How do you think?

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In my case the benefits of my autism outweight the downsides by tons. I think entirely without words and I found out this is unusual. This mode of thinking seems to give me a huge advantage over many other people in what I can think about. Maybe thats why my ideas seem so outlandish to other people. I use pictures primarily and I attach smells, sounds, tastes, colours, patterns, emotions and other things I can't quite explain to them and with all these factors I can think rapidly.

Could this have something to do with the differences between autistic people and neurotypical people? Do the rest of you think entirely in pictures and other things that are not words? Some people don't believe me when I tell them I rationalize things without words in my head. I have heard this a common trait among autistic people? The ability to think without ever using words. When you think about this it that would explain the advantages high functioning autistic people have over neurotypical people seeing as thinking in words would severely limit what one can think about. In physics class when the teacher puts up a problem to solve I get the answer in my head before most people solve it with their pens and calculators. How I do it is I visualize the actual scenario then the equations make sense so I can work it all out in my head.

I've come across tutorials on "switching off internal dialogue" and I found it funny that it can take people years of meditating to attain a state of mind I've always been in. What about all you? Do you have an "internal dialogue"? A voice in your head that constantly speaks to itself.

I have no internal dialogue. However, it does not help me solve physics problems rapidly (and I became a physicist). In a previous thread on this topic here, most posters did have an internal dialogue.

I do not think in pictures. I find it hard to visualize anything in my head. I'm best with written words though, so my thoughts take the form of written word-- as if they're being written down or typed out for someone else to understand. I think it's kind of hard to describe how you think though.

I'm a very deep thinker, I use words all the time to think and yet I cannot express them to other people, until I get online at least.

However, I do associate pictures with smells, sounds, sights, feeling etc.

It would certainly explain why I get attached to places (even places in video games) because I attach that picture with happiness.

I wonder whether anyone has said this one before...
I get to choose. I can either have several non-verbal thoughts simultaneously or 1 focused, verbal thought.

I think mostly in pictures. I can see myself doing things, I can see how things will fit together, I can postulate outcomes and see all sorts of things inside of my head. All without words!! However, I would be lying if I said I never had any internal dialogue. I do have internal dialogue when I am thinking about any interactions I have had with people or when I am trying to retain material that I am reading. If I didn't mentally speak out the words that I read, I would never remember anything that I have read.... EVER! The alternative would be to talk to myself..... people think you are crazy when you do that. I try to save the talking to myself for when I am alone.

I think entirely without words, but don't think in pictures either. I suppose one could say I think in concepts, and readily identify patterns. I am very gifted in abstract disciplines such as math and physics (studied economics), but am not creative and can not play music.

My thoughts...well the best I can describe is my thinking is me talking. I cannot visualize well, I can't think in sounds, smells, or any other sense. I think in internal monologues I suppose. In my opinion, it's the lamest way to think. X/

The question "How do you think?" is one that comes up sometimes, and I always kind of struggle with it. I'm not really sure how I think when I'm not thinking about thinking. If that makes sense.

If I need to do some reasoning or planning, I'm not sure if it's in words or pictures. Or neither. I'm pretty sure it's more visual. Come to think of it, I don't think I'm particularly good at reasoning and planning. I managed to get a university degree, but mostly because I'm good at writing in a way that makes professors think I'm actually learning something. I haven't been able to plan my days or my life for toffee.

Okay, right now, I'm stopping for a moment to think about what I might make for dinner tomorrow. I don't get any words in my mind at all, but I see myself picking out some kind of beef from the meat department at Safeway, and I can also see some roast potatoes, carrots, and onions, like a stew of some sort. That's what we had a few nights ago, so it's not much of a "plan". But I suppose it's all visual.

If I imagine my mother-in-law, I see an image of her, like a movie, and heard her talking, "I'll just put the kettle on, if that's alright." I don't get any words or sentences in my head, though, other than that. I'm not hearing, "Mother-in-law" or "I am thinking about my mother-in-law. She wears glasses and likes her tea very weak." Nothing like that.



I do sometimes have an internal dialogue, but I use that more for entertainment than figuring things out. It's kind of like creative writing without the writing part.

Visual thinking, internal dialogues, interaction rehearsals, peripheral glimpses ... and all of it can go away instantly if I try to think about whatever is going on or turn my head to look! The frustrating part, however, is having "pictures of thought" quite clear in my mind and being sure I can express them verbally, but then they quickly fade away as I begin to speak.

I think mostly in pictures. I CAN think in words, and my brain can recall music almost like an internal playback, but my memory and thinking process is mostly visual.

I do use words when I think.. I didn't used to use them as much, I don't think, but I discovered that it helped me solidify my thoughts a lot better and clarify things I didn't understand, so now I talk to an imaginary friend and make it a point to narrate most of my thoughts to myself. But I do think mostly in pictures.. as well as odd connections and comparisons that don't really have much to do with reality, so other people don't understand them.

I was always better at word problems than regular math problems, which I think has to do with what you're saying in the second paragraph.. however, I am really terrible at most math-type stuff in general. I cannot estimate anything accurately even if I can see the scenario in my head. I just can't focus closely enough on the precise details for that kind of thing.

I use words, and pictures, mainly for memory recovery; my ability to be a strategy general or whatever was gone a long time ago.

I think in both words and pictures. I have an internal dialogue and I'm also very good at visualization.

I think often in sound relationships. Elderwanda mentioned the word "mother-in-law," and the first thought that immediately came to mind was that stupid Oldies song "Mother-in-Law." The second thing I considered is my actual mother-in-law, whom I unfortunately never got the chance to meet.

How do you think?

From afterthought.