#mental-imagery

#mental-imagery

The emerging consensus is striking-the mind does not merely interpret reality; it actively participates in shaping it. Across research on the placebo effect, athletic peak performance, and self-fulfilling prophecies, a consistent pattern appears: what we expect, believe, and even feel profoundly alters how we experience the world. Put differently, the mind is not a passive observer. It is a predictive, generative, reality-filtering system-one that continually constructs the lens through which we live our daily experiences.

"Most places your mind saves JPEGs, mine has text files instead." This is how Mike (name changed for anonymity) describes living with complete aphantasia. Coined in 2015, aphantasia affects approximately 4% of the population and is a condition characterized by the brain's inability to visualize or imagine images. Though not classified as a disability or medical condition, it has a profound impact on Mike's daily life.