Do you think in words or pictures?

What is your thought process like?

  • I think in words

    Votes: 26 46.4%
  • I think in pictures

    Votes: 23 41.1%
  • I assign colors to words

    Votes: 1 1.8%
  • I think in rhythms

    Votes: 6 10.7%
  • All of the above

    Votes: 11 19.6%

  • Total voters
    56

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This topic has fascinated me ever since I found out that most other people don't think the way I do. I mean, their thought process. I was watching a TV show once and one of the characters was thinking, and you can hear the dialogue inside her head, and I remember saying out loud, "I hate when they do that on TV. No one thinks in words like that!" and the other people in the room were like, "Um, I do..." I was so shocked! I've always thought in pictures and feelings and colors. The only time there are words in my head is when I'm planning out something I need to say, or right now as I'm writing this post, or when I'm reflecting back on a conversation I had with someone. Otherwise my thought process is pictures. When people talk to me, certain words bring up a picture in my mind of something associated with that word. Like if they say "dog", my brain flips through snapshots of almost every dog I've ever known. Certain words I just see as a picture of that word, sort of floating in my mind's eye (maybe that's why I'm a good speller). The same with numbers. I also assign certain colors to certain words or ideas.
I asked a writer once if she thought in this way, because she's a visual writer, and she said she thinks in both words and pictures. She told me to read a book called "Thinking in Pictures". I forgot the name of the author, but it's by a high-functioning autistic woman, and there's a whole section about her normal thought process, and it sounded so much like the way I think, except for some of the challenges it caused with language because of her autism.
But anyway, I wonder if the epilepsy has anything to do with it. Just because my brain may be wired differently.
I asked this question to a friend of mine who is very musically and artistically talented, and he said that sometimes he thinks in pictures, sometimes he thinks in rhythms, and sometimes if he's really angry or upset, there are no words in his mind and he can't even speak.

What is YOUR thought process like?
 
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Most of the time I think in words, but at times I have to think in pictures because of the aphasia that epilepsy has caused.... I just can't get the word out, so if I put things in picture categories, it is easier for me to think of the word. The same when I am trying to write my poems, I have to think in pictures and rhymes.
 
This is an interesting topic. I have an adult son who has music synesthesia. When he hears music he also sees music in colors for notes. He has always had this and when he was young he thought that was just how it was for everyone. There is also number synesthesia where people see colors as numbers, i.e. a 2 is always orange and will be orange for the rest of their life. You may want to just Google synesthesia, as there are many forms from seeing words to tasting, etc. Sorry I cannot post any links yet. There is also a musical group named Synesthesia, so not to confuse ;)

Synesthesia is viewed by some as having a 6th sense. There is no medical treatment as none is needed. Some feel it is merely an enhancement of their senses. Medically, it appears that possibly when the senses were developing, some got "wired" a bit too close, although not all agree to this theory.

Of course, when he first told me I immediately researched it and found a possible connection to temporal lobe epilepsy, ( which he does not have ) but it does appear the research on this is all over the place, with most only considering it a neurological because it occurs in the brain, but does not appear to cause any medical or psychological deficit, rather the opposite. For my son, he sees it not as a 6th sense, but just part of who he is.
 
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I think thats called synethesia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia) I do think in words, most of the time, because most of what i think is relaying conversations, or what i will say to someone or by reading out loud in my head. But if I am thinking about something (like a math problem or situation) I think in actions. Like a day dream almost. Where I will see what I want to do before I do it. Or I will visually see things replay as a movie in my head. very similar to the show unforgettable, but not to the extent she has. although I do have a videographic/photgraphic memory
 
I think in both pictures and words.
For example, if someone tells me a funny story (or any story) that happene3d to them, I see that scene being played out. It's great though as it makes it funnier as in a way I am seeing it. lol

But I also think in words. For example, if someone is obviously talking rubbish, I'll think "You b***** liar."


