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https://gizmodo.com/people-who-cant-visu...2000781894
EXCERPT: The philosopher David Hume believed that, to understand abstract concepts, humans needed to summon a mental image to picture the idea. But since Hume’s time in the 18th century, we now have a more nuanced understanding of the human brain’s complexity-and our philosophy might be due for some upgrades, according to a new study.
Scientists estimate that roughly 4% to 5% of the population experience aphantasia, or the inability to form mental images. People can be either born with aphantasia or develop it later, but it’s typically not considered a disability or medical condition. But aphantasia isn’t known to prevent people from having a firm grasp of abstract ideas-things like “triangle,” “friend,” or “memory,” explained Uku Tooming and Roomet Jakapi, philosophers at the University of Tartu in Estonia, in a statement. So, what’s going on here?
In a recent paper published in Neuropsychologia, Tooming and Jakapi present a challenge to Hume; that is, abstract thought might not be as grounded in images as we might believe.
[...] as Tooming and Jakapi counter in the paper, experimental evidence suggests that some aphantasics lack imagery across other types of sensory experiences and yet are still capable of abstraction. Then there’s the easy way out: Okay, maybe aphantasics are an exception to the rule. But the authors took issue with that response, as the challenge is “not merely one of accommodating an exception but of explaining how abstraction is even possible without reliance on the imagistic processes that Hume sees as essential.” (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPT: The philosopher David Hume believed that, to understand abstract concepts, humans needed to summon a mental image to picture the idea. But since Hume’s time in the 18th century, we now have a more nuanced understanding of the human brain’s complexity-and our philosophy might be due for some upgrades, according to a new study.
Scientists estimate that roughly 4% to 5% of the population experience aphantasia, or the inability to form mental images. People can be either born with aphantasia or develop it later, but it’s typically not considered a disability or medical condition. But aphantasia isn’t known to prevent people from having a firm grasp of abstract ideas-things like “triangle,” “friend,” or “memory,” explained Uku Tooming and Roomet Jakapi, philosophers at the University of Tartu in Estonia, in a statement. So, what’s going on here?
In a recent paper published in Neuropsychologia, Tooming and Jakapi present a challenge to Hume; that is, abstract thought might not be as grounded in images as we might believe.
[...] as Tooming and Jakapi counter in the paper, experimental evidence suggests that some aphantasics lack imagery across other types of sensory experiences and yet are still capable of abstraction. Then there’s the easy way out: Okay, maybe aphantasics are an exception to the rule. But the authors took issue with that response, as the challenge is “not merely one of accommodating an exception but of explaining how abstraction is even possible without reliance on the imagistic processes that Hume sees as essential.” (MORE - missing details)