how do you think?
Apparently it’s not common knowledge that we don’t all think in the same way. Some of us think in pictures, some of us in words, and most of us use a variable combination of the two depending on what we’re thinking about. So, some of us can think of abstract concepts without doodling a picture in our head. An example of this might be, I don’t know, an all-powerful creator that exists behind the celestial curtain. There’s nothing to visually guess about such a being, so those of us who think in words to some degree, are probably happy not making up a picture in our heads to accompany the notion.
For any of you shocked by this information, or for any of you who might think I’m making it up, here’s a quote from Wikipedia to make it all sound more serious:
Visual thinking is the phenomenon of thinking through visual processing.[1] Visual thinking has been described as seeing words as a series of pictures.[citation needed] Visual thinking is common in approximately 60%–65% of the general population.[1]
Visual thinking contributes to everyday activities such as driving, flying, navigating, playing chess, catching a ball, calculating speed trajectory time, and even subtle changes to one’s everyday language.[citation needed]
“Real picture thinkers”, those persons who use visual thinking almost to the exclusion of other kinds of thinking, make up a smaller percentage of the population. Research by child development theorist Linda Kreger Silverman suggests that less than 30% of the population strongly uses visual/spatial thinking, another 45% uses both visual/spatial thinking and thinking in the form of words, and 25% thinks exclusively in words. According to Kreger Silverman, of the 30% of the general population who use visual/spatial thinking, only a small percentage would use this style over and above all other forms of thinking, and can be said to be ‘true’ “picture thinkers”.
So, the burning question, readers, is how do you think? And have you ever noticed how difficult it is to communicate with someone who thinks in a different manner from you? All anecdotes invited.
The phrase ”spiteful bitch” immediately comes to mind, in words AND pictures. Shall I describe the image for you?
😉
LikeLike
Go on, that would be nice. I can’t imagine what sort of picture someone like you comes up with for a concept like that, so I’m genuinely interested. (You can send the apology privately if you like, I won’t tell anyone.)
LikeLike
The term ”spiteful bitch”, in this context, refers to the once -off act of publishing this particular post, you understand? Which you did on purpose and solely to wind me up, of course. No problemo.
Therefore , my mental picture of ‘Violetwisp’ would be the same as when you are merely being playful or washing nappies.(or chucking away disposables if you’re lucky)
So,are you seriously inviting me to write out a description of what I imagine you look like in my head?
LikeLike
I didn’t do it to wind you up, I did it to educate you. I’m sure the revelation will help you in your personal life. 🙂
I’m inviting you to describe the image you get of ‘spiteful bitch’.
LikeLike
I reckon after the snide ‘educate’ remark we can add ‘.very’, don;t you agree?
A spiteful bitch could take on many shapes.
right now I am leaning/thinking toward a more Scottish type…
Then we could have the sophisticated Cruella Deville persona to a ‘fewking cow’ type as per TV’s ‘Footballer’s Wives’, with a crass Mancunian or Scouse accent.
The spurned lover who cuts up her feller’s clothes or scratches his car.
They could be of any shape size creed colour.
I can imagine a lot more.
How about a Cathy Bates type person from Misery?
Or are are you looking for something more personal, with an actual physical and emotional(personality) description?
LikeLike
I was only wondering what you imagined when you said such a hurtful thing to me, your best blogging buddy.
LikeLike
lol…Playing on my heart strings? Wont work…
You struck first blood…as you always do. If you feel hurt lick your own wounds.
So..this reply is a non answer. What do you want?
Be specific.
LikeLike
Do you want me to draw you a picture?
LikeLike
I thought that was what you wanted me to do – in words?
Well? Are you asking for a description of you or not?
LikeLike
You seem desperate to give it a go. Let’s have a look.
LikeLike
Desperate. Ha ha…you really do misunderstand me.
Is that a yes, then? I am gong for some coffee to give you time to make sure….
LikeLike
Yes
LikeLike
My main mode of thinking is as a professor giving a lecture.
LikeLike
Words then? Or does your professor draw lots of pictures?
LikeLike
😀 Words mostly, supplemented with diagrams. But I was more referring to the structure of my thinking.
LikeLike
Oh, a whole post to annoy Ark… Nice one!
I don’t know how i think. Seriously, i have no idea. I suspect a bit of both.
What colour is that in the photo?
LikeLike
Who? Oh, that weird Ark guy that keeps hanging round all my posts? I just don’t know how to shake him off. 🙂
I think most of us think in a healthy combination. I’m beginning to suspect that left-handers are almost completely visual thinkers. The only person who understood what Ark was rambling on about with his images was Nate – another left-hander. So I asked my left-handed sister how she thinks and got a long stories about the difficulties she has if she can’t make pictures in her head with information. Do you know any left-handed people to complete my research??
