alt Hacker NewsCurious, do people with aphantasia "feel" the pain when they see other people hurting themselves (e.g. accidentally hitting their thumb with a hammer)?
Curious, do people with aphantasia "feel" the pain when they see other people hurting themselves (e.g. accidentally hitting their thumb with a hammer)?
I am not aphantasic, but I would not say that I "feel" pain when I see people undergoing painful events (depending on how much weight the quotes around 'feel' are carrying.) I can remember that hitting my thumb with a hammer was very unpleasant, how much of my body it affected, and how it faded over time. I know that the last time I did it, I recognized it as being pretty much identical to the previous times. What I cannot do is imagine it with anything like the vividness with which I can imagine what tonight's sunset could be like.