Do you have a vivid imagination?

[Mad Hatter]

It can definitely be very vivid when it comes to music, but it's not very controllable (that's why I always wanted to write something, but never really did it).
Apart from that, I don't know whether my imagination is that much more vivid compared to other people (maybe a bit), but I'd say that I'm sometimes daring both at making comparisons / associations and at pointing them out, i.e. having thoughts that other people might have as well, but making them explicit.

 

[Betty Blue]

You mean imagining 3d objects with a distinct sense of depth? (Like perceiving depth using both eyes)

Or being to imagine 2d projections of a 3d object in all possible transformations? (Like perceiving images using one eye)
Because I can totally do the second.

I mean with a sense of depth but i also imagine seeing 2d in all possible tranformations would be rather splendid too, i'm afraid i can do neither
I wish i could.

 

[nanook]

i believe Win Wenger coined or popularized the term "image streaming" to make a clear distinction between typical imagination and daydreaming (=image streaming, meaning literal dreaming, except you look at a scenery without being in it, and the body is awake, and it interacts with your commands, so it's a unique form of intelligence. it may be abstract or symbolical, like the flash of light that albert einstein was supposedly daydreaming about).

typical imagination happens with open eyes and is so subtle, that many people would tell you they can't do it. yet, if i tell you that i bend down, shove my fingers into the soft earh and pick um a handful of it and now i look at it and i see some grassroots in it and some worms and ants .. (forgive my english) there is probably no chance anyone cant imagine that. people just don't come up with stories like that. so if a therapist does a trauma related technique like EMDR, where he directs your story, you don't need to be able to daydream or have any kind of solid colorful image behind your eyes.

 

[Stanton Moore]

I think in music and have this habit of singing much of the time. I hear melodies in my head and have had dreams that were complete with four-part harmony.

You too? I hear music all the time. Drives me a little mad at times.

 

[Nocapszy]

i like the NT ratio - so dishonest.
y:n = 4.5:1 ≈ 79% have vivid imaginations

come on guys. get real.

the NFs are being more rational about this than you guys
y:n = 4.3:1 ≈ 77% have vivid imaginations

and the funny thing is, the kind of mental inclinations that usually lend themselves to 'vivid imaginations' are more in tune with the kind that cause one to use NF function sets. meaning literally that the NF is more likely to have a vivid imagination, so we can give them a little credit but still...
i realize this is a small sample but come on...

for the record i voted no.

 

[Nocapszy]

on the other hand, 100% of the S types have vivid imaginations so i guess we'll never know how many licks it takes!
this is why i never make polls anymore.

 

[sleepy]

So people tell me, again and again. I view it as reality.

 

[cascadeco]

I was wondering what types could have a vivid imagination as INFJs seem to be associated with one. To define for this thread: A vivid imagination is the ability to easily see pictures and 3D forms in your mind rather than just the idea of something.

For myself, if I focus I can get a hazy, fog-covered picture of something, whereas a few of my friends claim to see an almost perfect picture and focus to get more detail into it. They are all artists to some degree.

When I saw just the thread title, I was like, 'Define 'vivid', then I'll let you know'. Glad you covered all of that right in the OP! haha.

Anyway, even given your definition, I'm not sure what I do is the same thing as what you're referring to - so I won't vote.

I don't think, per se, in images. I think in words much of the time, but then when I'm really thinking about stuff I also do the following: Most of the time when I'm really daydreaming or contemplating things I cease to even know what's in my immediate vicinity; it's like I go into dream-world. For example, if I'm remembering something from my past, or thinking about a place, etc, I'm seeing/experiencing the past or that place, almost as if I'm there, and if I'm thinking about a conversation I had or one I might have (trying to predict how the conversation might unfold) I'm there doing that, in my mind, seeing things too. It's not even entirely conscious, it's just after-the-fact, when I snap out of it and notice the things around me, that I realize what I had been doing. Very much image-based, I guess, to go along with my thoughts.... such that at times (like when I'm driving) and catch myself having gone into that mode, having no idea how I drove the 1 mile or so because I don't remember having driven by any of the stuff I drove by because I was thinking about things and my mind was visually elsewhere, I end up concluding my eyes focus of their own accord even if my mind (thoughts, with corresponding visual images that I'm 'seeing') isn't present in tandem.

I also sort of assumed everyone did this, to a degree. Maybe not?

 

[entropie]

If INFJs have a vivid imagination, I have hairy foot

 

[Walking Tourist]

Yes... music going through my head nearly all of the time... It can be a bit annoying at times. I also have this urge to sing constantly. It probably drives my mother a little mad. It doesn't have much effect on my dad because he is very hard of hearing.

You too? I hear music all the time. Drives me a little mad at times.

 

[Bri]

Haahaa, I voted before I read the rules!
I have a vivid imagination if I'm in charge of the story (my own dreams & daydreams) but I have a horrible time trying to picture what I read in most books. I actually prefer books that don't have much scene detail because it always clashes with what comes naturally to my mind when I read the dialogue/social aspects of the story.

 

[Snuggletron]

my imagination is in black and white clay-animation except there's no animation and no clay.

so I voted maybe

 

[wren]

Tonight I saw a human form in my berber carpet. He had red mohawk hairstyle and was sitting in the lotus position. I looked away and then back but he was still there.

What is that?

 

[entropie]

sorry I'll remember to get the slips out of my hair next time

 

[Tamske]

I voted yes, though I only occasionally get to three dimensions. Mostly my mental images are like frames in a comic strip, so they are 2D.

 

[entropie]

I dont believe you a word !

You're all crazy, I am the last one who is sane in here !

 

[Skyward]

Maybe it has to do with whether you're a visual person or not. I don't think 'vivid imagination' is only limited to seeing pictures in 3D. The fact that you mentioned Amadeus might suggest that you have a preference for auditory learning/perception?

I've always thought I was a visual person, but maybe I'm really tactile, because when I imagine something, I can also sort of imagine how it feels (like when I run my hands over it). I don't see 3D things floating in space. I see myself in the scene with the object I'm imagining. But honestly, I think I have never, ever imagined sound or even music.

It's very interesting that some posters have said they actually hear music in their imagination. That sounds awesome!

I definitely learn visually, I just cant visualize super well. There are half-pictures, half-sounds, nothing as if it were actually there, almost as if my mind was hidden from myself.

Maybe I shouldnt have meant 3D because 2D also fits into the extent I was describing: the ability to see a picture with great detail in the mind.

 

[wolfy]

My imagination is very vivid. Right down to the correct physical response.

 

[magil]

My imagination is ok- somewhat cartoony but it is my dreams that are extremely vivid.

 

[Skyward]

One thing I've been noticing, is that people respond to the image of something awful in their head rather than the idea (usually). But in myself, I can only get a ghosty image on something (at best) so awful ideas don't have as much impact although I'm sure if I saw the idea carried out in person I would have a strong reaction anyway.

Does your vivid imagination affect your morals/principles/etc? Does it affect how you would live your life? Were there times you just wish you didn't have it?