Are you asking what colour blue the flower is? I’m sure it has a more specific name in other languages, but I guess it’s just blue in English.
LikeLike
Just blue? Come’on, it’s more than that. It’s a kinda’ purple, too. Isn’t there a name for that?
LikeLike
Is it violet?
LikeLike
Is it? I’m asking you 🙂
LikeLike
Where did your music go to?
LikeLike
It was slowing the page down. And it gave me the cringe too. 🙂
LikeLike
Nothing cringe-worthy about it. They were great songs.
LikeLike
Thank you! I’ll leave you with that (false) memory. 🙂
LikeLike
Ark might have been able to better-guess if he’d heard you singing.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on paarsurrey and commented:
Paarsurrey says:
Hi my atheist friends!
I think It will make a good discussion.
When I think about the one true God, I think; no picture comes into my mind; that is the reason why we don’t need any picture or idol to grasp the personage of our one true God or his truthful messenger prophet named Muhammad.
Thanks
LikeLike
That’s interesting Paarsurrey, thanks for joining the discussion. Do you think you generally think more in words than pictures?
LikeLike
In dreams one sees the pictures; in everyday life I am not sure what we do; of course we see things that generate ideas and thinking; but if one has a conversation it is the words.
Thanks
LikeLike
I don’t know but I think I think in words not visually
LikeLike
Did you understand Ark’s assertion that deists must have an image in mind when they think of the creator god they think exists? I’m sure they could believe in one just based on an image-less concept.
LikeLike
I would agree with Ark, that if they, the deists, believe in something they cannot conceive of, that is, something they are not capable of experiencing, then it is not any different from a make belief. It is believing in something because they want to believe and as such their deity exist nowhere else but in their minds as is true for other religious groups.
LikeLike
You agree with Ark?? That’s the first time I’ve heard such nonsense in my life! 🙂
LikeLike
Hahaha :-P.
Be that as it may, to come from thinking something exists to it existing without being able to describe what this thing is, is, in my opinion, believing in phantoms.
LikeLike
The first four verses of the first chapter of the truthful religion mentions the four fundamental attributes of the one true God; i give the same:
[1:1] In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.
[1:2] All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds,
[1:3] The Gracious, the Merciful,
[1:4] Master of the Day of Judgment.
http://www.alislam.org/quran/search2/showChapter.php?ch=1
Now when I ponder on these attributes;Gracious, Merciful, praiseworthy, Lord of all the worlds, Master of the Day of Judgment; all put in one personage in absolute terms; no picture comes to my mind. What I get is that I have a temporary consciousness for sure but there should be some personage who should have caused me this life/consciousness; that being should be conscious in absolute terms.
LikeLike
What would be merciful about a creator that promises an afterlife of torment for most of its creation? What would be praiseworthy about a deity that uses fear of punishment to keep adherents from straying? It’s a confusing image.
LikeLike
@ violetwisp
I think I have already given a reply to this point on the other topic:
paarsurrey on August 17, 2013 at 7:52 pm said:
@ john zande
I think to have a better vision of the one true God we should think about the four fundamental attributes mentioned by me in one of my comments here ; reason being; one should exist prior to making others exist.
LikeLike
Pingback: how do you think? | paarsurrey
Pingback: how do you think? | paarsurrey
I am left handed, and I think almost entirely in words. I have a very good mind’s ear, though, I can hear an orchestra in my head, and with a bit of effort the harmonies and varying timbres of the instruments. Elgar could look at a score and hear all the parts in his head. I can hear people’s voices, sometimes, reading their writing.
Ark, Violet is attractive, and her daughter is beautiful.
LikeLike
Oooh, you’ve ruined my left-handed theory! I had a run of three left-handed pure visual thinkers. I’m very jealous about your ear though, that must be amazing. I’ve had the occasional lucid dream composing with an orchestra at my whim, and it was wonderful. But to be able to do that awake …
LikeLike
Dammit, Claire…now you’ve ruined the surprise!
I was going to use the word ”hot ” just to annoy her.
Anyhow as promised..
Pin your ears back, Ms. V
Short hair, bob type, neat and un fussy, brunette, hazel eyes, quite pale complexion, but not ‘peaches and cream’
Face shape leaning toward oval, high cheek bones
Around 5 6, I won’t speculate weight as this is supposed to be ungentlemanly, so I’ll say trim. taking into consideration the baby…
There you go…shoot me. 🙂
LikeLike
You don’t lurk, or visualise, very well. Wrong on all counts.
LikeLike
Well,according to Claire you’re good looking so that’s okay. And the kid takes after her mum, which is good too.
Women never think they are pretty enough and always think something is not right.
My eyesight is dreadful so I wouldn’t notice anyway.
