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Do you think in words or pictures?


La_Fleur

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Do you think in words or pictures? Or in some other way altogether? This is a topic that always has interested me, and I was just wondering if their were any trends between types of thinking and asexuality.

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Both-at different times. Sometimes, I easily get a mental picture of whatever someone's talking about, other times I find it impossible to mentally picture something, so instead I mentally write down notes.

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Also both. Sometimes I like to hold inner monologues because it helps me better understand my own thoughts. Verbalising something has this nice effect of making things clearer. But I also often just think in pictures or not quite phrased sentences. It really depends on the situation and topic.

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Guest_49836

I feel like I replay video, so if it's something that was said I see the scene being played and if it was written I see the words more than pronounce them.

Also when thinking of what to say, it feels more like video too...

this makes it extremely difficult to remember people's names if I cannot see them written. for example, I know all 120 employees' first, last and usernames because I see them, but have good friends who's names I constantly forget because I've never seen it written.

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MC Dusters

I think in smells/perfumes quite often.

Apart from that, pictures.

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ThePaperRose

Usually pictures, colors, feelings, music.. sometimes words, but not often.

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lycanrising

I think in smells/perfumes quite often.

Huh, that's interesting. I have partial anosmia and so I've never considered the idea of 'smelling' as a thought.

Do you think in words or pictures? Or in some other way altogether? This is a topic that always has interested me, and I was just wondering if their were any trends between types of thinking and asexuality.

I personally think in emotions, pictures and 'words'. If I'm being described something by another person I will try and put a virtual image with emotions in my head. But if I'm just 'talking to myself' it's just shapeless words. My memory works in a similar way. I'm pretty bad at bringing up an accurate image but I'm much better at 'fuzzy recognition', such as pinning an image to a place I've been, a similar picture or a film or something. But all facts and everything else I remember I do so as words.

Do I think there is a trend between asexuality and types of thinking? Unlikely in my opinion, but let's see.

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Both. When I'm thinking to myself it tends to be words, but I am very good at visualisations as well. I can imagine things pretty clearly - it's a bit like watching TV sometimes.

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lycanrising

Both. When I'm thinking to myself it tends to be words, but I am very good at visualisations as well. I can imagine things pretty clearly - it's a bit like watching TV sometimes.

I'm jealous, I think it'd be good to be able to accurately recall pictures, and not just now because it's exam period and I would like to see a textbook in my head.

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Thank you all for your answers! As for myself, I definitely don't think in pictures. I can't even visualize someone I have known my whole life. I don't think in words either. I think conceptually. Everything to me is a category in a way, and I easily relate things to each other. My friends tell me I have a story for everything. It also makes me able to think about more than one thing at a time, which is helpful sometimes.

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Pictures,and abstract feelings at once.

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It depends upon what I am thinking. As an artist I find myself thinking about shapes, letters, faces, colors, etc., so I do think in pictures to some degree. Especially when I am painting something larger than a few feet wide, I need to be able to imagine the "visual mathematics" that are necessary to keep everything in-proportion. It's important to note that imagine comes from "image". If I am trying to work out a physics-related idea like moving objects around, as a non-physicist who cannot do math very well, I also use mental pictures to sort out how I expect things to work.

If I am thinking about something more theoretical or verbal I do think in words a bit. I have had this discussion with other people before, and I'd like to bring up this question: do you think in a voice and, if so, whose voice? I have found that when I read or think with words I don't apply any sound-pattern or voice to the words. I only think with voices when I am thinking of people speaking, but if it is just ideas or writing then the words are simply inaudible words. I tried to describe this to my family and ex-girlfriend once and it was thoroughly difficult to articulate.

I also think with sensations, like smell as someone mentioned, but also tactile things. For example, like I said earlier I do use logic when planning out my paintings, but during the actual painting process I tend to think in terms of physical motions. Rather than thinking "paint a 45 degree line", I think "paint the line that makes my arm feel this way."

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Starbogen

Both, and in music, and sometimes in something like music videos.

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lycanrising

Thank you all for your answers! As for myself, I definitely don't think in pictures. I can't even visualize someone I have known my whole life. I don't think in words either. I think conceptually. Everything to me is a category in a way, and I easily relate things to each other. My friends tell me I have a story for everything. It also makes me able to think about more than one thing at a time, which is helpful sometimes.

I can empathise with the conceptual thinking. I'm not sure I can think of more than one thing at a time, but I'm certainly drawing links on any topic brought up.

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RazorEddie

Almost purely words for me. Like Bijoux I have very poor visualization ability. I occasionally get visual hints, like seeing something for a split second in dark fog but that's about it. A friend of mine thinks almost purely in pictures. He has to 'translate' the pictures into words when he speaks.

I find it fascinating the ways different people think.

