How do you think?

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Hi ya'll!
Forgive me if my first thread is a repeat. I looked but didn't see.

I'm curious how you all think, ie what is your cognitive process? I'm an associative thinker. I usually have to follow a thread of thought to get where I'm going (the typical joke of Person:"Hi Fred!" Fred:"That's right, I have to pick up my dry cleaning!").

Part of why I'm asking is that I'm starting to have 'holes' in my memory... things I know, and I know I know them, they're on the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember them unless I can free-associate my way to the memory. Or things to do that I forget about until something unrelated leads me back to them.
But I'm also asking because I've always gotten the feeling and opinion that the way my brain works is different from everyone else.

So, do you think in a linear fashion, or mnemonic, or free-associative, or... ???

That's basically how I think/remember things.

I have to see connections, the more connections the more I remember.

It's strange, the connections don't even lead to specific details. I'll remember a system and identify things and specific attributes but not the actual name.

I have problems remembering the notation and specific symbols in many systems, unless they fit into my ideal model of how I want the system to be represented.

The problem comes up in Math, I am having a bit of trouble in my advanced math courses... when new Greek symbols are introduced and I have trouble remembering the specific meaning of each one. If I can reason the Mathematical idea in a graphical way... not symbolic... I do much better.

An even more specific example is in Calculus, I can reason the concepts of calculus much easier if I picture what it means graphically. When it comes to reasoning it using the actual definitions and symbols... it becomes much more difficult.

Cervates,

I, too, have to associate and follow a thought thread. .but you mentioned something that used to perplex me no end! Sometimes I can be LOOKING at the object, know what it is used for, know I should know what it is called and STILL can't think of it's name! I will sometimes blurt out "the deely bob that does the thingamajig to the what'sit!. . ." but I learned to shut up about that.

Later, I have no problem with it, but something else can't be identified.

And then I go for years with out an incident like that. Is that what you mean?

I get incidents like that about 4 times a week it seems. Maybe even higher...

I don't hate doing it so much... but it really hurts people's perception of me.

I also hate it when people associate a great memory with intelligence. I always understand connections, which is a greater sign of intelligence. People just like what is easily perceived though...

Last edited by Pugly on 09 Aug 2007, 10:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

Huh. I do that, never even occurred to me that it could be an AS thing. Interesting. I think I do the association thing, too, although perhaps to a lesser degree. I went through a phase, years long, where I'd just quote from movies, composers (I'm a music graduate), scientists, newspaper articles probably every 3rd sentence. I think it helped me tie everything together (also you sound more articulate if you steal someone else's words). The real thought process thing that I do that I can't get out of is trying to play things out, the consequences of actions, and create this narrative of how things are going to go in the future, sometimes trying to "game" out actions and consequences years into the future.

Mmaestro

My mind is very odd. I don't see anything. I can't see images in my head at all except in dreams. I don't ‘see’ anything, not even words. It took me a while to work out what people mean when they say ‘imagine’ or ‘visualise’.

I sort of think in definitions or descriptions, I guess. My mind is quite abstract and random. I have to use the lateral thinking you’re talking about. I struggle with recall and working memory because I have a bad executive dysfunction.

My mind does the exact opposite of yours, i.e. I only think in terms of visual and other sensory impressions and I have a lot of trouble with verbal, linear, sequential, procedural, step-by-step types of thinking. If something would sound logical in words without making visual sense, I would say about it that it is without meaning and has no basis in reality.

I'm a relational thinker too. Often I say that I have a midrashic mind. I have the same types of memory problems, but I don't think I've ever been unable to remember the name of an object in front of me (people, yes.)

That's really interesting. I probably think in a similar way. I gave up on math beyond basic algebra because I couldn't learn the more advanced concepts in the traditional way in which they were being taught. I'm sure that if I could have first been shown graphs, charts, or diagrams showing what those concepts were used for and how they actually "looked," then I would have been able to grasp the concept. I was always very strong in arithmetic and I did great in statistics, but when it came to actual math I needed visuals and they just weren't offered to me. I couldn't "memorize" complex formulae.

I'd love to go back and try to learn math in my own way, but I don't know how to best go about it. A traditional college classroom setting doesn't work for me when it comes to math.

unnamed,

I've had the same problem with foreign language. Despite a lot of attempts to learn Hebrew it's always a struggle for me. I found a book that covers the grammatical structure of the entire language in about 20 pages and thought to myself, "Why can't they teach like this in school?" Will have to see if it works better for me.

^Good luck, Malachi! Yeah, I'll bet that "circling" it by learning the grammar concepts first will clear a lot of things up for you when you start tackling the rest. I would definitely have to break it up just as you did. Its like we have to see the actual "guts" of a concept first, and then we can go back and "plug in" the specifics (numbers, words, etc.).

I wish I had the nerve and the attention span to approach math concepts this way. I'm working up my courage, but unfortunately I've developed such an atomic-level math phobia over the years that it's hard for me to even sit down and flip through a book of basic algebra exercises without shutting down. What drives me crazy is that I actually enjoy math, and I know I can do it. I just have to get around this mental wall I erected years ago.

if you were to look into my mind you'd probably be seeing ichiro swinging a bat and getting a single

can you close your eyes and imagine Homer Simpson? Or Bugs Bunny? or an animae or picture you have seen?

I really don't get this. I can't really "picture" something, but I CAN do things like imagine me flying over a town, describe it, describe landmarks, directions, etc.... I can tell you when something will be in a given store, etc.... I can do this with my eyes closed OR OPEN. What's the deal with the eyes closed?

As for my memory, I remember best if I can associate things, or determine it by logic.

Pulleys will go in the same direction, if driven by a belt. Gears go in opposite directions if driven by teeth. A capacitor can be used to store enough power to trip the base of a transistor, and cause it to switch. All other things being equal, the ratio of voltage in a transformer varies with the number of turns, but wattage remains the same(which means amperage goes up by the reciprocal of the increase in voltage.). HECK, even pi being around 3 makes sense. All that is logic. I remember a basic concept, and apply it.

vidvah in Hindi means widow, as it means the same in german( witwe)! anuvad could be said to sound the same as "a new word", and it is hindi for translation. kniver is similar to knives, and in danish for knives. exito reminds one almost of an exit strategy. One would hope that means it was a success. Exito is spanish for success.

I hear ya. I have a decent vocabulary, but when I'm talking I'll randomly forget the words I want to use. I always feel people are judging me because of this. I am a very insightful and logical thinker, but I don’t always find the words to express what I want to say, at least not on the spot.

I also hate those smug people who think they are intelligent because they are able to use strong words/rhetoric to bludgeon their point home. They think they won the argument even though it’s obvious that their thinking is logically flawed. Unfortunately most people find powerful (but often hollow) rhetoric more convincing than sound reasoning.

SAME HERE! Intelligence is NOT memory! Computers are STUPID! The average computer has the intelligence of NOTHING! Yet the collective knowledge could effectively span the entire store of human knowledge when you take into account a little wisdom. Intelligence is basically the product of wisdom * knowledge. Wisdom is the ability to APPLY knowledge. Memory only gives you the ability to keep knowledge, and facilitate wisdom.