😉
I don’t do the lurking thing. I leave that to the master…
LikeLike
Several things here. Obviously Clare would say something positive, so you can’t really trust it’s objectively accurate. Secondly, (and very interesting from a feminist point of view) you reinforce the idea that it’s important to be ‘good-looking’ for women, yet criticise women for having psychological hang-ups about their looks. Thirdly, I wasn’t interested in whether you imagined me to be attractive, I was wondering if any kind of accurate image could be generated through perceived online personality traits.
LikeLike
Okay, I must confess.
I have a book sitting on my desk titled , Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett.
There is a character inside called Adora Belle Dearheart, who has the same acid wit and sharp tongue as you. She likes to fire a crossbow.
There is also a drawing of her on the cover. I ripped it off.
LikeLike
Such limited imagination. And to think you ripped it off from such a trashy book. At least I imagine you as an Egyptian god! 🙂
LikeLike
Trashy? Sigh…….
LikeLike
I’m just catching up with Catholic Truth. It’s great scrolling down and reading all your deleted comments! I hope you didn’t use the ‘D’ word …
LikeLike
No, not at all. I picked up on your hypocrisy comment in discussion with Anathanis, or whoever, and tried to back your position with fact. Such as the Catholic Church being the wealthiest independent owner of real estate in the world.
I even linked it with the post, and this priest business. I haven’t been over so I am wondering if they have deleted all of them?
They really are scared shitless of their own shadows, aren’t they?
LikeLike
Well, there are lots of ‘comment removed’ under your name. It is very revealing of how much they want to explore other views of their church. I’ve posted another comment which I’ve linked in tightly with the post. I wonder if it will be edited out. I find them a fascinating bunch.
LikeLike
Yes, I just read it. Talk about tiptoeing on eggshells. In essence there is nothing to be upset about your comment, a carefully worded “Here’s to peeing on your cornflakes” , rant couched in all the right PC terms.
Clever. Maybe they are too dim to pick up on it?
You opening sentence could grease train axles. 🙂
LikeLike
I found their replies genuinely interesting. Frightening, but interesting …
LikeLike
If you use these two words in the same sentence to describe someone/a group”s attitude I hardly think you can expect rational behaviour let alone a rational conversation.
I feel sure your comment will stand, merely because it will confuse the Editor.
She may well be/have been a teacher but this is no yardstick for intelligence.
LikeLike
”At least I imagine you as an Egyptian god! :)”
But you KNOW what I look like!
LikeLike
Interestingly, I imagine your voice and I’m not sure I do for other bloggers. I wonder if it’s because you shout so much.
LikeLike
Oh, you are marvelous…I can whisper too, you know?
LikeLike
You and I have been banned.
Prionsais says:
August 18, 2013 at 4:31 pm
Comment removed
One of the commenters (above) posted a sick comment stating as you thought same sex marriage was okay what was your opinion on a woman being allowed to marry a dog, after a related murder case on Ireland involving something similar.
I had just finished reading it when it was removed. Sorry. Wasn’t quick enough 😦
You would have loved it.
LikeLike
Wow, have I been spammed? I just posted asking why my comment was removed because it related directly to the subject she claimed they were discussing. It disappeared. Does that mean I’m Spam tinned for the rest of my blogging life? How rude!
LikeLike
Sorry, Ms V. I fear you were trundled off to the Spam Can primarily because of me.
It was a case of All for one and one for all.
You would have recoiled in shock at Prionsais comment to you re: sex with a dog. It was truly left field.
Crazy. I laughed like a drain.
I cheekily asked what breed had Prionsais in mind as a Great Dane might cut it but there would be no chance with a Dachshund
It was deleted before he/it got to answer.
LikeLike
Well, I’m feeling rather irritated to be honest. My comment was completely on-topic and I was genuinely interested to see what the response would be. Now I’ll have to try and remember what I wrote and make a post about it. The ultimate irony is that they are judging other members of their church for ‘heresy’ while criticising their leader – does that not make them the heretics? You don’t get much blinder …
LikeLike
Ah, well you see, they are interpreting church doctrine. Maybe they’ll challenge the Pope? lol
The open discussion page is also an eye opener, incredibly anti homosexual. Vitriolic in some cases.
The thrust of your comment was about the way the church had changed many of its attitudes over the years but your last paragraph once again hit upon homosexuality and that was the clincher I reckon.
LikeLike
And actually I expect the main reason for pulling my comment was out of embarrassment for the reply by their own member. Saving face operation.
LikeLike
Could be. The whole dog thing was a bit rough, to be honest. It was funny-ridiculous but incredibly crude in what he was insinuating.
I should have asked what websites he was trawling to come up with an article like that!
LikeLike
Lovely post, I can’t wait to learn about thinking in more detail while I’m at college. I think both with visuals and with words, though it’s difficult to describe how the process itself goes – I guess you’re right that it’s different for everyone!
LikeLike
I hope you still get lots of time to post!
LikeLike