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I lean so strongly to the verbal side that I never really understood how, in role-playing games and such, telepathy tends to get treated as "universal translation". :blink:

If you were psionic and tried to read my mind, you'd still have me think at you in German and/or English, and if you don't speak these, then nope, you will not be able to make sense of my brainwaves on more than the utmost superficial empathy level.

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SorryNotSorry

Mostly pictures.

But I know that a lot of people see the world in stick-figure vision.

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1/100 of me

Both I guess. At any given moment there are a million things running through my head. Sometimes it's hard to separate them.

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i relate a lot to the "conceptual thinking" idea. i don't really think in individual words, more in...ideas? it sometimes makes it hard for me to express myself fully, since i need to come up with the right words as i'm explaining it, but i think it also makes me (somewhat) better at learning new languages, since i don't necessarily need to think and speak in two different languages...i don't need to "reroute" my brain, so to speak.

however, i am also a strong visualizer; when i'm trying to remember information i've learned, for instance, i'll see the words on the page in my mind. :)

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WoodwindWhistler

Words all the way. I'm terrible at visualizing.

I mean, if it's something dry like geometry or thinking about the three dimensional structure or repetitive timed movements of something, yeah, I'm excellent at that. But remembering what something looked like, or putting a vivid picture in my head is something that rarely ever happens.

I lucid dream often and when I remember it I hardly remember what anything looked like, only what was going on and what effect it was having. I had a dream that was especially vivid, like, one time. I was figuratively scratching my head and going wait, how did this dream go into HD from my normal foggy screen all of the sudden?

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Firlefanz

When I try to visualize something, the picture in my mind is quite blurry (if I try to see the face of a friend, or a landscape for example). The image will be rather abstract than concrete (like, there is an idea, but my mind is usually only able to draw a mere sketch), there won't be a 'coherent' image, in my mind are only parts of the picture at a time, with foggy voids in it and often pale colors, and the picture will be of a quality like you only open your eyes one third and maybe cross them a bit.

I'm better at thinking in concepts and 'words' (not really proper sentences), but often there will be a blurry image, too.

When reading or writing a text, I kind of 'hear' the words in my mind, but there is not really a voice for the sounds (haha maybe it's my own voice? ;) ) and thinking of an object, when bringing it's concept to my mind, I can also imagine it's sound and the written characters (usually looks like standard computer font ;) ).

What I find really fascinating is, that my mind is able to 'replay' the voices of people I know or of voice actors (only if I heard someones voice often enough, of course), even if it's just a short 'recording' (like one or two seconds of them laughing or making a sound when they're bugged out, or a few words; basically I hear something typical for the person). For voices I've heard often or that are 'catchy', I can also imagine complete sentences im my mind; but however, it's different for each person and voice, whether I can imagine their voice and to which extent.
I guess, I'm not the only one able to do this, but like I said, to me it's a really fascinating ability of the brain. :D


Oh well... it's not easy to describe those mind-things in English (haha not even in German)... :huh:

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I think in a limited fashion of both visual and words. A lot of it comes as, for a lack of a better word, instinct. Things can just pop into my head as something I "know."

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Vampyremage

Mostly words although I can visualize things when need be. Visualization, however, isn't something that comes especially naturally. I have to intentionally direct my mind to visualize and even then certain details are difficult for me. Words are where my mind naturally resides.

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Mostly images if there is no particular reason for my thinking. Like when I'm alone and just letting thoughts go through my mind passively. But mostly in words when I am 'actively' thinking and interacting with people.

Depends on the situation really.

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Calligraphette_Coe

About equally between words, pictures/drawings and math.

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steeplechasers

i think in pictures of words. literally. i see words in text form in my head, or i feel them in spatial relation to each other. i can certainly picture things, but i tend not to unless i am asked to.

usually i think in either words, concepts, or spatial maps, though these are much more intuitive and fuzzy than they sound.

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I think primarily in ideas. They aren't pictures or words, just a concept that takes an abstract form. Sometimes these involve pictures but not always.

Does anyone else find its very difficult to explain how you think?

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I think primarily in ideas. They aren't pictures or words, just a concept that takes an abstract form. Sometimes these involve pictures but not always.

Does anyone else find its very difficult to explain how you think?

Yes! How your describing it, I think similarly. I don't have the pictures, but definitely in concepts. I have never been able to properly explain it to another person. I think that is why is fascinates me so much. The human brain is pretty amazing.

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ThaHoward

Well when I think about like what to do it is in words. But mostly it is in pictures. Especially if I am listening to really loud and good music, I might get "lost" (literally) in my own thoughts, and need to be "woken" to come back.

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I think primarily in ideas. They aren't pictures or words, just a concept that takes an abstract form. Sometimes these involve pictures but not always.

Does anyone else find its very difficult to explain how you think?

Thats a lot better way of wording it than what I tried.

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