I think maybe 50/50 of each, not sure, will have to think about it. lol
 
The author of thinking in pictures is Temple Grandin. She is the autism guru. ( again, my son has autism. Please let me know if you get tired of hearing it)
 
But I also think in words. For example, if someone is obviously talking rubbish, I'll think "You b***** liar."

Now for me in a situation like that, I don't think in words, and a picture can't really be applied to that. I just have some kind of sense of being annoyed with the person and understanding why, but I don't talk to myself in my head. There are no words but no pictures, either. Just some kind of feeling or sense.
 
Whoa Nickolas, your signature picture is wonky! i cant tell if its animated or not, btu it hurts my head
 
Interesting poll! I think mainly in words but my memories are images and of course smells and songs just take me back to certain specific images.
When I'm having a seizure though and my thinking is muddled I think in sensations which is what I imagine babies must think in.
 
I think in words, pretty much all the time. They only time I think in pictures is when I'm doing something creative like painting. Different colours have different feelings and textures but I think everyone sees it that way. Like royal purple is like satin and burnt umber is rough. Silver is liquid, black is plastic, green is slick. Or maybe I'm just weird lol.
 
Lol I think like that too Lou!

Also with things with tastes. Like 'This tastes like green!"
 
Interesting topic!

I don't think I've ever thought in words. I think more on how things make me feel. And pictures always pop in my head for most things.

Atleast I think so. Then again, I may not be understanding the question correctly.

Can someone explain it a little more?
 
CathyAnn- It sounds like your understanding of the question is correct.
It's just about your thought process. I didn't know that most people basically talk to themselves in their heads all day (that must get pretty noisy in your head!). Like a friend of mine said he basically narrates his whole day to himself in his head. Like, "Okay, I'm getting out of bed now. I have to find some pants. What pants should I wear? Oh, I think I'll wear these today. Now lets pick out a shirt..." LOL That same thing for me would be waking up, feeling comfortable in my bed, feeling like I don't want to get up yet, picturing in my head the last thing I did at work yesterday in order to figure out what I have to do today, picturing in my head the shirts and pants I have and mentally mixing and matching an outfit, get out of bed and get dressed while I think about what I'm going to eat for breakfast (like literally seeing snapshots in my head of our cereal cabinet and of the boxes of cereal I know are in there, or seeing a mental movie clip of myself going to the drive-through at Dunkin Donuts, then going back and forth in between all of those pictures trying to get a feeling for which one I want to do today). None of which involves words unless, while picturing where I left off at work the day before, I remember a brief conversation I had with a coworker at the end of the day.

What made me realize that I don't think in the way others think was about 5 years ago, I was watching a rerun of "Seinfeld", and they did one of those things where you're hearing what the character is thinking, and it was Elaine and her voice in her head saying something like, "I can't believe this guy. Is he crazy? Ugh. This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen." And I had seen those kinds of scenes in other TV shows, and I finally said out loud something like, "I hate the way they do these scenes on TV shows! No one talks to themselves in their heads like that!" And people who were with me all said that they do. I was like, o.0
lol.
 
It depends upon what I am doing at the time. Numbers are my favorite way to categorize things, but I'm not exactly sure if they would fall in the words or pictures category.
 
Great question! As I was answering I realized that while I think in pictures almost movie like, when I seize, I am bombarded with words coming at me. I have often tried to explain my brain goes into a de-frag, like a computer. I never put the two concepts together...the words mean nothing to me, there is just flashes of block letters. I know it is a word, I just don't have a connection to it. It's all very random. Huh...Anybody else????
 
Both. Depends on the situation I guess?

I have a vivid imagination so I like to daydream a lot and imagine things happening, but I get carried away so when time is in question I think in words mainly.
 
I think in images. Sometimes still images, sometimes moving. It depends on what the thought is about. Often times, the images have distinct emotions attached to them.

The only time I can think of hearing words is if I'm trying to replay a conversation in my head. When I do that I'll visualize the person, and as they're talking I'll hear the words. However I'm also visualizing body language and the enviornment around where the conversation happened. It's more like rewinding a movie and rewatching it than anything else. At least, that's the only way I can think of how to describe it.
 
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