We don’t get caught up in memories the same way which can make moving on from things emotionally easier. While things can still be traumatic, not reliving them in such detail can be less traumatic.
I wouldn’t say there’s no upside.
We still function just fine, it’s just a different experience.
The upside sounds made up. There is no reason to believe that people with this challenge have this feature rather than you yourself having this feature for reasons completely unrelated to this.
There are literal studies done on this that show we have less emotional attachment to memories via not remembering them via visualization. More studies are needed obviously, but it appears to be the case. The visualization of anything can create more emotions.
E.g someone being read a passage triggered measurable similar changes in people without aphantasia and not the same in people with aphantasia, but watching a video of something had the same effect on both.
You can view that as a negative as well, but it goes both ways.
It appears to be a functional lack with no upside its a disability
It doesn’t really have any downsides either so it’s neutral
How on earth can you imagine that has no downsides?
We don’t get caught up in memories the same way which can make moving on from things emotionally easier. While things can still be traumatic, not reliving them in such detail can be less traumatic.
I wouldn’t say there’s no upside.
We still function just fine, it’s just a different experience.
The upside sounds made up. There is no reason to believe that people with this challenge have this feature rather than you yourself having this feature for reasons completely unrelated to this.
There are literal studies done on this that show we have less emotional attachment to memories via not remembering them via visualization. More studies are needed obviously, but it appears to be the case. The visualization of anything can create more emotions.
E.g someone being read a passage triggered measurable similar changes in people without aphantasia and not the same in people with aphantasia, but watching a video of something had the same effect on both.
You can view that as a negative as well, but it goes both ways.