Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderI was once watching an episode of House with my college roommate and the doctors had a machine that let them see a visual image of what the patient was seeing in their head. I laughed to roommate and observed that it was a stupid machine because, of course, people don't really "see" things in their head. In the ensuing discussion (and Google searches) I learned about the word aphantasia and about the phenomenon where people do actually (claim to)…
This, as a passing interest in HN and other sources started recently, I think, by a former big shot at Pixar who wrote (or was written about) having a blind mind's eye. Personally this article turned my world slightly upside down since I can't visualise. Instead I conceptualise ideas in total "darkness", without any visual imagery of any kind. I never thought twice about it and assumed everyone use the term "visualise" to describe what I'm experiencing. Because of the…
so do aphantasiacs dream. visual dreams? if no, then what do they dream. a void? tbh i always found this hard to believe. maybe they misinterpret visualising as a clear mental image as opposed to something more nebulous and shifting.
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 197
- Total comments
- 349
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-06-24 | AphantasiaFirst breakout | notjtrig | 85 | 72 |
| 2021-11-28 | AphantasiaBest thread · Latest 20+ point return | misthop | 105 | 276 |
| 2024-01-05 | Aphantasia: The inability to create mental imagery | nathan_phoenix | 3 | 1 |
| 2026-03-23 | Aphantasia | kristianpaul | 4 | 0 |