Monday, December 10, 2012

Do You Think In Words, Pictures, or Sounds?


It has been said that creative geniuses in music think in sounds, whereas great artists think in terms of pictures, and of course those great literary authors in human history have been able to so eloquently put their ideas into words, this is because they think in text. This all makes sense when we think about it, but how often have you ever thought here? I know I have in the past, but maybe we need to think about this more to better understand the human psyche and brain. It would solve a lot of problems, prevent animosity, and help humans get along better. Okay so let's talk.

There was a very interesting article in the Smithsonian magazine July August issue of 2012 by Temple Grandin. The article told of a famous author who is also a livestock management expert, but that's not all she's also an advocate for autism. She discusses "a smarter approach to thinking about thinking." In the article she explains that he thinks in pictures, and this helps them visualize in his mind "innovations for livestock facilities for cattle."

This is something that some folks with autism, especially higher functioning folks along the autism disorder spectrum are able to do - in that case it wouldn't be much of a disorder would it? They can very easily visualize in their mind their creative genius level concepts. This gal also wrote a book "thinking in pictures," in which she describes how folks with autism either think in words, pictures, or patterns. What I found so interesting about this is that; as a writer, I am very oriented these days into thinking in words. Of course, I only started writing after I retired. Before that I always thought in pictures, and I always noticed patterns.

The author explains that these higher functioning autistic folks have an advantage in the way that they think, and that makes them extremely well-suited to work on teams with other people who don't think like this, or may think in different ways. Interestingly enough, those three ways he mentioned I just happened to be quite good at for whatever reason. The author explains that she used to think that people were merely stupid when they couldn't see the patterns, or think conceptually in pictures. The reality is that different people think in different ways.

Now then, I would submit to you that at the highest level of IQ, folks are able to think in multiple ways, and therefore they don't need a group to brainstorm with to come up with new ideas, concepts, or innovations. They can do the whole thing by themselves, explain it in words, sketch it out in a picture, or show you how the patterns come together and therefore able to predict if the new concept will be a success or not. I do not believe this is hard to do, but as the author describes I've often felt that people were stupid because they were unable to think in these ways.

Perhaps the reality is that we just haven't train them to do so, or they haven't had the opportunity or practice to learn. For instance, before I started writing I was not very good at thinking in terms of words, but I definitely see the advantage to being able to do that now, and understand exactly what this author was saying in this Smithsonian Magazine article, and what he is talking about in the book he wrote. One book this article author also recommended in that Smithsonian article was; "Born on a Blue Day" by Daniel Tammet.

Therefore, I went online today and ordered both book, because not only is this topic fascinating, it is very important that we all understand more, especially those who are in the education profession, or work in a corporate R&D department, or perhaps run a think tank. That would be my estimation, and I'm glad I brought this to your attention. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Ho'oponopono and Brainwave Entrainment, Two Powerful Healing Systems   Meditation Retreats and Techniques - Some Questionable Assumptions   Brainwave Entrainment Can Ease The Emotional Symptoms of Awakening   Why Awakening Using Brainwave Entrainment Is A Good Thing   



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