Thinking?

oldpop

oldpop

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Just curious. When you are thinking do you think verbally, visually or other?
 

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Marie5656 said:
Depends. I often find myself talking to myself when I am trying to figure out a task. Like talking myself through the steps.
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So when you are thinking about something you talk to yourself in your mind or did you mean out loud? I think just like I speak and in the same language. Of course I also think visually but even then words are formed in my thoughts.
 

oldpop said:
So when you are thinking about something you talk to yourself in your mind or did you mean out loud? I think just like I speak and in the same language. Of course I also think visually but even then words are formed in my thoughts.
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Oh, I talk out loud most often. Sometimes I need to hear the words out loud to better understand what I want to figure out. Especially if I am trying to figure out how to do something new like putting something together,
 
Gary O' said:
Never thought about it....

OK, serious;
Absolutely visual

I fantasize

Most my fantasies have become realities.

Takes awhile to get there
But the trip is FANTASTIC
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So when you are thinking about what you are going to do when you wake up tomorrow morning you visualize it without any dialogue in you mind. Is that correct?
 
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This question was asked in a Psychiatry class I took in college. The answers people gave to this question realy opened my mind as to the many different ways people put thoughts together. I thought it might be an interesting topic.
 
oldpop said:
This question was asked in a Psychiatry class I took in college. The answers people gave to this question realy opened my mind as to the many different ways people put thoughts together. I thought it might be an interesting topic.
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Interesting. Dialogue.

If I were asked to describe the features of someone I knew well, I couldn’t.
 
oldpop said:
So when you are thinking about what you are going to do when you wake up tomorrow morning you visualize it without any dialogue in you mind. Is that correct?
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Correct

I have short term fantasies;

pie hutch fin corner 2.jpg

and long term ones that make permanent wrinkles in a frontal lobe until fruition;

zqXb3Cz.jpg



No plans to follow, 'cept a couple quad pad sketches of my own
 
"Grok /ˈɡrɒk/ is a neologism coined by American writer Robert A. Heinlein for his 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land. While the Oxford English Dictionary summarizes the meaning of grok as "to understand intuitively or by empathy, to establish rapport with" and "to empathize or communicate sympathetically (with); also, to experience enjoyment",[1] Heinlein's concept is far more nuanced, with critic Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr. observing that "the book's major theme can be seen as an extended definition of the term.""

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grok
 
Both. For instance, when I think about what kind of window coverings to buy for my two large (103" wide) picture windows, I visualize the different options. I'm also thinking in words: How would curtains look vs. plantation blinds?

But when I am thinking about serious subjects (war, poverty, etc.) I don't visualize those. I don't even know if I can.

Not too long ago, I couldn't visualize at all. For some reason, now I can -- but not always.
 
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I don't think. I allow thoughts to come and go at random. Some of them are visual, some are only sound. If I am trying to solve a problem, I look at the information I have and go off to do something else. Eventually the answer reveals itself.
 
oldpop said:
When you are thinking do you think verbally, visually or other?
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I think verbally in my head. I don't understand how to think without words, it makes me wonder about species that don't have language. Though back in college there was a particularly challenging math course that was mostly doing proofs, and I remember that what I considered my subconscious (tho I guess was just non-verbal thinking) would just magically 'poof' the proofs for me after about an hour of patiently re-reading the material.
I have tried clearing all my verbal thoughts sometimes (after watching some YouTube videos about meditation), it really helps me change my focus to the world around me. But in general my thinking is all just a lot of conversation in my head.
 
Judycat said:
I don't think. I allow thoughts to come and go at random. Some of them are visual, some are only sound. If I am trying to solve a problem, I look at the information I have and go off to do something else. Eventually the answer reveals itself.
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If I have a dilemma, I keep it "on think". Sometimes I wake up with the perfect solution. I love it when that happens, but it doesn't happen enough!
 
HoneyNut said:
I think verbally in my head. I don't understand how to think without words, it makes me wonder about species that don't have language. Though back in college there was a particularly challenging math course that was mostly doing proofs, and I remember that what I considered my subconscious (tho I guess was just non-verbal thinking) would just magically 'poof' the proofs for me after about an hour of patiently re-reading the material.
I have tried clearing all my verbal thoughts sometimes (after watching some YouTube videos about meditation), it really helps me change my focus to the world around me. But in general my thinking is all just a lot of conversation in my head.
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When I was taking trig in high school, it came totally naturally to me and it was fun. Same with algebra courses. I could read the material once, and I magically understood it. Now, my daughter is in grad school for math, and I have to really think about it before I can do math problems. And trig? Who remembers how to do it by hand? I sure don't. Now people use calculators or something.

