Aphantasia and Hyperphantasia

Imagination as a way of knowing, has so many relationships with the rest of ways of knowing and reality. One vivid example is the newborn vocabularies - aphantasia and hyperphantasia.

Briefly speaking, aphantasia is a sort of physical defect which causes you disability of visualizing images in your mind, namely, extremely lack of imagination. Nevertheless, hyperphantasia is the opposite of aphantasia, it implies superior ability of image visualization and prodigiously distinct imaginations.

In the article in which these two words were brought up and explained, it indicates that the most plausible reason of the formation of imagination: Instead of one single portion of brain is responsible for imagination, as much as many people had thought, the process of imagination necessitates multiple layers and parts of brain associating with each other and sharing the collective information. In other words, imagination stems from many parts of the brain. That also explained why someone loses or has a slump in their ability of imagination or 3D visualization.

After leaning about the people with these two problems, I realized that imagination does affect our experience and knowledge gaining somehow as a way of knowing. Whereas, it would be unthoughtful if we take these two as diseases or disabilities for granted. As the articles said: " It won't change nothing but provides them an altogether different perspective of viewing the world and bring them a unique experience.