My Thinking Orientation? Help please.

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I've been wondering about how people think lately since how I perceive it, it's a battle between logic and emotion, with most people seemingly favoring one over the other. But the strange thing (as far as I know) with me is that logic and emotion live on the left and right side of the brain in harmony with a well-built corpus collosum to accommodate the daily traffic that's involved with my everyday activities.

So with this, I think both verbally and visually and most times, this is simultaneous. Here's my thinking process: imagine a children's book, full of illustrations and captions to tell the whole story, for the most part, this is how I think. But this does vary. For example, if I'm reading the newspaper, I'm more likely to think visually since the mode in which I perceive information is likely to be logical while I normally think verbally when looking at a piece of art or a landscape since I'm currently being visually stimulated.

I also have a strange memory, one that can almost recall in full detail various conversations or scenes from my life, both trivial and truly memorable, that recalls these things almost like little clips from my life with all the pictures and the audio.

I've read some articles written by Dr. Grandin which have me wondering how my way of thinking relates to others on the spectrum. In particular, she's written about how autistic individuals have specialized brains, but what's interesting to me is how verbal-specific and visual-specific thinkers are polar opposites in terms of strengths and weaknesses, however, I can't personally categorize myself as being in one category since I'm interested in many facts about law and government while also being considered almost phenomenal at drawing (that's what other people say anyway - I'm almost never satisfied). Although, I don't consider myself at all the other type, a pattern-based thinker.

And though I did say that I believe that both hemispheres of my brain work in unison, the fact that depending on the situation, I'm either logical or intuitive but never the same, I have a hard time with subjects like English and Math which force me to think in both methods simultaneously while with subjects such as History and Art, I can fully almost depend on just either thinking using just one method. Basically, I can do fine focusing on thinking either only logically or intuitively to fulfill an academic task despite the fact that my brain seems to be wired in a way that I am naturally both at the same time.

So I'm just wondering what's with me? What can my way of thinking be categorized as? Does anybody else think this way? And do you think there's a way that I can possibly reconcile logic and intuition for at least some work? I'm only wondering since I'm perplexed by what seems like the complexity of my mind and also, I have more than 10 tabs open and I need to find the answer to this question pretty soon before my curiosity reaches the point of no return.

Last edited by CftxP on 16 Mar 2013, 12:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

No matter what theory, you read, it presents a limited record of reality, - and it has to, in order to concentrate and make clear the subject examined. A theory is black and white, - whereas reality.......
Don´t think, that you have to match a theory. Even if you´re on the spectrum, you can be just as diversely gifted as anyone else.
Just enjoy your abilities and work on the social stuff if it bothers you.

I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm a rarity that absolutely cannot be duplicated. I guess I'm just suffering through my OCD-backed identity crisis and my folly, Jensen, is probably the fact that I believe that I can actually be categorized in specific terms, Autism is a spectrum after all.

Thanks Jensen, I will work on my abilities, no matter how split they and my passions are and yeah, the social stuff does bother me, I need to re-elevate my self.

No.

I'm not sure how you'd define logic, but emotion certainly is not just a one-sided thing. For one thing, the amygdala are crucial to fear, and possibly some other negative emotions, and both the left and right amygdala seem important (with the left possibly being more important to emotion). (The amygdala, by the way, are not part of the cerebral cortex, which is the part divided into hemispheres and connected by the corpus callosum. They're two tiny almond-shaped structures at the base of the brain.)

Plus, if you look at the cortex and emotion, the right and left frontal regions both contribute to emotion - approach-related emotions (positive emotions and anger) involve the left frontal region more, while withdrawal-related emotions (eg sadness, fear, etc) are associated more with right hemisphere activity. This means, for example, that left frontal damage increases risk of depression, while right frontal damage is more often associated with fearlessness/excessive happiness. Though these are just trends and individual variation is present. There may also be gender differences - some research suggests that women may have it reversed relative to men, or at least partially reversed.

Well, for me, that IS how it works. Though neurobiology does strike somewhat of an interest for me, I was alluding to the common theory of left and right brain through the use of imagery, thus, making your analysis virtually meaningless for the question at hand (sorry - I just wish people would pay attention to what I ask, not the little details and then make arguments over them). However, it is interesting how the limbic system functions, despite the unwanted and unintended biological argument (though as someone who's inclined towards the humanities, I will probably prefer nurture over nature anyway).

Then don't include little details that are wrong. It really bugs me when people get something wrong in an area I'm obsessed with.