Is it a thing? Can you think of a dish and then cause yourself to have a craving for it? And I mean a real craving, not just the thought of 'I know I like this food, so I guess it'd be nice to eat it again' (which is what I do.)Īlso, can you sort've predict what foods you think will taste good or bad based on the ingredients in them? I literally have to taste everything at least once to know because I have no concept whatsoever of how something will taste beforehand, even if it's got similar flavors to something I know I like. Hmeyra is an 18-year-old high school student who recently discovered that she has aphantasia. Meaning you cannot voluntarily visualize imagery. I can't think of a meal I've had in the past or in my childhood and go 'ooh, that sounds amazing right now' because I can call up how it tastes and make myself want that. Recently a girl on TikTok opened up our eyes to a fact that could make you 1 in 50 people to have a certain condition where you do not possess a functioning mind’s eye. When I go grocery shopping, I either buy the same exact things on repeat just to have SOMETHING, or I wander around aimlessly because not a damn thing is appealing to me. Obviously, there are tasty things that while I'm eating them I actually think they're delicious, but I struggle with food on a general basis more often than not. I eat as a matter of survival, there's almost zero enjoyment in it. I am a picky eater and always have been, but I struggle a lot with meals. My question is: can people do this with taste too?Īre you able to think of a food and recall what it tastes like enough to actually want to eat that thing? People also claim they can smell things that aren't actually there, just by calling up the memory of the scent. I hear only small snippets in my own internal monologue. People have said this also applies to sound and being able to, for example, call up songs and hear the actual artist singing them in their own voice inside their head. Run your fingertips over surfaces, squeeze things, stomp your foot onto the ground, dig your nose into objects, etc. Whatever it is you want to visualize, make an effort to involve your mental hands, your imaginary feet, and all body parts.

Being an artist means being willing to engage with the world in a fresh way. While you may not be able to see things straight away, you may find you can sense, touch, and feel them.

Some people can see images, some can't, some can see a little. I will not attempt to answer all of it but I will offer opinionated thoughts.

I know there are spectrums for everything.

Not being able to visualize things