# Did you have an imaginary friend and other visualization questions **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 16, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202 "2015-05-16T23:12:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202/21 "2015-05-19T06:51:10Z")
Define being good at visualization. I can see what I need to see when given a description. But I don’t do it automatically, and I really can’t do faces or fine details. I actually marvel at the fact that recognize faces that I can’t actually recall. And I had an imaginary buddy named Humpty who was basically a CGI egg. CGI in that he just floated around, completely intangible, kinda like a certain CGI mupppet that featured in some muppet documentary. I never remotely thought he was real. He was just a convenient person to talk to. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202/22 "2015-05-19T14:07:49Z")
Yes, apparently I had an imaginary friend that I really don’t remember. Although according to my family the friend was a butterfly I had long discussions with. (age 4) And yes I also visualize when I read and can readily visualize objects. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202/23 "2015-05-19T15:23:40Z")
• No imaginary friend • I definitely imagine things being described (e.g., scenes described in books, etc) but I think I tend imagine it in a more abstract way than “visualize” implies. I have abysmally shitty visual memory, and I tend to think in diagrams and cartoonish simplifications rather than a fully fleshed-out visual panorama. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202/24 "2015-05-19T15:34:44Z")
I didn’t have an imaginary friend. My older brother did, and one of my children did. I visualize when I read easily, always have. I do not believe there is a correlation between imaginary friends and visualizing. I think that a higher % of people actually are able to visualize than those that cannot, which is born out by the results of the poll. The reasons for imaginary friends vary greatly. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202/25 "2015-05-19T17:47:30Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > • No imaginary friend > > • I definitely imagine things being described (e.g., scenes described in books, etc) but I think I tend imagine it in a more abstract way than “visualize” implies. I have abysmally shitty visual memory, and I tend to think in diagrams and cartoonish simplifications rather than a fully fleshed-out visual panorama. This is a pretty good explanation for what I was trying to express. The only time it becomes fully detailed is when dreaming or right before falling asleep. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202/26 "2015-05-19T17:58:35Z")
When I read books, I get a visual of the place in my mind. To the extent that I find myself annoyed when a door appears next to a table in a book and I had a window there in my mind. I’ve seen movies made from books that I read and thought “this is NOTHING like the real layout!” Only to realize that I’m comparing something solid to something I dreamed up. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202/27 "2015-05-19T18:05:28Z")
I had imaginary friends and imaginary stories, I visualize when I read and I visualize, more or less, when someone describes something to me, although I don’t _learn_ very good that way. I’m surprised people say they didn’t visualize when reading or didn’t have imaginary friends. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202/28 "2015-05-19T18:15:12Z")
_Yes / I “see” the action when reading / I’m good at visualizing described objects_ No Imaginary friend and knew only one guy who had one. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202/29 "2015-05-19T21:57:05Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > One of the psychiatrists I work for recently gave a lecture on hallucinations and delusions that tangentially included the mention of imaginary friends and provided a statistic I’ve heard before: 60% of children have imaginary friends. > > This statistic has always seemed like BS to me, but what do I know? I didn’t have one. My little brother didn’t. I can’t think of anyone who seemed to have one as a kid, but they’re apparently out there. > > Thinking about this, I began to wonder if there’s a connection between imaginary friends and other types of visualization, two kinds in particular: > > a Is a person who visualizes the action in a story “in the mind’s eye” as they read it more likely to have had an imaginary friend? > > b. Is a person who is easily able to imagine what an unknown object looks like from hearing a description more likely to have had an imaginary friend? > > As will come as no surprise to you, I don’t picture anything when I read, and was completely unaware that _anyone_ did until just after college. I also am super bad at trying to figure out what to look for when people describe an object and ask if I’d seen it/for help finding it. As an added bonus even though I’m not including it in the poll, I cannot follow the action of a radio broadcast of a baseball gave very well either. > > Is it just me? Let’s do a poll and find out, shall we? > > For polling purposes: > > [ul] > [li]If you **don’t remember** if you had an imaginary friend and no one ever talked about you having one, it seems likely that you did not and should answer no.[/li][li]If you can picture that object you were asked to find at least well enough to find it more than 50% of the time, you’re good at it. If your success rate is less than 50% you’re bad at it.[/li][/ul] Can’t you just add a and i had an imaginary friend button? I had one. My brother had one. I have previously discussed my having had one on the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202/30 "2015-05-20T01:58:06Z")
I didn’t have imaginary friends. I had dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202/31 "2015-05-20T02:30:08Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > I visualize objects when described, I guess, though my mental picture doesn’t always match up with what the other person’s talking about. The reading question is much easier - I visualize everything and always have. I actually have difficulty understanding how reading fiction would be an enjoyable experience if you couldn’t imagine it all. In fact, I think it has a big effect on what **kinds** of fiction you appreciate. I am a total non-visualizer when reading (but more on that below…), and I simply cannot deal with long (more than about two sentences) physical descriptions because they do absolutely nothing for me. If I really concentrate I can laboriously build up a sort of mental construct, but it has no actual image-value … just a sort of shadowy knowledge that such and such is on the left and something else is at the top …it’s all really stored in word format. I love LOTR, to take one example, but there are whole pages upon pages of intense description that I simply leap across, panting “dialogue! give me dialogue NOW…!” The thing is, I know what true visualization is, because I can do it when absolutely relaxed and about to fall asleep. What’s missing is the verbal/visual connection. Words do not and can not trigger images. I can see “wild” visuals that simply float randomly in front of my eyes, and very occasionally I can force myself to truly visualize a chosen object (the sea is a good one. For some reason a degree of motion in the chosen object helps). But the most painstaking **written** description of the sea ever written, would not help in this regard. In fact, it would destroy my vulnerable visualization, distracting my brain with the words. I don’t recall ever having an imaginary friend, FWIW ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202/32 "2015-05-20T03:47:26Z")
I had dogs IRL. That certainly didn’t stop me from having magic flying ponies that flitted about and landed on my shoulders and cuddled and hung around and sometimes talked with me. My dogs were awesome, good dogs, but they couldn’t FLY. My parents, OTOH, liked to sometimes set a place at the table for Harvey the 6-foot rabbit, or tell restaurant hostesses that we needed space for Harvey. (Jimmy Stewart movie reference. Nobody got it but them.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-and-other-visualization-questions/720202.md?page=1)