What is your thought process?

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Hi,

If you consider yourself intelligent by any standard, what is your thought process like? Do you mainly think in words, visuals, abstractions?

I would really like to hear some examples!


Thanks.

My thoughts are both highly verbal (mostly in the auditory sense, though occasionally in the lexical sense) and highly visual (as in having a rich "inner fantasy" life and seeing images and videos in association with words), though I would like to believe that I am also able to think abstractly. I actually tend to think through the lens of my "fantasy world"; my "characters" will help me to analyze a situation and will add their input, and I will sometimes run a stimulation of hypothetical events through this world, such as World War III, a global government, a high-technology society, werewolves, vampires, and other creatures integrating with human society, high-intellect AIs, and so forth.

There are many other threads on the topic that may be of assistance to you:
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt229154.html
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt185295.html
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt102553.html

[edit]Welcome to WrongPlanet! [/edit]

Yes to all of the above. I think visually, verbally and symbolically. It all depends upon the specific situation. When I am designing something, I most often think visually, in that I can see the thing in my head. Other times I have internal conversations with myself. Sort of a discussion between me, myself and I. These are usually topics that have no visual counterparts. That is the discussion is about ideas, or concepts and not physical things. At other times I function on a symbolic level that is neither verbal, nor visual. This is really difficult for me to explain. It usually takes place during meditations and takes the form of ideas, thoughts, or concepts that seem to simply pop up within my consciousness and are often associated with some particular image, or images that are the symbols for these "revelations".

I might also mention that I share the inner worlds just like WerewolfPoet describes. I have my own inner worlds with their own landscapes and creatures. Those places are the "real" world and this one that we inhabit is simply the fantasy world.




Gravity doesn't exist. The earth sucks.

I visualise almost everything. I am very visual.

Usualy as a 3 dimentional solid model, sometimes transparent model, somethimes as a wire frame.

When I'm processing complex unrelated subjects trying to make sence of them, the image of an association diagram will spring to mind. Looking similar to those 3d star maps you sometimes see on TV when they rotate them around. I'll be viewing from somewhere within and having lines of association running to the various "ideas" all around me.

When I'm listening to music that I realy enjoy and letting the sounds wash over me, I'll see textures and colours that move and react to the sound. When I'm practicing a new riff for the drums, an image of the note sequance and timings will spring to mind. I then just have to follow the sequence in my mind and practice the timing. (<- these are spontanious images, and usualy very different for each riff).

I can look at a picture of an object, turn the object into a 3 dimentional model and look at it from any angle using any light source, change textures and colour and do all that within milliseconds. I do this extensivly when creating a new painting.

My dreams are generally a dark brown to white (not black - grey - white). But I often dream in colour; and sometimes the dream explodes into full detail, full texture, full colour, fully animiated, from the forground to the distant horizon. I know this because they'll wake me up they are just so stunning. I still remember vividly the last time this happened about a month ago.

When a loud or high pitched sound goes off near by, I'll often see a colour flash with the sound.

I am some the first two.

I hear little conversations in my head from things I've seen--like a conversation had in a TV show, or a made-up conversation between me and...not gonna say who else. I've had enough of them for today.

But I visualise lots of things, too. I dream in colour. Why do I keep using British spelling? This is irksome. I blame Neopets.

I can see all kinds of things if I concentrate. I can hear a word and a million pictures of that word come to my mind, some useful, some just completely arbitrary...like if I hear the word "Doctor" at a hospital, I'll think of that guy that gave my "happy juice" to knock me out, or the lady that put the IV in my arm, but then...
I also think of Doctor Who. Like, what use are you, Nine? You don't have a medical degree. Shoo

And my GOODNESS, don't get me started on the trio! I can't deal with this. But I want to, soooo much.

I'm sorry if I don't make sense. I've had a lot going on here on WP today, if you wanna check it out.
~SDR