Thinking

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I am having a difficult time figuring out how I think, or what kind of thinking it might be considered.

I definitely don't think in pictures. I can't see an image in my head no matter how hard I try.

I would say that my thoughts are words, but I don't see the words in my head. I don't think I actually hear them either though. My thoughts are just sort of there. It is kind of like I am talking to myself in my head, I guess. I don't know if I am making any sense here.

I use a lot of reasoning. And I will sometimes use this reasoning to draw a picture so that I can see it. But I have to draw a picture because I can't make that image appear in my head.

Does anyone else think like this?

Interesting question!

As infants, we open our eyes and we see strange images and hear strange sounds. Initially we think in moving pictures. Next we transition into a state of stopping a frame from the moving pictures - we essentially think in photographic images. And then our brains begin to understand symbology. The letters of the alphabet are symbols, the numbers are symbols, the music notes are all symbols. These symbols join together to form words, mathematical equations and music compositions. We begin to think in terms of words. All this happens in the first couple years of our life.

So how do I think? I suspect it is in multiple ways.

Sometimes I think in terms of words.

Other times I think in terms of pictures. But it is more than just pictures. When I think of ice cream. The image of the exact ice cream cone that I want comes to mind. It is soft served ice cream dipped in melted chocolate that cooled into a hard crust. But it is more. I can taste it. My other senses come into play all at once. It is a fusion of senses.

Other times I think in terms of theories. These theories form an exact jigsaw puzzle and I can visualize the pieces fitting together in three dimensional space or even beyond three dimensional space.

Other times my mind thinks for me and I am just a spectator.

So what you’re saying is that you can ACTUALLY see an image in your head? Like if you were thinking of an apple, you’d see a picture of an apple in your head?

Yes sometimes I will actually see an apple in my head. But it is more than just an apple. It is a memory of an apple, how it looked, how it tasted, how I felt when I held it - the firmness of the apple. The crispness of the apple. I can close my eyes and see it, put it up to my mouth and bit into it and savor its taste.