially some two percent of the population, conjuring up an image in one’s mind’s eye is not possible; attempts to visualize images just bring up darkness.

Although identified back in the 19th century, aphantasia remained under the radar for more than a century, and it was not until recently that it has been rediscovered and reexamined. It has become clear that aphantasia is a fascinating and often idiosyncratic condition and typically more complex than the simple absence of an ability to visualize. People with the condition - aphants - commonly report effects upon their abilities to recreate sounds, smells, and touches as well; many also struggle with facial recognition. Paradoxically, many aphants report that when they sleep, their dreams incorporate color images, sound, and the other senses.

Put together by lead author Alan Kendle - who discovered his aphantasia in 2016 - this title is a collection of insights from contributors across the world detailing their lives with the condition. It offers rich, diverse, and often amusing insights and experiences into aphantasia's effects. For anyone who wishes to understand this most intriguing condition better, the audiobook provides a wonderful and succinct starting point.

Foreword by Professor Adam Zeman, professor of cognitive and behavioral neurology, University of Exeter.

©2017 Bennion Kearny (P)2020 Bennion Kearny

A Surprising Foreword

The book is repetitive, but there was quite the surprise midway thru the forward. Specifically, the reader cut one, reacted to it, and then restated what was interrupted by the overt biological process.

I thought I was having auditory hallucinations.

Easy to follow.

Just discovered that I have aphantasia and this book offered great insight into how others feel and function. I can relate so deeply to each and every person who contributed to this.

aphantasia

unlike the other comments this Book is fascinating. if your 3rd eye is blind you should definitely listen to this book. it give a better understanding of why we don't learn the sameway as everyone else. thank
you for your wisdom into aphantasia. this topic has made me want to teach kid how to succeed in school like and tip for them to learn the best way possible. thank you ❤️

Not great, but sure is important

This is the only audio book on the subject, and it really helped me understand my condituon better. with that said, I did not like the way it was narrated honestly, a bit mechanical in tone. considering so much of the book is quotes, it matters more. the content is lacking a bit of science, but the whole field does, so I did not expect much. Thank you for making this!

too much reliance on interview responses

I appreciate that the subject is being written about. the book covers the many facets of the disorder. I personally don't like books that are composed almost entirely of interview responses those. seems cheap, lazy, but most of all lacking in fact.

Definitely informative.

This book was useful as somebody who has this condition, though I feel like I have a lesser form, maybe hypophantasia, understand that there is a wide spectrum between people who have it, and people who don't. though the story was all right, it is just a bunch of accounts, and the performance can seem quite dry and slow at times, if you listen at 1.5x speed it's much better.

Interesting Noise from the Narrator

Did The narrator just rip a big fart and say “ahhh” in the first chapter... haha so strange

Great read for someone first learning about aphantasia

Interesting book filled with testimonials of people with varying experiences. The performance would've been a 5* had it not been for the massive fart in the introduction. He farted so hard he had to restart the sentance. How did that slip by?

It’s incredibly repetitive.

It is insufferably repetitive. I appreciate that the author tried to have many people talk about their experiences but most of them say the same thing just slightly different and as a result, it’s unbelievably boring.