Concrete / Abstract thinking

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My theory: some years ago, some psychiatrists discovered/invented thar aspies are "concrete thinkers".

Then, after seing that many aspies have, indeed, abstract reasoning, they "solved" the contradiction saying that these abstract thinking are indeed a peculiar type of "concrete thinking" (perhaps that is the case of b9, and the metaphors that are, after all, "literal reconstructions" ).

Btw, I can't understand why the theory that aspies prefer concret reasoning can peaceful coexist with the stereotype that aspies are usually good at math (math - perhaps the more abstract of sciences!)

all accurate mathematical concepts are more solid even than concrete.

concrete can be compromised, but accuracy is not able to be destroyed.

that notion i have about concretion is more concrete than a really concrete thought. it is more like "concrete to the power of concrete"

Abcrete/Constract thinking topic

I like to translate abstract stuff I read into metaphors in order to picture them better, as I am a pictorial thinker. I also teach this when I tutor my students.

This is how I learn, and it is functional for me.

Last edited by sartresue on 25 Nov 2008, 8:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

criss, I am so glad you started this thread! I recognize myself to have so many AS traits, and I think I have it (or residual AS maybe), because of how I feel internally; it just fits, and explains me better than anything else ever did. However, this is the very thing that I was wondering about! I am very artistic, left handed (right brain dominant), and I definitely prefer the arts as interest subjects, rather than concrete data; (in fact, I don´t seem to even have a "brain" for memorizing figures and systems!) I´m definitely better with abstract thinking and concepts. Although I am a typical "Aspie" in that I tend to take others words literally, I do tend to speak metaphorically pretty often...(and I do usually understand other people´s metaphors too, it´s just in regular speaking, I tend to understand words pragmatically). I actually started a thread awhile back, wondering if neurological differences like right or left handedness affects how AS presents in people. It´s clear that some people are born artists and abstract thinkers- this must be genetic- so it would seem logical to me that some people with AS may also be artists and abstract thinkers. I think they know so little about it really, more study is necessary...for this reason, there are all sorts of stereotypes about AS and the associated personality that is supposed to go with it. Basically, autism exists as it is...what is known now is only that which has been observed and labeled. However, many more possibilities can still exist...

Anyway, now that I know that you have it, that also confirms that my gut feeling about myself may be true!

Thank you Morgana.............

By the way I love your quote.

In receiving my Dx with As, it was like something was conceived in me that could only be given birth to through writing my book. (A Painful Gift - A Journey of A Soul with Autism, Published by Darton Longman and Todd)

Writing my book near enough killed me, it killed of the my NT persona and my over-identification with my adaptive-self. Analogies of death are so profoundly rich to map the inner-journey I feel.

Go well my friend.

Chris.

Wow, you wrote a book? That sounds pretty interesting...I think I´d like to read it! I´m fascinated by other peoples journeys with autism. Can I order it from Amazon?

Yeah, my quote is from the movie "The Fountain". I liked the quote- (also the movie: lots of visual/symbolic/spiritual elements. It´s one of those movies I watch over and over again). It was said that a Mayan God died a sacrificial death, in order to create the world, which grew through him. I liked that idea, and decided also that it fit with my User Name (Morgana, also known as Morrigan; crone Goddess. Morgaine le Fay, from the King Arthur tales, is an offshoot of the Morrigan). Well, as you can see, I´m also interested in spiritual archetypes...

I'm now considering an alternative hypothesis. Perhaps the abstract/concrete disctinction could be a spectrum in its own right, sharing ground with the autistic spectrum but not in parallel with it; in this model, Neurotypicals would inhabit the centre ground on either side of a dividing line between concrete and abstract, whereas Aspies would stretch further in both directions away from the centre, like this:

Concrete Aspie | Concrete NT | Abstract NT | Abstract Aspie

That's not by any means a trained viewpoint - just an armchair theory that I'm bouncing around (to use a figure of speech)

Creative aspie here...

so what do you tutor?

good to see other abstract thinkers .. meaning creative right..

Add me to the list! I am extremely creative, a poet, musician, creative writer, artist, composer, etc. I definitely favour my right brain, and I love metaphorical thinking. However, I am also good at maths science if I try (I was an A grade maths science student in High School as well as an A grade Arts student).

Well, my degree is in music and although I never managed a full-time career in that field, I am a church organist and part-time bassoon tutor. I also play bassoon in an amateur symphony orchestra and I have composed some church choral music. I am also a keen amateur photographer, shooting mainly architecture. I don't want to steer away from the topic of the thread but just to highlight why I would be more abstract than concrete.

The abstract/concrete dichotomy has different meanings depending on the subject it’s applied to. In most cases abstract means referring to a general concept or idea rather than specific examples. Platonic forms and such. It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with creativity.

Thank you Morgana

If you check out my website at www.chrisgoodchild.com you will get the link to my book, there are some small reviews on my site already, but the exact date of the launch is not known yet, although it will be sometime in February.

Go well.

[quote="kiwi
Creative aspie here...

so what do you tutor?

good to see other abstract thinkers .. meaning creative right..[/quote]

Touting the tutor topic

Dear Kiwi: I tutor math and English to the Grade 10 advanced level, and help students organize research for essay writing. I help with the structure of the project, while the student supplies the content. The form of the essay is always the hardest, according to the students, while I consider it the easier of the two tasks. Research is often time consuming, and it is often hard to know when to stop looking for what you need!!

Wordplay is creative and just plain fun!!

I'm not good at understanding metaphors, very often my wife has to explain it in plain english to me, and even after that I can't understand why ppl don't say what they want... But I like poetry: there are some that I don't understand but I like the way it sounds and other poems I like the images it evokes in my mind.
I have really hard time to understand satiric cartoons (political mostly) and I usually get into trouble cuz it is used very often in exams.

I am more of an abstract thinker than a concrete thinker.

Also a creative AS here - I write fiction; short stories (just hobby, not published).

It's perhaps interesting that I find writing thoughts and description easy, but dialogue and action extremely difficult.