I am thinking seriously (like that takes much) about taking some free online courses in math, just to activate that part of my brain, and perhaps strengthen it. I've done that in the past, for fun, and was amazed by how much I'd forgotten.
 
oldpop said:
This question was asked in a Psychiatry class I took in college. The answers people gave to this question realy opened my mind as to the many different ways people put thoughts together. I thought it might be an interesting topic.
Click to expand...
Both. When taking tests to answer some questions where i knew instructor was looking for very precise answer i'd often visualize the textbook page about it, then 'reread' it to get the answer as they wanted. When solving storage or repurposing problems i tend see images and only need words if i'm going to explain it to someone. I have good spatial perception and combined with my visualization skills it helps me pack a moving truck efficiently so there's little shift of anything in transit. And the things that will be needed first are first off the truck.

WheatenLover said:
When I was taking trig in high school, it came totally naturally to me and it was fun. Same with algebra courses. I could read the material once, and I magically understood it. Now, my daughter is in grad school for math, and I have to really think about it before I can do math problems. And trig? Who remembers how to do it by hand? I sure don't. Now people use calculators or something.

I am thinking seriously (like that takes much) about taking some free online courses in math, just to activate that part of my brain, and perhaps strengthen it. I've done that in the past, for fun, and was amazed by how much I'd forgotten.
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When i had to take college algebra as prerequisite before getting to courses for my major i frustrated the female prof no end. On a test i could often visualize what the amswer to a problem would look like but could not for the life of me 'show' how i got there. And unlike most of her students who were 2 decades younger than me i never needed calculator for basic math functions within a problem, also have no problem converting percentages to decimal figures.

She was the first one to tell me that while some struggle with any kind of math there are two basic kinds of math skills and that few people are good at both: 1) Basic math--good at grasping the relationships between numbers and performing the basic 4 functions. 2) Higher math like astrophysists use. They a can both create and disect/understand very complex formulas but often need people with basic math minds to check any actual numerical calculations within the formula because when their results are faulty it is usually because they miscalculated doing simple addition, subtraction, multiplication or division within the formula.
 
I think verbally and visually and the two flow together. Sometimes they go into hyper drive and I can't distinguish between the two. Kind of like pure thought. Maybe the verbal thinking is not verbal at all and just seems that way to allow my conscious mind to process what I perceive as reality in a way more familiar to me? I wonder about how babies think before they learn to speak? I would guess visually. I only speak English so I think in English. How about people who speak other languages? What language do they think in? If you speak more than one language maybe you can answer that question. There is a lot of research done on the subject but of course there are no definite answer. That is what led me ask the original question....🤔
 
It's imperative the most powerful thoughts of the highest quality be sent into the atmosphere and projected into the minds of man.
Send strong thoughts of quality, love, hope and honor! If this is done, it will help the entire world!
 
always depends on what i am pondering...
a project...the mechanics of it...the design...the implementation..visual....
life situations are generally through....(as best I can)....verbally with my husband...after talking it over with Jesus
 
HoneyNut said:
I think verbally in my head. I don't understand how to think without words, it makes me wonder abouy species that don't have language.
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Many animals have verbalizatons, which tho not words as we consider them, do serve that function. They have set, taught to young meanings about what food is safe and what not, about danger near, crows remember and can communicate thru their sounds which humans are friends and which are foes.

Both chimpanzees and gorillas have been able to learn sign language, but clearly they can communicate in wild without our words because Silverbacks have been observed showing young gorillas how to safely sabotage poachers traps.

Temple Grandin has spoken often about how she thinks in pictures yet she learned to use ours well enough to earn a PHD, to invent and hold patents on farm equipment, write several books that have sold well and be in demand as a speaker. She was an anomaly who came up when they recommended all autistic spectrum be institutionalized. Of course we know more about that spectrum now, thanks i part to her.
 
Have friends that will call me and ask about something...usually in their personal life...and I tell them "will go into meditation and google it". That's a wonderful way to incubate a thought.
 

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