I was trying to update my blog template with the cover of my one of my social cognition books, A Fantastic Theory of Mind: On Aphantasia, Simulation, and the Illusion of Knowing Others.
I had the cover, and it was glorious—this is a remarkable statement coming from me, the most catastrophically inept book cover designer ever to have touched a book. Though I realize that declaring yourself the most anything is, in itself, suspiciously narcissistic.
Oh, well.
The folder was marked as published since back in May. I've read the title many times.
So I went to my Amazon author page to find the highly controversial book and add the link to my blog.
It wasn’t there.
I searched again.
Nothing.
What in the cognitive science name? Where did it go?
In the cyberspace?
For a moment, I thought Amazon had somehow failed to attach the book to my author account. But A Fantastic Theory of Mind was simply nowhere to be found.
This is a particularly absurd problem for someone who has written as many books as I have—a grand portion of them would never reach the publishing stage.
I have folders full of manuscripts I have published,
folders containing books ready to publish,
and folders containing books that need editing—these ones will likely remain in that folder for eternity.
I write constantly, but publishing is an entirely different kind of beast.
If you read Not Born to Write: The Portrait of Aphantasic Trauma, writing a book is already an immense struggle for me. Extremely demanding and energy-consuming. I barely muster the energy to breathe, and yet, this is my livelihood.
Or better saying, it should be, given that I write full-time, between 12 and 16 hours a day.
But no, I barely earn enough to pay the famous water bill.
Editing it, preparing the cover, writing the description, finding the right categories, choosing the keywords, formatting everything, navigating the publishing process, and finally getting the book where it is supposed to be is almost insurmountable to me.
It is ego-dystonic. Draining beyond belief. Yes, I am burned out, suffering from what we call chronic fatigue syndrome for the last... forty-five years. I am fifty, mind you. I can't ever remember when I wasn't exhausted.
If you suffer from it too, look into what I publish on aphantasia. My phenomenology and lived reality contradict and challenge canonical research on mental imagery and the blindness of the mind.
Anyway, A Fantastic Theory of Mind had already made it through all of that—chronic fatigue, the illusion of making a living and all.
The cover was done.
The manuscript was formatted.
The folder said published.
But the book was lost in my folders.
So today, I published it.
And perhaps there is something outlandishly appropriate about that.
A Fantastic Theory of Mind is a book about what happens when we mistake a representation for the thing itself.
Theory of Mind is built around the idea that we understand other minds by constructing mental representations of them: beliefs, intentions, desires, emotions. We call this understanding. I question the leap.
What if the model we construct tells us more about the observer than the person being observed?
The book begins with the extraordinary history of Sarah, the chimpanzee whose behavior became the starting point for Theory of Mind, and follows that history into simulation theory, social cognition, empathy, mental representation, phenomenology, epistemology, and the problem of knowing other minds.
Aphantasia enters the argument as a natural experiment.
What happens when the internal machinery of mental simulation is absent?
Does understanding disappear?
Does empathy disappear?
Or does something else become visible?
The book argues for a distinction between simulation and recognition: between reconstructing another person inside ourselves and encountering that person as an external reality.
It is a critique of the assumption that simulation provides access.
It is also an exploration of what might remain when simulation never starts.
For readers interested in Theory of Mind, cognitive science, cognitive psychology, philosophy of mind, phenomenology, empathy, embodied empathy, aphantasia, neurodiversity, or ethics, this book asks a deceptively simple question:
What if recognition is possible only when simulation is not?
A Fantastic Theory of Mind: On Aphantasia, Simulation, and the Illusion of Knowing Others is finally where it was supposed to be.
Published and ready for you to read and enjoy.
Hopefully.
Will you purchase it?
That, of course, if Amazon allows it to go live and become reality. I shouldn't be surprised if I got an email saying: The book you submitted for review is in illusion, you aphantasic moppet.
Kudos
Update. A Fantastic Theory of Mind is live and kicking.
Hip, Hip.Hurray!
Have a look: https://link.amazon/B0chThTz9
Phew.
I am Cristina Gherghel, author of numerous blogs and books dedicated to neurodevelopmental psychology, human behavior, trauma, abuse, philosophy of mind, and mental health.
- Panmodal aphantasia
- Asensoria
- Avalidia
- Atelosia
- Analytheia
- Altrudynia
- OMES (Ontological Metabolic Exhaustion Syndrome)
- Anauralia
- Anendophasia
- Anhedonia
- Asexuality
- C-PTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)
- And others
The conditions described are insufficiently understood in the specialized literature. Current explanations for their causes are often inconsistent with how they manifest in lived reality.
This is why I am developing my own model, based on observation and comparative research, which analyzes the differences and overlaps among these neurodivergent conditions and their connection to early trauma, ontological abuse, and subtle forms of self-instrumentalization.
This article is part of a broader ongoing effort to clearly differentiate between these conditions — not only as clinical definitions but as lived experiences with a profound impact on thought processes, relationships, perception, and identity construction.
Thank you for reading and supporting for my work.
Dive Deeper into the Research
My full research papers and thesis can be found on all scholar platforms, for example:- Aphantasia Is Not an Advantage in Long-Term Abuse: On the Trauma of Fleshbacks and the Myth of Coping and Defense Mechanisms is available to read for free on Zenodo. It presents the complete argument, evidence, and theoretical framework.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17692334
- The Zero Point of Narcissism: On the Conditional Nature of Panmodal Aphantasia as an Autopoietic Outcome of Amirroring
Join the Journey
My research is ongoing. I share regular insights, updates, and deeper dives on my Substack. Subscribe to follow the journey as the work evolves.https://cristinagherghel.substack.com/
